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Non-Fiction |
The Science of Diskworld,
This is a good book!
Its basic premise is that there are useful and valuable lies that we all tell. These lies have the purpose of being place-holders in our intellects, to help us stretch our minds a bit without breaking them. A great example of this, a 'lie-to-children' or 'lie-to-students', is that atoms are like small solar systems, with the great majority of the mass in the sun/nucleus, and with lots of little bits (planets/electrons) whizzing around in regular orbits.
Well, it's not quite that clean in the best models science has come up with yet. But it's still a very useful bit, as many people who're not interested in quantum waveforms and the like can still get a visualization which explains common properties of materials. It's just not up to the latest, greatest scientific scrutiny.
If you've read the Diskworld novels by Terry Pratchett, you have a good hint to explain the style of the work. Lighthearted, logical in its own way, and magical. It is a hard-science work hiding under the fun of a fantasy novel. Chapters alternate, with the odd chapters telling a story set in the diskworld, and the even chapters explaining bits of what happens in the magic-rich diskworld by digging deeper into the science of roundworld. Earth.
References to other diskworld novels abound, in both even and odd chapters, but I don't think they'll get in the way of a reader who'se never read any of Pratchett's other works. (Can't tell - I've read everything diskworldish I've been able to get my hands on!) The humor is good, slightly wry, and isn't afraid of poking fun at itself as well as most any other target in range.
Very well balanced all the way through, and a 5-star read IMO.
Borderlands of Science: How to Think Like a Scientist,(and write Science Fiction), Charles Sheffield, Baen Books, 1999.
Great book on science for Science Fiction writers, by Charles Sheffield. He accepts FTL (as a science fiction story convention) but has some great sections on wormholes and vacuum energy etc. Some good laughs at the expense of bad science fantasy.
