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The science of Doctor Who / Paul Parsons.

By: Material type: TextTextPublication details: Thriplow : Icon, 2006.Description: xv, 335 pages ; 22 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781840467918(pbk)
Subject(s): Review: "Doctor Who arrived on TV screens in 1963. Since then, across light-years and through millennia, the journeys of the Time Lord have shown us alien worlds, strange life-forms, futuristic technology and mind-bending cosmic phenomena. Viewers cowered terrified of Daleks, were amazed with the wonders of time travel, and travelled through black holes into other universes and new dimensions." "The breadth and imagination of the Doctor's adventures have made the show one of science fiction's monumental success stories. BBC Focus editor Paul Parsons explains the scientific reality behind the fiction."--BOOK JACKET.
Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Call number Copy number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Non-Fiction Davis (Central) Library Non-Fiction Non-Fiction 500 PAR 1 Available T00453273
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A science writer's quest to discover the synergy between science fiction and science fact.

"Doctor Who arrived on TV screens in 1963. Since then, across light-years and through millennia, the journeys of the Time Lord have shown us alien worlds, strange life-forms, futuristic technology and mind-bending cosmic phenomena. Viewers cowered terrified of Daleks, were amazed with the wonders of time travel, and travelled through black holes into other universes and new dimensions." "The breadth and imagination of the Doctor's adventures have made the show one of science fiction's monumental success stories. BBC Focus editor Paul Parsons explains the scientific reality behind the fiction."--BOOK JACKET.

11

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

In the tradition of Lawrence M. Krauss's The Physics of Star Trek, Jeanne Cavelos's The Science of Star Wars, and similar works, Parsons's book takes a semiserious look at how many aspects of the Doctor Who world may or may not be physically, biologically, or technologically possible. An astrophysicist like Cavelos, Parsons has written an engaging work accessible to lay audiences and interesting even to those not fanatical about the long-running BBC series. Organized into four sections with short chapters, the book discusses characteristics of the Doctor, the Tardis, other aliens and mechanical beings, and missions in space and beyond. A wide range of scientific research and news sources are cited, including bit.ly shortened URLs. The book has sketch illustrations and a robust index. Originally published by a UK imprint, it now contains a preface covering discrepancies in airtimes on each continent. Verdict Accessible and entertaining, this is suitable for public and academic libraries and possibly also high school collections.-Sara Tompson, Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

Although this reviewer is a science fiction fan, his only familiarity with Doctor Who was watching a couple of episodes on late night television and thinking that the program was largely BEM (bug-eyed monster) fare with an excuse for ingenue assistants to prance around in miniskirts. However, the doctor obviously has an extensive following, especially in England. Parsons, a scientist and journalist, is an unabashed fan of Doctor Who and does a good job of making the convoluted plots and characters decipherable, even to non-aficionados, and of explaining the research and science, often cutting edge, that has even a chance of making the plots possible. In the tradition of other scientific popularizations, e.g., Star Wars and superheroes, the book discusses topics that include antimatter, artificial and other intelligence, regenerating and prolonging life, laser weapons, teleportation, and time travel. Parsons even explores the psychology of the good doctor, an apparently human-like alien from another planet, and makes comparisons to human psychology (including altruism and luck). Useful as popular reading and in courses covering the science of science fiction. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels of students and general readers interested in science fiction. R. E. Buntrock formerly, University of Maine

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