![]() Hardcover edition | |
Author | Jeanne Cavelos |
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Country | United States |
Language | English |
Subject | Popular science, Star Wars |
Genre | Non-fiction |
Published | April 15th 1999 (hardcover) |
Publisher | St. Martin's Press |
Media type | Print, e-book, audio cassette |
Pages | 255 pp. |
ISBN | 0312209584 |
The Science of Star Wars is a nonfiction popular science book written by former NASA astrophysicist Jeanne Cavelos first published on April 15, 1999 by St. Martin's Press. The book uses fictional characters, worlds, and technology from the Star Wars universe as starting points for discussion of factual concepts in cosmology, biology, and technology, and discusses in a "semi-serious" fashion [1] the scientific probability of such fictional elements. "It takes the fantastic elements of the movies—like faster-than-light travel—and examines the current state of science to see if they're possible". [2]
Popular science is an interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is more broad-ranging. It may be written by professional science journalists or by scientists themselves. It is presented in many forms, including books, film and television documentaries, magazine articles, and web pages.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research.
Jeanne Cavelos is an American science fiction writer, editor, and former NASA astrophysicist. She is the founder and a main director of the Odyssey Writing Workshop.
Chapter 1: Planetary Environments covers topics such as cosmology, planetary science, desert ecosystems, and the biochemical requirements for the origin of life, using fictional Star Wars locales such as Tatooine and Endor as starting points for discussion.
Cosmology is a branch of astronomy concerned with the studies of the origin and evolution of the universe, from the Big Bang to today and on into the future. It is the scientific study of the origin, evolution, and eventual fate of the universe. Physical cosmology is the scientific study of the universe's origin, its large-scale structures and dynamics, and its ultimate fate, as well as the laws of science that govern these areas.
Planetary science or, more rarely, planetology, is the scientific study of planets, moons, and planetary systems and the processes that form them. It studies objects ranging in size from micrometeoroids to gas giants, aiming to determine their composition, dynamics, formation, interrelations and history. It is a strongly interdisciplinary field, originally growing from astronomy and earth science, but which now incorporates many disciplines, including planetary geology, cosmochemistry, atmospheric science, oceanography, hydrology, theoretical planetary science, glaciology, and exoplanetology. Allied disciplines include space physics, when concerned with the effects of the Sun on the bodies of the Solar System, and astrobiology.
A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to the processes of denudation. About one-third of the land surface of the world is arid or semi-arid. This includes much of the polar regions where little precipitation occurs and which are sometimes called polar deserts or "cold deserts". Deserts can be classified by the amount of precipitation that falls, by the temperature that prevails, by the causes of desertification or by their geographical location.
Chapter 2: Aliens discusses biological and evolutionary concepts such as bipedal and quadrupedal locomotion, mammalian physiology, bioluminescence, and others, based on fictional creatures such as Wookiees, Jawas, Ewoks, and Hutts (the race to which Jabba belongs).
Bipedalism is a form of terrestrial locomotion where an organism moves by means of its two rear limbs or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a bipedal manner is known as a biped, meaning "two feet". Types of bipedal movement include walking, running, or hopping.
Quadrupedalism or pronograde posture is a form of terrestrial locomotion in animals using four limbs or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a quadrupedal manner is known as a quadruped, meaning "four feet". The majority of quadrupeds are vertebrate animals, including mammals such as cattle, dogs and cats, and reptiles such as lizards.
Animal locomotion, in ethology, is any of a variety of movements or methods that animals use to move from one place to another. Some modes of locomotion are (initially) self-propelled, e.g., running, swimming, jumping, flying, hopping, soaring and gliding. There are also many animal species that depend on their environment for transportation, a type of mobility called passive locomotion, e.g., sailing, kiting (spiders), rolling or riding other animals (phoresis).
Chapter 3: Droids explores topics such as artificial intelligence, neuroscience, human psychology using robotic droids such as C-3PO and R2-D2 as prompts.
In the field of computer science, artificial intelligence (AI), sometimes called machine intelligence, is intelligence demonstrated by machines, in contrast to the natural intelligence displayed by humans and other animals. Computer science defines AI research as the study of "intelligent agents": any device that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its chance of successfully achieving its goals. More specifically, Kaplan and Haenlein define AI as “a system’s ability to correctly interpret external data, to learn from such data, and to use those learnings to achieve specific goals and tasks through flexible adaptation”. Colloquially, the term "artificial intelligence" is used to describe machines that mimic "cognitive" functions that humans associate with other human minds, such as "learning" and "problem solving".
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system. It is a multidisciplinary branch of biology that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, developmental biology, cytology, mathematical modeling and psychology to understand the fundamental and emergent properties of neurons and neural circuits. The understanding of the biological basis of learning, memory, behavior, perception, and consciousness has been described by Eric Kandel as the "ultimate challenge" of the biological sciences.
Psychology is the science of behavior and mind, including conscious and unconscious phenomena, as well as feeling and thought. It is an academic discipline of immense scope and diverse interests that, when taken together, seek an understanding of the emergent properties of brains, and all the variety of epiphenomena they manifest. As a social science it aims to understand individuals and groups by establishing general principles and researching specific cases.
Chapter 4: Spaceships and Weapons covers advances in quantum physics, string theory, anti-gravity, and laser technology, stemming from fictional devices such as lightsabers, and the Death Star.
In physics, string theory is a theoretical framework in which the point-like particles of particle physics are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings. It describes how these strings propagate through space and interact with each other. On distance scales larger than the string scale, a string looks just like an ordinary particle, with its mass, charge, and other properties determined by the vibrational state of the string. In string theory, one of the many vibrational states of the string corresponds to the graviton, a quantum mechanical particle that carries gravitational force. Thus string theory is a theory of quantum gravity.
Anti-gravity is a theory of creating a place or object that is free from the force of gravity. It does not refer to the lack of weight under gravity experienced in free fall or orbit, or to balancing the force of gravity with some other force, such as electromagnetism or aerodynamic lift. Anti-gravity is a recurring concept in science fiction, particularly in the context of spacecraft propulsion. Examples are the gravity blocking substance "Cavorite" in H. G. Wells's The First Men in the Moon and the Spindizzy machines in James Blish's Cities in Flight.
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for "Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation". The first laser was built in 1960 by Theodore H. Maiman at Hughes Research Laboratories, based on theoretical work by Charles Hard Townes and Arthur Leonard Schawlow.
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.
The Jedi are the main protagonists in the Star Wars universe. They are depicted as an ancient monastic, academic, meritocratic and paramilitary organization whose origin dates back approximately 25,000 years before the events of the first film released in the franchise.
The Force is a metaphysical and ubiquitous power in the Star Wars fictional universe. It is wielded by characters throughout the franchise: heroes like the Jedi use the "light side" of the Force, while the Sith and other villains exploit the "dark side". The Force has been compared to aspects of several world religions, and the phrase "May the Force be with you" has become part of the popular culture vernacular.
A tachyon or tachyonic particle is a hypothetical particle that always travels faster than light. Most physicists believe that faster-than-light particles cannot exist because they are not consistent with the known laws of physics. If such particles did exist, they could be used to build a tachyonic antitelephone and send signals faster than light, which would lead to violations of causality. No experimental evidence for the existence of such particles has been found.
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]
The multiverse is a hypothetical group of multiple universes including the universe in which we live. Together, these universes comprise everything that exists: the entirety of space, time, matter, energy, and the physical laws and constants that describe them. The different universes within the multiverse are called "parallel universes", "other universes", or "alternate universes".
Physics is the natural science that studies matter and its motion and behavior through space and time and that studies the related entities of energy and force. Physics is one of the most fundamental scientific disciplines, and its main goal is to understand how the universe behaves.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to physics:
The technology in Star Trek has borrowed freely from the scientific world to provide storylines. Episodes are replete with references to tachyon beams, baryon sweeps, quantum fluctuations and event horizons. Many of the technologies created for the Star Trek universe were done so out of simple financial necessity—the transporter was created because the limited budget of the original series in the 1960s did not allow expensive shots of spaceships landing on planets.
Sir Roger Penrose is an English mathematical physicist, mathematician and philosopher of science. He is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics in the University of Oxford and Emeritus Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to space science:
A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes is a popular-science book on cosmology by British physicist Stephen Hawking. It was first published in 1988. Hawking wrote the book for nonspecialist readers with no prior knowledge of scientific theories.
Eternalism is a philosophical approach to the ontological nature of time, which takes the view that all existence in time is equally real, as opposed to presentism or the growing block universe theory of time, in which at least the future is not the same as any other time. Some forms of eternalism give time a similar ontology to that of space, as a dimension, with different times being as real as different places, and future events are "already there" in the same sense other places are already there, and that there is no objective flow of time. It is sometimes referred to as the "block time" or "block universe" theory due to its description of space-time as an unchanging four-dimensional "block", as opposed to the view of the world as a three-dimensional space modulated by the passage of time.
Lee Smolin is an American theoretical physicist, a faculty member at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, an adjunct professor of physics at the University of Waterloo and a member of the graduate faculty of the philosophy department at the University of Toronto. Smolin's 2006 book The Trouble with Physics criticized string theory as a viable scientific theory. He has made contributions to quantum gravity theory, in particular the approach known as loop quantum gravity. He advocates that the two primary approaches to quantum gravity, loop quantum gravity and string theory, can be reconciled as different aspects of the same underlying theory. His research interests also include cosmology, elementary particle theory, the foundations of quantum mechanics, and theoretical biology.
The space opera interstellar epic Star Wars uses science and technology in its settings and storylines. The series has showcased many technological concepts, both in the movies and in the expanded universe of novels, comics and other forms of media. The Star Wars movies' primary objective is to build upon drama, philosophy, political science and less on scientific knowledge. Many of the on-screen technologies created or borrowed for the Star Wars universe were used mainly as plot devices.
Michio Kaku is an American theoretical physicist, futurist, and popularizer of science. He is a professor of theoretical physics in the City College of New York and CUNY Graduate Center. Kaku has written several books about physics and related topics, has made frequent appearances on radio, television, and film, and writes online blogs and articles. He has written four New York Times best sellers: Physics of the Impossible (2008), Physics of the Future (2011), The Future of the Mind (2014). Kaku has hosted several TV specials for the BBC, the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, and the Science Channel.
The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality (2004) is the second book on theoretical physics, cosmology, and string theory written by Brian Greene, professor and co-director of Columbia's Institute for Strings, Cosmology, and Astroparticle Physics (ISCAP).
Michael S. Turner is a theoretical cosmologist, who coined the term dark energy in 1998. He is the Bruce V. & Diana M. Rauner Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago, and was formerly the Assistant Director for Mathematical and Physical Sciences for the US National Science Foundation from 2003–2006. His book The Early Universe, co-written with fellow Chicago cosmologist Rocky Kolb and published in 1990, is a standard text on the subject.
Sean Michael Carroll is a theoretical physicist specializing in quantum mechanics, gravity, and cosmology. He is a research professor in the Department of Physics at the California Institute of Technology. He has been a contributor to the physics blog Cosmic Variance, and has published in scientific journals such as Nature as well as other publications, including The New York Times, Sky & Telescope, and New Scientist.
Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration Into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel is a book by theoretical physicist Michio Kaku. Kaku uses discussion of speculative technologies to introduce topics of fundamental physics to the reader. The topic of invisibility becomes a discussion on why the speed of light is slower in water than in vacuum, that electromagnetism is similar to ripples in a pond, and Kaku discusses newly developed composite materials. The topic of Star Trek "phasers" becomes a lesson on how lasers work and how laser-based research is conducted. The cover of his book depicts a TARDIS, a device used in the British science fiction television show Doctor Who to travel in space and time, in its disguise as a police box, continuously passing through a time loop. With each discussion of science fiction technology topics he also "explains the hurdles to realizing these science fiction concepts as reality".
The Cosmic Landscape is a non-fiction popular science book on the anthropic principle and string theory landscape. It is written by theoretical physicist Leonard Susskind. The book was initially published by Little, Brown and Company on December 12, 2005.
Quantum fiction is a literary genre that reflects modern experience of the material world and reality as influenced by quantum theory and new principles in quantum physics. The genre is not necessarily science-themed and blurs the line separating science fiction and fantasy into a broad scope of mainstream literature that transcends the mechanical model of science and involves the fantasy of human perception or imagination as realistic components affecting the every day physical world. Quantum fiction is characterized by the use of an element in quantum mechanics as a storytelling device. In quantum fiction, everyday life hinges on some aspect of the quantum nature of reality.
The space opera blockbuster Star Wars has borrowed many real-life scientific and technological concepts in its settings. In return, Star Wars has depicted, inspired, and influenced several futuristic technologies, both in existence and under development. In the introduction of his Return of the Jedi novelization, author James Kahn wrote: "Star Wars is also very much concerned with the tension between humanity and technology, an issue which, for me, dates back even to my first films. In Jedi, the theme remained the same, as the simplest of natural forces brought down the seemingly invincible weapons of the evil Empire".
Beyond Star Trek: Physics from Alien Invasions to the End of Time is the fourth non-fiction book by the American theoretical physicist Lawrence M. Krauss. The book was initially published on November 7, 1997 by Basic Books and since then has appeared in five foreign editions.In his previous work, The Physics of Star Trek, Lawrence Krauss explained a number of ideas and concepts featured in the series; they may or may not exist in our universe. In this book, Krauss goes farther to discuss the realities of physics when it is applied to components from other sci-fi story lines.