The Science of Star Wars (book)
ISBN 0312209584 | | |
The Science of Star Wars is a
Summary
Chapter 1: Planetary Environments covers topics such as
as starting points for discussion.Chapter 2: Aliens discusses biological and evolutionary concepts such as
belongs).Chapter 3: Droids explores topics such as artificial intelligence, neuroscience, human psychology using robotic droids such as C-3PO and R2-D2 as prompts.
Chapter 4: Spaceships and Weapons covers advances in
Chapter 5: The Force discusses the plausibility of Jedi powers and "the Force" by exploring quantum physical concepts of tachyons and superstring theory as well as various fringe and the parascientific concept of parapsychology.
Reception
The book received generally positive reception for covering complex theories and concepts in a manner comprehensible and entertaining to non-specialists.[2] Charles Kolb of the National Endowment for the Humanities writes that Cavelos "has given us a good story and has transported the reader from science fiction to science fact and probability... There is a great deal of scientific material presented in an upbeat, non-trivialized, well-written and engaging style." However, Kolb found Cavelos' lack of direct citations to publications and expert interviews "particularly distressing" for readers wishing to verify in-line quotations or easily locate additional sources.[3] Frederick Pratter's review in The Christian Science Monitor largely echoed Kolb's praise, stating "the scientific research presented is the mainstream of current thinking in astrophysics, cosmology, robotics, genetics, and biological adaptation. The style, as might be expected, is light and breezy, but rarely trivializes the material".[1]
See also
- List of non-fiction Star Wars books
- Star Wars: Science Adventures
- The Science of Interstellar
- The Physics of Star Trek
- Beyond Star Trek
- Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination (book)
- The Physics of Star Wars
- The Military Science of Star Wars
References
- ^ a b Pratter, Frederick (May 20, 1999). "What kind of world spawns a wookie?". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
- ^ a b Meagher, L.D. (June 15, 1999). "Beginning to catch up with George Lucas: The Science of Star Wars". CNN. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
- ^ Kolb, Charles C. (June 2000). "George Lucas and Science in the Star Wars Universe". H-Net Reviews.
External links
- Excerpts from the book reprinted by Scientific American
- Publisher's summary on Macmillan Publishers.
- Science and the Original Star Wars Trilogy
- The Science of Star Wars - A series of articles from Scientific American
