Beyond Star Trek: From Alien Invasions to the End of Time

The Physics of Star Trek and Beyond #2

by Lawrence M. Krauss

In the bestselling The Physics of Star Trek, the renowned theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss took readers on an entertaining and eye-opening tour of the Star Trek universe to see how it stacked up against the real universe. Now, responding to requests for more as well as to a number of recent exciting discoveries in physics and astronomy, Krauss takes a provocative look at how the laws of physics relate to notions from our popular culture -- not only Star Trek, but other films, shows, and popular lore -- from Independence Day to Star Wars to The X-Files.

What's the difference between a flying saucer and a flying pretzel?

Why didn't the aliens in Independence Day have to bother invading Earth to destroy it?What's new with warp drives?

What's the most likely scenario for doomsday?

Are ESP and telekinesis impossible?

What do clairvoyance and time travel have in common?

How might quantum mechanics ultimately affect the fate of life in the universe?

Genres: Science, Star Trek, Nonfiction, Physics, Science Fiction Fantasy, Reference, Popular Science

222 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Lawrence Maxwell Krauss is a Canadian-American theoretical physicist and cosmologist who taught at Arizona State University (ASU), Yale University, and Case Western Reserve University. He founded ASU's Origins Project in 2008 to investigate fundamental questions about the universe and served as the project's director.
Krauss is an advocate for public understanding of science, public policy based on sound empirical data, scientific skepticism, and science education. An anti-theist, Krauss seeks to reduce the influence of what he regards as superstition and religious dogma in popular culture. Krauss is the author of several bestselling books, including The Physics of Star Trek (1995) and A Universe from Nothing (2012), and chaired the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Board of Sponsors.
Upon investigating allegations about sexual misconduct by Krauss, ASU determined that Krauss had violated university policy, and did not renew his Origins Project directorship for a third term in July 2018. Krauss retired as a professor at ASU in May 2019, at the end of the following academic year. He currently serves as president of The Origins Project Foundation. Krauss hosts The Origins Podcast with Lawrence Krauss and publishes a blog titled Critical Mass.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book which was published in 1997. It not only discusses some of the science ( especially physics) in Star Trek but other SF television shows and movies. As it was written in the late 90s, it brings up X-Files ( a program I followed religiously! ) and the movie "Independence Day." I would love to see an updated version of the book dealing with the Star Trek TV and films of the 21st C. as well as SF movies such as "Avatar" and "The Martian."
I will add that Lawrence Krauss is a good writer for rather difficult scientific matters ( consider quantum physics!) and I hope to read more of his stuff!

[Antonio Fanelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

interessante, come al solito per i saggi di questo autore :)
Alcune parti sono un po' ostiche, ma perché proprio la materia per me è oscura :(
L'autore scrive che è un piacere e riesce a semplificare senza banalizzare.
E senza togliere fascino alla fantascienza :)

[Magdelanye · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's time I faced it. As much as appreciate LMK's friendly approach Beyond Star Trek was beyond me.
No matter how I stretch my imagination, the idea of atomic particles will only engage in a cartoon dance in my mind and the theorems and mathematical equations elegance is lost to my confusion.
But it was easy and fun to engage with some of my old favorite sci=fi heroes. They seem more real than the kind of numbers and calculations that perhaps indeed underlie reality.

[Solitudes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice lovely entertaining reading... for a while. It's interesting to know how the mother ship from Independence Day (yeah, the movie) will crush the entire humankind without even trying or it's good to know that we will never reach the starts unless we will make it a one way trip most probably in a "generation" ship (like the Nauvoo was intended in The Expanse book series) or that warp as a meaning of travel it's impossible, considering the actual knowledge of physics. And then it was also nice to read about how extra sensorial perception sounds cool but ain't happening. And after that, God helps us all because the book went into the theories of relativity and quantum physics and I felt really dumb while still trying to understand the stuff I was reading. Unfortunately, I graciously failed despite my best shot at it. Nevertheless, despite being a bit old ( after all it was written at the end of the last century) the book is really interesting even for the general public, not only for those who are dreaming about electric shee.. sorry, all kinds of positrons and leptons and stuff which is usually not our favorite cup of tea :)))

[Stephie Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a follow-up to Lawrence Krauss’ The Physics of Star Trek, where he explored the physics of the Star Trek venture, and whether or not it was congruent with current physics or likely to be under further discovery. In this book he expands the discussion to all of the science fiction genre.

The book was fairly good, and Krauss manages to have kept it interesting. I found that I agreed with him that we are unlikely to travel through interstellar space, let alone to something local, like Mars, because of the cost. I do not envision human beings getting together and funding such projects with their heavy costs. Other than this I have no other comments to make on the text.

If you are interested in seeing what the future maybe like under current and likely future physics you should enjoy the book. Krauss is a good and interesting author, so even if the content is not exactly to your liking you just may like the book for his writing, and you might learn something about physics to boot.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is intriguing to view science fiction from the lens of actual science. As Sherlock Holmes would say when you have examined all of the evidence whatever remains however improbable must be the truth. Often times science is stranger than science fiction. The author does an excellent job of detailing the actual science behind many of the popular cult sci-fi shows. If you love sci-fi and the theories behind the shows this book is for you.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beyond Star Trek basically attempts to analyze whether some of the phenomena we see in sci-fi and fantasy movies are possible from a scientific view point. Subjects discussed include travel at super-luminous speeds, ESP, time travel, etc. The author is able to explain some extremely complicated concepts very clearly, e.g., quantum entanglement. My only complaint is that a number of the subjects are deemed unrealistic for the same reason--they would require too much energy. However, I blame science for this, not Krauss!

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was pretty interesting. The author does a good job of explaining some rather complex scientific ideas in a way that most non-science people can understand and brings up some rather glaring fallacies in some science fiction movies that I didn't even occur to me. It was much more interesting when he stuck to science. The book was published in 1997 so the movie references are a little dated, but interesting nonetheless. He started by pointing out the fact that the aliens in "Independence Day" didn't need to actually land or send fighters to Earth since a ship 1/4 the mass of the moon would have enough gravitational force to wreak havoc on the Earth just by closely orbiting it. I wonder what he would think of the aliens in Skyline that need human brains and spinal cords to control their machines. I also found it interesting the idea he expressed by Robert Zubrin about how we could get fuel from Mars' atmosphere for the return trip if we are ever able to send people to Mars. It involves reacting hydrogen with the plentiful carbon dioxide in Mars' atmosphere and getting methane and oxygen that can be mixed together for the rocket fuel to get back to Earth. And that is exactly the method used by Andy Weir in his book The Martian. However, the author is clearly an atheist and put in anti-Christian (and a few anti-other religion) jabs whenever he could. One whole chapter, "The Measure of a Man," that is supposed to be an argument for real artificial intelligence (such as Commander Data and H.A.L.) is simply an anti-religious rant. He goes against basically all religions in the chapter and it's clear that he doesn't actually know what the beliefs are that he is supposedly arguing against. He also doesn't actually present any evidence for it happening, just that it will.
The book was much more interesting when he actually stuck with science.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars rounded up. A disappointment compared to Krauss's first book. Whereas his "Physics of Star Trek" is very focused, orderly and has a logic (at least for fans of Star Trek) of using various fictional technologies from the Star Trek universe to walk through a history of astrophysics and explain which technologies are even hypothetically possible, this book just feels like a cash grab to write a sequel.

This book is divided into two parts for no discernible reason, other than that a theme weaving through one is the physics barriers to aliens traveling to Earth or humans traveling from Earth and through the other is a question of what would be the physical basis for ESP if it exists. But why these two questions? Why not others? And what distinguishes the individual chapters within the sections from each other? Even his explanations of complicated physics concepts in "plain" talk--his strength as a writer--here feel almost admittedly back-of-the-envelope and under thought out; like he is writing this book on a deadline and just filling out a page count without too much animating his project. He still does explain several physics concepts in ways accessible to the layman; but he's lacking a "why" to this book that makes it less engaging to read.

[فرهاد ذکاوت · Rating 4 out of 5]

sequel of the same direction Krauss went to describe the physical phenomena and of course a unique way even till now. Choosing concepts not only in Star Trek writers used, but X-files, 12 monkeys and so on. Extracting the subjects, it is a popular science book and not just nagging over science fiction which he likes to do.
Even now after 20 something years, subjects are in the same spot as they were, but with technological and physics experiments and observatories that started to work after publishing this book. By heart I assume 50 percent of the book includes open questions in physics; but rather clearer than before, or their questions became much more clear which is much more important than the answers.
It is kind of fun and different among huge numbers of unnecessary repetitive popular science books, if someone is looking for a nerd but clear description of few percent of fundamental physics and their applications.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truly enjoy Lawrence Krauss’s approach of bringing science to the layman. The book begins cheekily, poking holes in some of the more absurd parts of science fiction. It’s almost painful to watch your hopes of some sort of movie-style future alien encounter be stripped away.
But that’s only the tip of the iceberg. By the end of the book he has you thinking deeply of the origins of our universe, the vast possibilities that science is bringing out, and the way those revelations will shape our future in this universe.

[Alexandr Iscenco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite an entertaining and thought-provoking book. I especially like how the author made parallels between the Force from Star Wars and real physical phenomena in an attempt to explain whether it is possible to use the energy of "empty space" for all the things Luke Skywalker had been doing in the movies. There are also many interesting facts about electromagnetism, gravitational force, Theory of Relativity, and quantum mechanics that I had enjoyed learning about.

[Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was alright... some interesting scientific facts from a physicist, and some fun calculations, but doesn't really feel like a book... more like a scientific comic pamphlet on some science principles.

But I'm a sucker for science. 3.0

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another interesting read, and another case of "I'm amazed it makes this much sense to me... Wow, I rock at science." (Really, I don't, normally...) Very much enjoyed this book.

[Antoine Azar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Physics of Star Trek by the same author, but this book never really engaged me. The text is boring and does little to excite the reader or teach physics in an interesting way.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick, interesting read that brings facts to bear on some popular sci-fi notions, but also raises a few “mysteries” yet to be solved by science. A little technical at times.

[Kent Archie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good discussion of science, based on references to various TV shows like Star Trek and X-Files.
It reminds me of the essays Isaac Asimov wrote on scientific topics.

[Daniele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Il libro è interessantissimo, ma ogni tanto si perde in una serie di interminabili formule difficili da seguire anche per gli addetti ai lavori. Comunque per un trekkiano, un dovere leggerlo.

[Terry James · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bit dated in some areas such as exoplanets, but overall this was an excellent book. Highly recommended.

[Norm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite as memorable as The Physics of Star Trek, but still fun

[Peter Pusztai · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun read connecting fiction and theoretical physics.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a lifelong science fiction fan and one well-schooled in science, I enjoy the stories while acknowledging the holes in the scientific aspects. In this book, Krauss does an excellent job of explaining the scientific realities in the context of some of the wonders we see on the screen. Star Trek, in all of its many manifestations, is the primary focus. He also discusses the “X-files” television show and the movie “Independence Day.”
One of the interesting points concerns the alien ships in “Independence Day.” The mother ship was so massive that its mere presence would have had a significant affect on the rotation of the Earth and its orbit around the sun. This would have caused a dramatic climate change, which all by itself could have defeated the human race.
Krauss also explores the potential for ESP and telekinesis based on our current understanding of physics. While he acknowledges that we almost certainly do not know of all the forces operating in the universe, he uses the conservation of energy to predict how powerful the motive force for ESP would have to be. He puts forward convincing arguments that the energy expended in carrying out such actions is large enough that it could not escape detection. This is a strong argument against ESP, because that means the only argument in favor is to claim the existence of a force that cannot be detected by our current instrumentation. That is a very difficult argument to make, but it is an even more difficult one to refute.
This is one of those books that I started one afternoon and finished the next day, reading nothing else in between. As Carl Sagan used to say, “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” If we assume that the laws of physics are universal and we understand them to a high level of accuracy, then his arguments are overwhelmingly convincing.

This review also appears on Amazon

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was highly entertaining and made me wish that I had majored in physics in college. The chapter on X-files was my favorite, being that I'm a big fan of the show. Krauss' presentation of physics concepts are laid out really well, in the context of popular science fiction. I was literally laughing out loud during several parts of this book, and that was before I met Dr. Krauss at a lecture and found out how funny he is in person. He definitely deserves the title "rock-star scientist", because reading this book makes you realize why he's so popular. His writing is both brilliant and humorous, and this book is successful in popularizing the stereotypically dry subject of physics physics.

[Andrew Niemann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was more, and less, than what I expected; however, having read it, I now have no recollection of what I expected. I think I expected a more humorous (but factual) look at different "technologies." There was some satire, and it was simplified to be both entertaining, yet informative, but I'd be lying if I said it did not make my head hurt from time to time.

I'll describe it as an interesting look at different science fiction concepts, using current technology and science to evaluate their plausibility. Included a little humor and some pop culture other than Star Trek, but got a bit dry at times.

[Kym Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pleasant follow up to the earlier 'the Physics of Star Trek' this book lives up to its title and investigates much of the science and possibilities and impossibilities found in other Sci Fi mediums.

Like the first book it is a nice read for any sci fi fan and any one who is starting their travels in the sciences or who has a partial interest in them.

A good compliment to the first book and both are superb to read one after the other.

70 %

[Diana Sandberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most enjoyable discussion of the science ideas underlying various sci-fi films and tv shows - or not underlying them, as the case may be :>). As usual, I got lost when he hit quantum mechanics in the last chapter or two. I cannot make my mind grasp this stuff, no matter how much of it I read. But I liked the rest of the book.

[Ariel · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with the original, this book is well worth it if you have an interest in physics, Star Trek, or both. The accessible writing and humor make it stand out as a scientific analysis of popular science fiction concepts.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good follow-up to The Physics of Star Trek, this time covering general SF themes like time travel, faster than light space travel, ESP, quantum mechanics, and the Force/levitation. The only downside is the 90's TV show references that make the book a little dated.

[Richard Macaleese · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though many of Beyond Star Trek's messages don't entirely hit the mark in terms of being certifiable fact, Krauss has a knack for identifying common misconceptions in popular media. This book isn't meant to teach you. It's meant to make you think, and it does a good job with it.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely entertaining!