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Former NASA astrophysicist Jeanne Cavelos examines the scientific possibility of the fantastical world of Star Wars. She explains to non-technical readers how the course of science might soon intersect with such fantasies as interstellar travel, robots capable of thought and emotion, habitable alien planets, bizarre intelligent life forms, high-tech weapons and spacecraft, and advanced psychokinetic abilities. She makes complex physics concepts, like quantum mechanics, wormholes, and Einstein's theory of relativity both fascinating and easy to comprehend. The Science of Star Wars does for Star Wars what Lawrence Krauss's bestselling The Physics of Star Trek did for the Star Trek universe. Cavelos answers questions like:* How might spaceships like the Millennium Falcon make the exhilarating jump into hyperspace?* Could a single blast from the Death Star destroy an entire planet?* How close are we to creating robots that look and act like C-3PO and R2-D2?* Could light sabers possibly be built, and if so, how would they work?* Do Star Wars aliens look like "real" aliens might?* What kind of environment could spawn a Wookie?* What would living on a desert planet like Tatooine be like?* Why does Darth Vader require an artificial respirator?* Can we access a "force" with our minds to move objects and communicate telepathically with each other?
Original Trilogy meets Cosmos
| Customer Rating:   | | The author clearly loves Star Wars (original trilogy). She saw it when she was 17 and explains some interesting Cosmos (Carl Sagan) type concepts related to Star Wars. e.g. could a planet have 2 visible suns (as Luke looks), is there enough moisture for condensers on a desert planet, why Ewoks seem unlikely to have evolved the fighting tools they use in ROTJ, etc. Also, several other PhD types give various input in the chapters - like saying "we all know there is no explosion noise in space, but it makes the Sci-Fi movie fun". So, this would be a 4 star book for the select audience that is science geeks like me, and loves the original trilogy films. The 5th (of 5) chapters gets weak and lowers this book a star for me. The author covers "The Force." In this chapter she brings up Remote Viewing, ESP, clairvoyance, etc. with quotes from non-credible scientific types like Dr. Utts. My issue is that the author is scientific and wise enough to know science from pseudoscience yet gives far more credibility to farce. Dr. Utts is referenced on 13 pages with gems like "although each ESP experiment may be flawed, since all show some effect, there MUST be some real phenomenom there." Really? Try to get a peer-reviewed journal article published under that guise Dr. Utts. Meanwhile, voices of sanity like James Randi (his Flim Flam book is excellent by the way) get referenced on merely 4 pages. I understand the author wants to give "A New Hope" that these sci-fi fantasies are possible, an "Undiscovered Country" (ooops, Star Trek ref), but this is irresponsible to present known frauds from the fringe with equal (or in this case greater) treatment. The last 20% of the book really turned me off and it is a shame, because the prior 4 chapters, although more scientific than some may like, appealed to me. Also, I did enjoy that the author clearly loves the Star Wars movies and books. The Phantom Menaces stuff is tacked on and other than the minor stuff about Jar Jar Binks eye placement and heat disapating ears, nothing to write hope about. However, I'm an original trilogy guy, and that is what this book dives into - so that is good too. I would hope a future edition would refute the pseudoscience about ESP and other stuff as fiction (as the author does do well with the Leia in the Box argument about quantum mechanics). |
Interesting approach
| Customer Rating: | The book mainly deals at "how" some of the things (we all love) and see in the Star Wars films could be explained or achieved from a scientific perspective. Certain aspects and themes addressed in the book are interesting such as space travel, what would life in other planets look like, and gadgets such as lasers and lightsabers. The author however frequently gives oversimplified and "empty" solutions to these themes. Sometimes no solution at all. Probably because Star Wars is just that... a work of fiction and was not necessarily written to uphold any specific scientific laws. Other times the author gets a little bit too "technical" and scientific in her explanation which makes the reader get distracted (Unless you work for NASA or a fan of Stephen Hawkins). I do like her little humor bits and the allusions to IGMO (her Iguana pet)which she uses to illustrate certain points.
Overall I think maybe an interesting book to read for the Star Wars fan who are curious as to how science may one day "takes us" to a world (albeit far from the same) similar to what we see in Star Wars films.
May the force be with you.
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Not so long or so far away, some of it could happen
| Customer Rating: | Quality entertainment is its' own reward, so in many ways the plausibility of the scenarios is not an overriding concern. However, there is a threshold of believability that cannot be crossed, for if it is, it can cease to be entertainment. The quality of the entertainment has a great deal to do with the location of the threshold, if the story is very good, the bar is higher, but for a mediocre story it can be much lower. In the Star Wars movies, the bar is generally considered pretty low, as most people who watch them are fairly uncritical of the scientific basis for the events. George Lucas was brilliant when he opened the series with the phrase, " A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away." This is equivalent to the classic "Once upon a time" opening to fairy tales. By immediately giving the Star Wars events the status of a fairy tale, Lucas provides himself with a great deal of scientific poetic license in his Star Wars movies.
However, there are always people who examine the actions on the screen and consider the plausibility based on the current theories of science. In this book Cavelos critically examines the major events in the Star Wars series from the perspective of modern science. The opening chapter is a discussion of the major environments where the action takes place. It starts with the questions concerning how prevalent planets are in the universe. In this case, recent research indicates that there are an enormous number of planets, so the focus moves to planets that could support life, in particular, human life. Here, the odds drop substantially, as the range of temperature, gravity and atmosphere that humans can function in is in all cases very narrow. The existence of specific planets such as Tatooine with its' two suns, the moon "planets" of Endor and Yavin and the ice planet Hoth are all seriously examined. Given the constant number of new surprises that the study of planets in our solar system has provided, while unlikely, most of these environments cannot be ruled out.
Chapter two, which deals with the characteristics of alien life forms, was my favorite. Many of the main species, such as the Wookies, Hutts, Banthas, Jawas, and Ewoks are examined from a biological perspective. How their bodies are constructed and if they could function in their environment makes an interesting exercise in comparative biology. By examining Jar Jar Binks, one can reach many conclusions concerning how his species functions. This is a chapter that would make an excellent study topic in high school biology classes.
Chapters three and four deal with the technology, with chapter three devoted to the artificial intelligence (AI) of droids and four the technology of the spacecraft. Despite many problems in implementation, there appears to be no reason to doubt that droids with the capability of R2-D2 and C-3PO will eventually be constructed. However, the development of interstellar craft that travel through hyperspace will require substantial advancements in harnessing energy and the presence of scientific realities that we currently know nothing about.
The Force, that all-encompassing energy field, is the topic of the last chapter. It is also the most difficult to envision, although in many cases, it is just another name for God. The difference is of course that using the force would mean that an individual could channel the power of God for their own purposes, independent of the goodness rating of the action. Extra-sensory perception and the current "evidence" for it are also examined.
I am a devoted fan of Star Wars, and as I scientist I recognize when scientific laws are broken on the screen. Nevertheless, it was a very fun book to read, because there is scientific evidence that indicates that some of what happens in these movies could actually take place. |
STAR WARS COULD HAPPEN!!?
| Customer Rating: | What I loved about the Star Wars saga is the fact that travel
across the galaxy is as commonplace and taken for granted as
car and air travel is today. And I love the alien world our
heroes visit like the Fourth Moon of Yavin,the Moon of Endor,
Tatooine,Hoth,Bespin,Dagobah and Coruscant. This book explores the possibility of rapid interstellar travel
and alien planets and extraterrestrial life and the even how to
build lightsabers and blasters with incredible detail. Cavelos explains that such breaktroughs may or may not happen in a few
thousand years. Who knows what breaktroughs humanity will make?
We may not be at war with aliens or other civilizations and I
hope it won't happen. But I do hope that someday people will be
able to travel to other solar systems and galaxies as quickly
and easily as crossing our oceans. Cavelos gives interesting
detail on wormholes,warp drives,and even what it would be like
to travel at warp drive with the stars stretching into streaks
of light. That will be a very exciting time. I hope that galactic
travel and even intergalctic travel will be used for tourism as
well as exploration and colonization. People will travel to exotic planets and moons like Yavin 4,Endor,Hoth,Coruscant etc.
and even view our own galaxy from above as a glowing celestial
spiral. That would be a very exciting time!!Perhaps it
will happen in the next thousand years or so. |
Very Good
| Customer Rating: | | I loved this book. Like all Star Wars books I read, I could barely put it down. The only reason it's not perfect is that the whole Star Wars series is very loosely based on science, so this book really has a very shaky fundamental basis. The fact that Jeanne Cavelos can write a great book around this weak foundation, though, is a testament to the skill with which the author writes. |
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