This book can be very interesting for someone who loves Star Trek as well as Physics. On several occasions episode titles are referenced to, and it could be interesting to pay attention to the matter dealt for that episode while also viewing it. These can also be directly navigated from within the index at the end of the book; I would certainly be doing the same.Section One deals with Inertial Dampers, Tractor Beams, Time Travel, Warp Speeds, Deflector Shields, Wormholes, and other Space-time Stuff. How they are used, its physics and possibilities. If anyone has read a certain couple of books by Michio Kaku (or any Popular Science books on Physics), these ideas would be nothing new. This was precisely the reason why it failed to fascinate me because personally I have already read much about these. For a newbie, it can strike to be extremely appealing, no doubt!Section Two deals with Transporter Beams, Warp Drives, Dilithium Crystals, Matter-Antimatter Engines, and the Holodeck. This was more interesting to read than the earlier, having comprised of subjects and ideas that fascinate me much.With transporter beams, the writer talks about the possibilities of transporting matter as information or as atoms themselves, and how could it be ever done if possible. The details of how "dematerializing" would work have been very nicely explained, along-with how much energy is required to perform the teleportation, how that can be attained, and its feasibility in real life. It also talks about the thought of how a presence of a soul has studiously been avoided in Star Trek, but that at the same time the notion of a "life force" has been embedded in its themes in various episodes.Its following chapter deals with Matter-Antimatter related problems, why matter should or is relatively lesser than antimatter in the universe, and how it can be produced and used for Warp Drives in real life perhaps in the twenty-third century for Space Travel.Section Three involved a complete chapter dealing with the possibility of various kinds of life in the universe. Its following chapter dealt with a selection of ten exotic physics possibilities including the Dark Matter, Neutron Stars, Cosmic Strings, Anyons, Other Dimensions, Quantum Measurements, Solitons, Quasars, and Neutrinos. The final chapter was based upon selection of ten errors in Star Trek.Upon reading, I felt more of a need to view more of the Trek Episodes, while also reading through a couple of their novels. Personally, I have never viewed a single episode from Deep Space Nine, Voyager and the Enterprise series and would like to do so soon. But their references were truly interesting anyway. Mr. Krauss has explained most of the ideas with good detailing and being as concise as possible for a layman's understanding of the various concepts.A 4-star rating from me, having read much of the topics in other Popular Science books before, the only fascination for me being in context with Star Trek, and a few of its relevant notions.
One could almost believe this book is contemporary, with the recent Star Trek reboot movie bringing Trek back into popular culture, but alas, this book is from 1995. (It would have been really interesting to see what Krauss would have done with all that black hole sloppiness in J.J. Abram's movie.) But I finally got around to reading this, partially thanks to the TBR pile and Science reading challenges. It's not good to let books sit ignored for so long!Reading this book, as with most popular science books, was an interesting experience. At one time, not so far distant, I had a really good grasp on most of the concepts explored in this book. But really, it's been years since I've thought of most of it in any sort of sustained way. So on one level, it was a light and interesting romp through some of the most profound concepts of physics, using the storytelling of the Trek universe to illustrate the implications. But on another level, I kept getting stuck, demanding my brain return to an earlier condition in which all of this was as native and easy to understand as my frivolous Facebook game strategies are now. But that state is hard to achieve when you're only getting to read the book in two-minute snatches, having to reread as much to remember where you were as you read new in any given sitting.Sigh.This book is dated and yet not. Engaging and easy one moment and mind-twisting the next. It would be very interesting to see an updated edition -- to bring into account the new movie as well as the detectors that Krauss mentions being built as he is writing that now have recently started producing interesting results. Amazon suggests there is a Kindle version revised in 2007, but the movie came out in 2009. I say another edition is due!Interesting, but I will probably be releasing into the wilds of paperbackswap, as I have plenty of other reference physics texts.
What do You think about The Physics Of Star Trek (1996)?
The Physics of Star Trek is not really about Star Trek at all, and I was puzzled to see comments from reviewers who thought it was aimed at sci fi fans, or about what physicists like to watch on TV. Krauss is simply using the much loved (and often lovingly derided) series as a way of taking a fresh look at physics, at what might be possible: a starting point for an engaging and entertaining tour of some aspects of physics and cosmology.This book gives a good overview look at each of the major physics-oriented aspects of the Star Trek universe. Just how likely is it that we will develop transporters, food replicators, or (probably of greatest interest to most of us) holo suites? The answers are here in this well written layman's guide. This book is best suited for the curious, for those who wonder if these things will one day be possible. The author takeu us down each path, sometimes determining that it will be possible, someday, and at other times, letting us down easy. I thank the Krauss for satisfying my curiosity as well as teaching me some theoretical aspects of physics at the same time.This is one of my favourite popular science books of all time!
—Ashish Jaituni
This is an interesting book for any fan of Star Trek or simply someone that hates Star Trek and wants fuel for fire against Trekkies. Lawrence Krauss is a a well known physicist that is often seen on t.v. shows to do with astronomy (you have probably seen/heard of him before if you have any interest in science based works). I think he does an excellent job of mapping the inconsistencies and obsurdities (Kirk asking to go to the 20th power of 1) that are seen as ludicrous, as well as some of the better thought out possibilities that still cannot physically happen (an additional -20 degrees passed absolute zero). I enjoy how he included questions from many others messaging him, grad students, other professors, and even a 6 year old. I appreciate the theoretics he goes into withou being too out there as well, where he tries to give the series the benefit of doubt. Would be an interesting title as he proposed for a sequel, The Wrath of Krauss :) If you feel reading this was a waste of time, I would ask why did you bother in the first place knowing it is a fictional series? It is a book for fun, which is a nice change of pace from all the seriousness involved in physics.
—Trey Nowell
Could humans one day travel at faster-than-light-speeds? Could we bend space, transport matter, use tractor beams, enjoy a holodeck? The answer from Dr. Lawrence Krauss is "technically, yes" on almost all of these questions, but the energy and pecuniary expenditures are beyond the capability of today's humans. Billions of orders of magnitude greater than the energy output of our sun, for example.A passing familiarity with the technology of Star Trek (or even Star Trek-like series) is all that is required to enjoy this short treatment of science fiction and science fact. As Krauss points out, the layperson's familiarity with "Beam me up, Scotty" is on a par with ketchup. The average non-fan is aware of these fictional technologies and shouldn't be troubled by Krauss' consistent reference to many classic Star Trek episodes. That he is clearly a fan is icing on the cake if, like me, you remember why the Federation doesn't have cloaking devices, you understand the major points of Bajoran history, or you know who T'Pol is. The treatment on offer here is invigorating, inciting a certain optimism about the technical possibilities available to future generations, and maybe a rueful disappointment that you, the reader, will likely never experience any of them firsthand.
—Andrew Georgiadis
