The Physics of Star Trek: Amazon.ca: Lawrence M.;Hawking, Stephen Krauss: Books

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First Sentence
You are at the helm of the starship Defiant (NCC-1764), currently in orbit around the planet Iconia, near the Neutral Zone. Read the first page

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Concordance

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Customer Reviews

39 Reviews

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

4.1 out of 5 stars (39 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars very entertaining and educational, April 22 2004

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Living in Budapest "livinginhungary" (Budapest, Hungary (originally Ann Arbor, MI)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Physics of Star Trek (Paperback)

As a Star Trek fan with a limited background in the sciences I found this book extremely helpful in describing the science in Star Trek. It was a nice easy read. I would highly recommend it to people who are interested in Star Trek and curious about its science. To those without a background in the sciences, especially physics, don't be frightened off! The book is easy to understand.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Plausibility, Jan 18 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Physics of Star Trek (Paperback)

This text is very enlightening for the Star Trek viewer. It gives technical answers to questions concerning warp, transporters, worm holes and other technology and phenomena that do not have the opportunity to be addressed on camera. Despite some deviations in the series, this text offers more plausible explanations for the inner workings of the Star Trek multi-verse.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Idea but limited vision, Oct 14 2003

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Giant Panda (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Physics of Star Trek (Paperback)

This volume by Lawrence Krauss is a physicists' exploration of the scientific feasibility of "Star Trek science". As a student of science myself and a Star Trek fan for many years, I was intrigued by this book. Apart from drawing attention to curious inconsistencies (such as "how come we hear explosions in space, where there's no air to carry the sound?") this book addresses a wide range of issues, such as WARP drive, transporters, the Holodeck, Black Holes, and Data, among other things.

What this turned out to be is a nice and easily accessible introduction to modern day physics using Star Trek as a model. Overall the book is very interesting to read and often thought-provoking. Unfortunately, the book suffers from a significant limitation because of its attitude. The "Physics of Star Trek" tests the feasibility of Star Trek phenomena based on our understanding of physics today. Thus many things are deemed "impossible" because the author cannot visualize a way to make them work using 20th century science. The problem with this attitude is that it lacks vision. Had he been writing with this attitude in the 1940s for instance, he would have discounted any possibilities of having any automated thinking machines and dismissed any aspect of the computerized world that we enjoy and take for granted today. The beauty of Star Trek is that it is visionary in nature, and a fair analysis of the show needs to make some educated guesses about what the science of the future will look like and not merely confine thinking to the science of today.

Having said that, I do concede that this book is a very nice, fun to read, and interesting introduction to the science of today, and I highly recommend it to any Trek fan interested in real science!

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Most recent customer reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Not unless you're a Trekie
Ahh! I had to read this book for a class and it was awful. Unless you're a huge Star Trek fan, I don't recommend it!

Published on Oct 4 2002 by Meg

4.0 out of 5 stars good gimmick
I'm sure some 'true blue' Star Trek fans will be disappointed that this book doesn't agree with all the 'science' used in Star Trek. Read more

Published on July 19 2002 by mjdavis11