Special Offers see all
More at Powell'sRecently Viewed clear list
Guests | May 15, 2013
0 comments
|
 
$3.95
Used Hardcover
Ships in 1 to 3 days
This title in other editionsThe Science of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxyby Michael Hanlon
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:Ever wondered what the end of the universe might actually look like? Why the number 42 is so significant? Or whether time travel really would put a stop to history as we know it? If so you are clearly a fan of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, releasing as a major motion picture in the summer of 2005. While much of the book is comprised of whimsical fantasy, such as talking mattresses, the Vogons, triple-breasted prostitutes and that Ol' Janx Spirit, like all good science fiction it drew on scientific fact. Adams was a science and technology enthusiast and his books were inspired (and sometimes, prefigured) by many of the great scientific debates of our times. The Science of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a lighthearted, accessible and informative tour of the real cutting-edge research behind this much-loved classic, including space tourism, parallel universes, instant translation devices, sentient computers, and more. Book News Annotation:It has to be said that there was actually quite a bit less science in the Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy than in many other science fiction novels. What was in the books, however, were a number of whimsical and frequently silly ideas sending up the science fiction genre that are likely to still resonate with the novel's legions of fans. Hanlon (science editor at the Daily Mail, UK) uses a number of these ideas to explicate for a general audience some basic scientific ideas. For instance, the last thought of the poor whale called into existence in the middle of the air by the Infinite Improbability Drive--"And wow! Hey! What's this thing suddenly coming towards me very fast? Very very fast. So big and flat and round it needs a big, wide-sounding name like...ow...ound...round...ground! That's it! That's a good name--ground. I wonder if it will be friends with me?"--is used as an opening to a discussion of the nature of probability. Other topics include the possibility of alien life, the cosmology of the beginning and end of the universe, time travel, computing, the existence of god, machine translation, and genetic engineering. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Synopsis:Ever wondered what the end of the universe might actually look like? Why the number 42 is so significant? While much of the book is comprised of whimsical fantasy, such as talking mattresses, the Vogons, triple-breasted prostitutes and that Ol' Janx Spirit, like all good science fiction it drew on scientific fact.
Synopsis:Like all good science fiction, much of the cult classic Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series drew on scientific fact. Douglas Adams was a science and technology enthusiast and his books were inspired by--and sometimes, prefigured--many of the great scientific debates of our time. The Science of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a lighthearted, accessible and informative tour of the real cutting-edge research behind this much-loved classic, including space tourism, parallel universes, instant translation devices, sentient computers, and more. About the AuthorMichael Hanlon has been Science Editor at The Daily Mail for more than four year. He contributes regularly to magazines such as The Spectator and New Statesman, and often appears on TV and radio. He is the author of The Worlds of Galileo and The Real Mars. He lives in the United Kingdom. Table of ContentsAcknowledgements * Introduction * Where Are the Aliens? * Deep Thought * The Existence of God * The Restaurant at the End of the Universe * The Big Bang Burger Bar * The Infinite Improbability Drive and Other Unlikely Ways to Get Around * Teleportation * The Babel Fish * Time Travel * Meat with a Clean Conscience * The Total Perspective Vortex and Artificial Universes * Parallel Worlds * The Whale That Came from Nowhere * Forty-two--Life, the Universe, and Everything What Our Readers Are SayingBe the first to add a comment for a chance to win!Product Details
Other books you might likeRelated Subjects
Fiction and Poetry » Science Fiction and Fantasy » A to Z
|
|||||||||
|
|
||||||||||
|
Follow us on...
|
||||||||||
