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The Science of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Palgrave Macmillan. 2006.
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.
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First published January 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
May 29, 2019
Hey, Michael Hanlon: I don't care what you think! I didn't pick up this book to learn the opinion of someone I've never heard of. I picked it up because it says "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" on it and I'm a dork.
Despite warnings from my brother, I still read the book which did have a few interesting moments but bizarrely I felt I had more answers to my burning questions reading Adams' series than this book. Not only does Hanlon gloss over scientific concepts assuming his readers have at least a high-school level (maybe higher) understanding of Physics, it is an insult to Douglas Adams and overall disingenuous to claim that his inspiration comes from the science raised in Adams' books. There are plenty of other more interesting books (many cited in his bibliography). Go read those and skip this one (though I can hardly trust you'll listen to me since I of course didn't listen to my brother).
Despite warnings from my brother, I still read the book which did have a few interesting moments but bizarrely I felt I had more answers to my burning questions reading Adams' series than this book. Not only does Hanlon gloss over scientific concepts assuming his readers have at least a high-school level (maybe higher) understanding of Physics, it is an insult to Douglas Adams and overall disingenuous to claim that his inspiration comes from the science raised in Adams' books. There are plenty of other more interesting books (many cited in his bibliography). Go read those and skip this one (though I can hardly trust you'll listen to me since I of course didn't listen to my brother).
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July 6, 2010I'm sad and admittedly shocked to say how little I enjoyed this book. I was so excited to read it, that it is the only book I had ever placed on my "to read" list. This book was everything I didn't want it to be. Rather than being a book about the science of the hitchiker's guide to the galaxy (as the title leads you to expect) it is a book about science-fiction in general. The book could have easily been about any science-fiction tale at all, and references were repeatedly made to star trek, harry potter, and back to the future. Occasionally, Hanlon throws in a cute reference to the hitchiker's series, just to remind you that he actually read the books at some point.
More than all that, the guy writes in a style completely backwards from all the things I love and respect about Douglas Adams. I always felt that, while Adams was never afraid to insult people he disagreed with, he did it in a subtle way, and most often probably expected most of the people he was insulting would never see it or never understand it. In my opinion, he wrote to put a smile on the faces of those who agreed with him. Hanlon, at times, seems to be writing in a way meant solely to piss people off, and to do so in a rude and obvious nature.
Furthermore, the guys makes brazen claims about assumptions, and presents them as obvious and unequivocal fact. I should at this point say, that though a few things he says I disagree with, I actually do agree with almost all of the points and views Hanlon expresses in this book. However, I hate the way he went about sharing them. Overall, I was very disappointed with almost every aspect of this book.
More than all that, the guy writes in a style completely backwards from all the things I love and respect about Douglas Adams. I always felt that, while Adams was never afraid to insult people he disagreed with, he did it in a subtle way, and most often probably expected most of the people he was insulting would never see it or never understand it. In my opinion, he wrote to put a smile on the faces of those who agreed with him. Hanlon, at times, seems to be writing in a way meant solely to piss people off, and to do so in a rude and obvious nature.
Furthermore, the guys makes brazen claims about assumptions, and presents them as obvious and unequivocal fact. I should at this point say, that though a few things he says I disagree with, I actually do agree with almost all of the points and views Hanlon expresses in this book. However, I hate the way he went about sharing them. Overall, I was very disappointed with almost every aspect of this book.
June 8, 2012
What is allegedly "an authoritative look at the real science behind a prescient sci-fi classic" comes off as little more than an opinionated know-it-all soapboxing tangents to the Hitchhiker universe.
I expected this book to follow the framework of "take a thing from the Hitchhiker universe and explain how it relates to real-world science/technology."
This book, however, will start with a question like "Why have we not made contact with aliens?" and quickly devolve into a patronizing screed on how intelligent alien life doesn't exist, and anyone who claims to have seen an alien spacecraft is out of his or her mind.
Now I didn't read this book to find out if Michael Hanlon personally believes in aliens, or what he thinks of people who do. This alleges to be a book about science as it relates to a fictional universe where aliens DO exist.
If, as Hanlon clearly believes, alien life does not really exist, the question of "Why have we not made contact with aliens?" is moot. I wasn't in this to read, "Aliens don't exist, don't be stupid," I was looking for the more imaginative, "Given the fact that aliens DO exist in this fictional universe, and given what we actual present-day Earthlings currently know about science, here are some well-reasoned arguments as to why we haven't made contact with them."
This is not "A Science Textbook of Hard Facts for Earth People," this is "The Science of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." I don't want to read a book that keeps repeating how everything in the Hitchhiker universe is impossible. Yes. That's why the Hitchhiker's Guide books are fiction. Debunking them was not the point of this exercise.
By the time I got to the chapter on why God isn't real, this book had strayed too far from its promise of "The Science of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" for me to continue reading. The ol' college try ended on page 55 when he concludes, "We do not need to invoke a creator at all, unless of course we are working in a physics department situated south of the Mason-Dixon line. End of problem, God shown the door."
January 15, 2016
While I'm usually given to reading non-fiction, I think this book was a nice introduction to my foray into the genre. With Hitchhiker-like quips scattered throughout, it's far from boring. I like it. Very very much.
July 10, 2024
"Adam's did not conceive a place where machines with brains the size of a planet sit in every child's bedroom, bringing them into contact with pederasts and pornography" (This quote itself is now dated as the children are carrying about the brain, the porn and the pederasts in their pocket now)
Now published almost twenty years ago, this book attempts to look at some of the science behind, or not, the writing of Douglas Adams. That Adams was something of a science and technology fan is well known. Science Fiction as a genre has long heralded technological innovation often prophetically. However, the fantastic imaginative capacity of the human mind has the luxury of breaking free of scientific limitations and it is these boundaries which are perhaps the most interesting. When I first heard the radio plays back in the 1970s my child's mind was captivated, but the idea of an electronic book that could store the knowledge of huge libraries seemed as outlandish as the ability to teleport or create a spaceship drive with a cup of hot tea.
The book picks a number of the ideas and concepts used by Adams, the mundane and the outlandish and gives them a hard headed scientific assessment, this includes concepts as well as things from teleportation, to time travel and who is this god person anyway? Food also gets a look in with the discussion of clean conscience meat, a current real big growth area. Sadly however the Dendrasi, inflight caterers to the Vogons, don't get a mention, although the problems of food in space and its quality does.
While the book has its moments and is interesting it seemed to me at times to wander a bit from the HGTTG remit with perhaps insufficient reference back to the subject. Still it is an interesting work but one I wish had been written by Adams himself.
Now published almost twenty years ago, this book attempts to look at some of the science behind, or not, the writing of Douglas Adams. That Adams was something of a science and technology fan is well known. Science Fiction as a genre has long heralded technological innovation often prophetically. However, the fantastic imaginative capacity of the human mind has the luxury of breaking free of scientific limitations and it is these boundaries which are perhaps the most interesting. When I first heard the radio plays back in the 1970s my child's mind was captivated, but the idea of an electronic book that could store the knowledge of huge libraries seemed as outlandish as the ability to teleport or create a spaceship drive with a cup of hot tea.
The book picks a number of the ideas and concepts used by Adams, the mundane and the outlandish and gives them a hard headed scientific assessment, this includes concepts as well as things from teleportation, to time travel and who is this god person anyway? Food also gets a look in with the discussion of clean conscience meat, a current real big growth area. Sadly however the Dendrasi, inflight caterers to the Vogons, don't get a mention, although the problems of food in space and its quality does.
While the book has its moments and is interesting it seemed to me at times to wander a bit from the HGTTG remit with perhaps insufficient reference back to the subject. Still it is an interesting work but one I wish had been written by Adams himself.
November 29, 2020
This is not an explanation of how the infinite improbability drive powers the Heart of Gold or how the Magratheans build their planets. What it does is take some of the ideas thrown up within the five books of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy trilogy and look at the actual science behind those ideas. A really good science book for a layperson to start with that just happens to take a series of comic novels as its starting point.
September 23, 2019
A good introduction to various scientific topics portrayed in the Hitchhiker series. I didn't learn anything new, so it was a bit dull for me. I would recommend this book to someone who likes or just finished the Hitchhiker series and wants to know how certain aspects would or could work.
May 30, 2024
This author is an excellent explainer of complex astrophysics to the layman. In a way it’s a shame its perceived breadth is limited by the Hitchhiker’s Guide vehicle, as it so adequately covers real science.
August 4, 2017
Somewhat outdated by now, but the bits on time travel and parallel universes were very interesting.
May 18, 2024
It’s okay. Good thought experiments, nice analysis, anchors the science in the humor, cracks a few good jokes.
July 6, 2016
There are a lot of “The Science of…” books out there using science fiction as a means to explain science. It’s easy to see the appeal for both readers and writers. For one thing, it makes complex and technical subjects approachable and palatable. For another, it provides a series of examples with which most readers will already be familiar. Triggering memories of a beloved book can’t hurt sales.
This “Science of” book is a little different in that it uses a work of absurdist humor as its muse. One may wonder whether the book delves into this absurdity by contemplating the efficiency of infinite improbability drives (faster than light engines that run on unlikelihood) or the value of melancholy robots. It does and it doesn’t. For the most part, it relates the wildest creations of Adam’s mind to the nearest core notion that has scientific merit. [Though it does have a chapter on babel fish (an ichthyologically-based universal translator), but that’s a technology that’s already in the works—just not in fish form, but rather a phone ap.]
For the most part, the book explores science and technologies that are popular themes in the pop science literature. These include: the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life, artificial intelligence, the end of the world, the beginning of the world, time travel, teleportation, cows that don’t mind being eaten (presumed to take the form of lab-grown meat, and not talking cows who crave flame-broiling), the simulation hypothesis (as related to Adams’ Total Perspective Vortex), parallel worlds, improbability (only tangentially related to the infinite impossibility drive, i.e. focused on understanding extremely unlikely events), and the answer to the ultimate question. There is also a chapter that I would argue is more in the realm of philosophy (or theology, depending upon your stance) than science, and that’s the question of the existence of a god or gods. (This isn’t to say that the question of whether god is necessary to explain the existence of the universe and our existence in it isn’t a question for science. It is. But Hanlon mostly critiques the numerous arguments for why there must be a god, and it’s easy to see why because they provide a lot of quality comic fodder.)
The book contains no graphics, but they aren’t missed. It has a brief “further reading” section of other popular science books, but it isn’t annotated in the manner of a scholarly work. It is well-researched and highly readable, not only because it hitches its wagon to Adams’ work but also because it’s filled with interesting tidbits of information and its own humor. The book was published in 2005, and so it’s a little old, but most of the technologies it explores are so advanced that the book has aged well. (But if you want the latest on a particular aspect of science fiction-cum-science, you may want to look at a more recent book.)
I’d recommend this book for fans of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” and those interested in popular science generally. (Having read the five books of Adams’ “Hitchhiker’s Guide” trilogy will make the book more entertaining—though it’s not essential to make sense of it.)
This “Science of” book is a little different in that it uses a work of absurdist humor as its muse. One may wonder whether the book delves into this absurdity by contemplating the efficiency of infinite improbability drives (faster than light engines that run on unlikelihood) or the value of melancholy robots. It does and it doesn’t. For the most part, it relates the wildest creations of Adam’s mind to the nearest core notion that has scientific merit. [Though it does have a chapter on babel fish (an ichthyologically-based universal translator), but that’s a technology that’s already in the works—just not in fish form, but rather a phone ap.]
For the most part, the book explores science and technologies that are popular themes in the pop science literature. These include: the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life, artificial intelligence, the end of the world, the beginning of the world, time travel, teleportation, cows that don’t mind being eaten (presumed to take the form of lab-grown meat, and not talking cows who crave flame-broiling), the simulation hypothesis (as related to Adams’ Total Perspective Vortex), parallel worlds, improbability (only tangentially related to the infinite impossibility drive, i.e. focused on understanding extremely unlikely events), and the answer to the ultimate question. There is also a chapter that I would argue is more in the realm of philosophy (or theology, depending upon your stance) than science, and that’s the question of the existence of a god or gods. (This isn’t to say that the question of whether god is necessary to explain the existence of the universe and our existence in it isn’t a question for science. It is. But Hanlon mostly critiques the numerous arguments for why there must be a god, and it’s easy to see why because they provide a lot of quality comic fodder.)
The book contains no graphics, but they aren’t missed. It has a brief “further reading” section of other popular science books, but it isn’t annotated in the manner of a scholarly work. It is well-researched and highly readable, not only because it hitches its wagon to Adams’ work but also because it’s filled with interesting tidbits of information and its own humor. The book was published in 2005, and so it’s a little old, but most of the technologies it explores are so advanced that the book has aged well. (But if you want the latest on a particular aspect of science fiction-cum-science, you may want to look at a more recent book.)
I’d recommend this book for fans of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” and those interested in popular science generally. (Having read the five books of Adams’ “Hitchhiker’s Guide” trilogy will make the book more entertaining—though it’s not essential to make sense of it.)
May 9, 2012
Inasmuch as the HHGG is a friendly, supportive, and all-around helpful introduction to space travel for the wayward citizen of the galaxy, this text is a friendly and supportive introduction to science for the wayward reader of Adams's infamous series.
You may note that I omitted the word "helpful" when describing this book. That was intentional, but the omission is a matter of perspective. If you've never been to space, and if you've never met with other species, having the Guide around is very helpful because there's way too much out there to know, and having something simple and occasionally silly to ease your way through can be beneficial. Similarly, if you've never read any articles about scientific discoveries, and if you've never watched a news special on some cutting-edge space technology or another, it would be nice to have a simple and occasionally silly companion text to ease your way into the flood of information and new experiences.
If, however, you have actually paid attention to any of those above-mentioned news sources, this book will seem trite and occasionally tedious. Of course, I fully expect that the HHGG will seem trite whenever we start communing with aliens. I guess that means this book makes an excellent companion.
Again, it's all in the perspective.
You may note that I omitted the word "helpful" when describing this book. That was intentional, but the omission is a matter of perspective. If you've never been to space, and if you've never met with other species, having the Guide around is very helpful because there's way too much out there to know, and having something simple and occasionally silly to ease your way through can be beneficial. Similarly, if you've never read any articles about scientific discoveries, and if you've never watched a news special on some cutting-edge space technology or another, it would be nice to have a simple and occasionally silly companion text to ease your way into the flood of information and new experiences.
If, however, you have actually paid attention to any of those above-mentioned news sources, this book will seem trite and occasionally tedious. Of course, I fully expect that the HHGG will seem trite whenever we start communing with aliens. I guess that means this book makes an excellent companion.
Again, it's all in the perspective.
October 31, 2014
Dieses Buch ist eine kurzweilige Reise durch einige Gebiete der modernen Wissenschaft anhand des "Anhalters durch die Galaxis". Viele der Ideen Douglas Adams' waren nämlich keineswegs nur vergnügliche Spinnereien, sondern führten nur wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse konsequent weiter und zeigten mögliche Weiterentwicklungen und Anwendungmöglichkeiten auf - natürlich stark übertrieben und sarkastisch oder humoristisch verändert, aber mitnichten völlig an den Haaren herbeigezogen.
Das Themenspektrum ist breit gestreut, wenn auch mit einem klaren Fokus auf Physik und Astronomie: außerirdisches Leben, künstliche Intelligenz, Gottesbeweise, Urknall und Entwicklung des Kosmos sowie Szenarien des Endes, Zeitreisen, maschinelle Übersetzung, Teleportation, genetisch erzeugte Nahrung, Stringtheorie und Multiversen.
In Anbetracht der Kürze des Buches und der Bandbreite der Themen können viele Punkte natürlich nur kurz angesprochen werden, aber insgesamt ist das Buch eine kurzweilige Übersicht des momentanen Wissens- und Machbarkeitsstands sowie ein vorsichtiger Ausblick auf die weitere Entwicklung.
Das Themenspektrum ist breit gestreut, wenn auch mit einem klaren Fokus auf Physik und Astronomie: außerirdisches Leben, künstliche Intelligenz, Gottesbeweise, Urknall und Entwicklung des Kosmos sowie Szenarien des Endes, Zeitreisen, maschinelle Übersetzung, Teleportation, genetisch erzeugte Nahrung, Stringtheorie und Multiversen.
In Anbetracht der Kürze des Buches und der Bandbreite der Themen können viele Punkte natürlich nur kurz angesprochen werden, aber insgesamt ist das Buch eine kurzweilige Übersicht des momentanen Wissens- und Machbarkeitsstands sowie ein vorsichtiger Ausblick auf die weitere Entwicklung.
March 28, 2017
Part of a series of books that look at whether there is any real-life science behind a number of popular sci-fi films, TV shows etc, this one looks at Douglas Adams' classic series. With the book being about ten years old, some of it is a bit dated (e.g. the Large Hadron Collider hadn't been completed when it was written), but the basic arguments and ideas will be familiar to anyone who has watched recent series of Horizon etc. Some of the science - like the quantum physics - is difficult to simplify into layman's terms, but the author does his best. Equally, subjects like probability and the possibility of alien life are much more relatable and understandable. The book also charts how some of the ideas - such as theories of there being multiple universes - have gradually become more credible as scientists discover just how strange the universe really is.
An interesting read although, despite the author's best efforts, some parts of it do still seem incomprehensible to anyone without a PhD in Quantum Physics.
An interesting read although, despite the author's best efforts, some parts of it do still seem incomprehensible to anyone without a PhD in Quantum Physics.
September 26, 2016
Admittedly, if I were to rate this solely based on this book explaining the Science behind Douglas Adam's work... I'd say it did poorly. Except for a few direct quotes from the book and an occasional reference to scenes and characters, there wasn't any real connection between the 2 works. On this basis alone, I would have given this book 2 stars.
However, admittedly as well... I have to say I enjoyed reading through this brief summary of what we know of so far fact based on common sci-fi elements used today like time travel, teleportation, parellel universes and even aliens. It was a spectacle for me. This made me realize how I've just been consuming fiction as if all fact on fiction is a possibility and never really ruminating whether it can be indeed be made fact on reality.
2016 Book Riot's Read Harder challenge: Read a nonfiction book about Science - 21/24
However, admittedly as well... I have to say I enjoyed reading through this brief summary of what we know of so far fact based on common sci-fi elements used today like time travel, teleportation, parellel universes and even aliens. It was a spectacle for me. This made me realize how I've just been consuming fiction as if all fact on fiction is a possibility and never really ruminating whether it can be indeed be made fact on reality.
2016 Book Riot's Read Harder challenge: Read a nonfiction book about Science - 21/24
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 25, 2010
If you need a perspective on the width and breadth of the ideas available to the average human being, this book does a great job of consolidating and summarizing those ideas for easy access.
It was a great find at the local library, and while some of the data is a little dated, the information and ideas are compelling. The presentation and grouping of the ideas is sometimes disjointed. Topic jumps are to be expected though when taking on all the concepts that Douglas Adams managed to consolidate into what became one of the most inappropriately numbered trilogies in literature.
It was a great find at the local library, and while some of the data is a little dated, the information and ideas are compelling. The presentation and grouping of the ideas is sometimes disjointed. Topic jumps are to be expected though when taking on all the concepts that Douglas Adams managed to consolidate into what became one of the most inappropriately numbered trilogies in literature.
November 20, 2015
One sentence review/summary: The author want to make some money so he put Hitcher's Guide to the Galaxy on the cover and threw together some loosely related content.
So every chapter begins and ends with a reference to H2G2, but the intervening material may be only loosely based on those references. Some chapters mention Star Trek or the Matrix more then H2G2. The discuss of the science was very broad and general, not much more information then appears in the science fiction itself and certainly not more then I would expect your average science fiction read to know.
So every chapter begins and ends with a reference to H2G2, but the intervening material may be only loosely based on those references. Some chapters mention Star Trek or the Matrix more then H2G2. The discuss of the science was very broad and general, not much more information then appears in the science fiction itself and certainly not more then I would expect your average science fiction read to know.
July 26, 2011
Fabulous for techno geeks. Lighthearted guide to popular high-brow topics: Quantum Mechanics, Cosmology, Relativity, you name it, it's in there! Not recommended for the faint-hearted or casual Hitch Hikers fan - you really need to have read all the books to follow the jumping around between topics.
May 29, 2009
A wonderful scientific bathtub read.
August 21, 2011
Fun, but superficial, book on things best pondered whilst on a journey of a pharmacological nature. Links to HGTTG are tenuous unfortunately.
January 13, 2014
Really light, quite aggressive in its viewpoints. Not a bad read on a long flight, but I didn't get much of substance from it.
February 5, 2016
Very fun and easy read, not just for the fans of Douglas Adams' work.
September 2, 2013
entertaining trivia
4CD edition
4CD edition
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