Crocodite

The chemical engineer Prokop invents a highly explosive substance, which he calls “Krakatit” in honor of the Indonesian volcano Krakatoa . After a pinch of powder on a table in the laboratory of Prokop explodes for no reason, he, wounded, wanders through the streets of Prague , where he meets his university colleague Jiri Tomeš, who takes Prokop to his home and brings him to his senses. During a fever, Prokop reveals the formula “Cracitite.” Immediately after this, Tomasz, taking a revolver with him, leaves the house. Prokop wakes the doorbell with an unknown girl in a veil who came with a package for Tomesh. Prokop promises to hand over the package and for this he travels by train to Tinitsa, where Tomesh’s father lives, a doctor. There, the chemist improves his health and gets acquainted with Anchiy, the daughter of the doctor Tomesh, whom he falls in love with. One day he finds an advertisement in a newspaper in which the sender asks “Engineer P” to provide his address. Prokop immediately recalls “Krakatit”, which he forgot about during his illness.

The sender is Carson, director of the Balttin factory, which produces explosives. Prokop leaves there (primarily in search of Tomesh, who is in contact with Carson) and gets at his disposal an ultramodern laboratory with all the conditions for work. He also meets Princess Wilhelmina Adelaide Maud, who lives in a castle near the factory. They are getting closer a little. Prokop is constantly trying to find Tomesh or that girl in the veil. Later, the princess helps him escape to Italy, where he joins the circle of the anarchist Daimon, who offers Prokop dominance of the world through a radio station whose signals cause the explosion of Krakatit. Prokop does not know what to do with the force that he created. Meanwhile, Tomesh expanded the production of Cracitite, but he was stopped by Prokop's warnings. And, with the help of Daimon radio waves, his explosive factory takes off into the air.

At the end of the novel, Prokop meets a mysterious old man who helps him forget his destructive invention and encourages the chemist to take up small, but practical and useful inventions for humanity.

In 1948, based on the novel, the film of the same name was shot (directed by Otakar Wavre ). In 1980, Wavra created a remake of his film and released it under the name Dark Sun ( Czech Temné slunce ).

• Information about the novel "Krakatit" on the site " Science Fiction Laboratory "