Editing Janusz Zajdel (section)

==Life==
Janusz Zajdel was born 15 August 1938 in [[Warsaw]], [[Poland]].<ref name=culture/> He studied physics at the [[University of Warsaw]]. He was a member of the [[Union of Polish Youth]] and the [[Polish Students' Association]].<ref name=WPP>{{cite book |chapter=Zajdel Janusz Andrzej |title=Współcześni polscy pisarze i badacze literatury. Słownik biobiliograficzny |author=Maria Kotowska-Katel |volume=9 |date=2004 |publisher=Instytut Badań Literackich PAN |place=Warszawa |isbn=83-02-05444-5 |pages=360-361 |language=Polish}}</ref> After graduating, he worked many years as a radiological engineer and an expert on [[nuclear physics]] at the Central Laboratory of Radiological Protection in Poland.<ref name=culture/> He published a number of academic works, handbooks of safety regulations, as well as educational and [[popular science]] texts.<ref name=culture/><ref name=sfe/> In 1976 he joined the [[Polish Writers' Union]].<ref name=WPP />

In his spare time, he popularized science by writing [[science fiction]].<ref name=culture/> With his brother, he started a column in a Polish magazine for young people interested in science and engineering, ''{{Interlanguage link multi|Młody Technik|pl}}'' (''Young Technician''), in which they proposed various futuristic gadgets.<ref name=culture/> In 1961 ''Młody Technik'' published Zajdel's science-fiction debut, the short story "''Tau Ceti''" ({{langx|pl|Tau Wieloryba}}).<ref name=culture/> Other stories by him soon appeared in several other Polish magazines.<ref name=culture/>

His first book was published in 1965, a short-story anthology, ''Jad mantezji'' (''The Venom of Mantesia''), which included stories from ''Młody Technik'' and some others that had already appeared a year earlier in another anthology.<ref name=tpe/><ref name=culture/> By 1982 he had published four more collections: ''Przejście przez lustro'' (Through the Mirror, 1975); ''Iluzyt'' (1976); ''Feniks'' (The Phoenix, 1981); and ''Ogon diabła'' (The Devil's Tail, 1982).<ref name=sfe/>

His first novel, ''{{ill|Lalande 21185 (novel)|lt=Lalande 21185|pl|Lalande 21185 (powieść)}}'', appeared in 1966, a year after his first short-story anthology, and was [[young adult fiction|geared toward young adults]].<ref name=culture/> His first serious science-fiction novel was a "[[first contact (science fiction)|first contact]]"-type [[SF mystery]], ''{{Interlanguage link multi|Prawo do powrotu|pl}}'' (Right of Return, 1975); but it was his novels of the late 1970s and early 1980s – ''[[Cylinder van Troffa]]'' (Van Troff's Cylinder, 1980); ''[[Limes inferior]]'' (The Lower Limit, 1982); ''[[Cała prawda o planecie Ksi]]'' (The Whole Truth about Planet Xi, 1983); ''{{Interlanguage link multi|Wyjście z cienia|pl}}'' (Out of the Shadows, 1983); and ''[[Paradyzja]]'' (Paradise: World in Orbit, 1984) – that earned him a reputation as one of the most important Polish science-fiction writers.<ref name=culture/><ref name=sfe/>

He was an active member of Polish and international [[science fiction fandom]], and a Trustee of [[World SF]].<ref name=tpe/><ref name=culture/> In the 1980s he was an active supporter of the Polish [[Solidarnosc|Solidarity]] movement.<ref name=culture/>

On 19 July 1985 he died of [[lung cancer]], after three years' struggle against the disease.<ref name=tpe>{{cite book|author1=Frederik Pohl|author2=Elizabeth Anne Hull|title=Tales From The Planet Earth|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jvBeJQw39RYC&pg=PA268|date=15 October 1986|publisher=St. Martin's Press|isbn=978-0-312-78420-1|page=268}}</ref><ref name=culture/>