The primary question Lem treats in the book is that of civilization in the absence of limitations, both technological and material.

Despite its age and a number of inaccuracies in specific domains (e.g., mathematics, biology, sociology), the book has lost no momentum in the past years.

[2] Among the themes that Lem discusses in the book and that were completely in the realm of science fiction then, but are gaining importance today, are virtual reality (Lem calls it "phantomatics"), theory of search engines ("ariadnology", after Ariadne's thread), technological singularity,[3] molecular nanotechnology ("molectronics"), cognitive enhancement ("cerebromatics"), artificial intelligence ("intellectronics").

[2] In the preface to the first edition Lem mentions the crucial role of Iosif Shklovsky's popular science monograph Вселенная, жизнь, разум (English: Universe, Life, Intelligence; Moscow, USSR Academy of Sciences Publisher, 1962) in shaping the Summae.

[4] The book has eight chapters, each dealing with far-fetched implications of a certain concept: The first edition also contained: The 4th, expanded edition (1984) contains an additional essay: In 1991 Lem wrote a yet another afterword, Thirty Years Later, published separately and translated in A Stanislaw Lem Reader.