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La Scienza di Star Wars: Cosa c'è dietro la Forza, l'iperspazio, i salti a velocità luce e le spade laser?
Che cos'è esattamente la Forza? Quanto costerebbe costruire la Morte Nera? Riusciremo mai vivere su un gigante gassoso come Bespin?
"La Scienza di Star Wars" risponde a queste e altre domande per capire se in un futuro non troppo lontano potremmo vedere materializzarsi alcune delle straordinarie invenzioni della saga di fantascienza più famosa di tutti i tempi.
Anche ai lettori meno avvezzi alle discipline scientifiche scopriranno come la fisica e la fantasia potrebbero un giorno fondersi per consentire viaggi interstellari, comunicare con forme di vita aliene, sviluppare poteri psicocinetici simili alla Forza, e creare armi blaster, spade laser o veicoli come il Millennium Falcon.
Una lettura avvincente che rende facile comprendere come i concetti di fisica avanzata, dai cunicoli spazio-temporali alla teoria della relatività di Einstein, si applicano all'universo di Star Wars.
Perché non è necessario essere uno Jedi o un astrofisico della NASA per intuire quanto siamo ormai vicini a veder sviluppare nella realtà gran parte della tecnologia immaginata in una delle epopee preferite di sempre.
"La Scienza di Star Wars" risponde a queste e altre domande per capire se in un futuro non troppo lontano potremmo vedere materializzarsi alcune delle straordinarie invenzioni della saga di fantascienza più famosa di tutti i tempi.
Anche ai lettori meno avvezzi alle discipline scientifiche scopriranno come la fisica e la fantasia potrebbero un giorno fondersi per consentire viaggi interstellari, comunicare con forme di vita aliene, sviluppare poteri psicocinetici simili alla Forza, e creare armi blaster, spade laser o veicoli come il Millennium Falcon.
Una lettura avvincente che rende facile comprendere come i concetti di fisica avanzata, dai cunicoli spazio-temporali alla teoria della relatività di Einstein, si applicano all'universo di Star Wars.
Perché non è necessario essere uno Jedi o un astrofisico della NASA per intuire quanto siamo ormai vicini a veder sviluppare nella realtà gran parte della tecnologia immaginata in una delle epopee preferite di sempre.
287 pages, Paperback
First published November 15, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
December 21, 2016
Thanks to Thomas Allen & Son for a copy of this book.
Really interesting book for any person who watched the Star Wars Trilogy and the other movies that are part of the Star Wars canon and brand.
The authors Drake and Chase did their best to communicate scientific ideas and theories to the layman through the Star Wars world. One learns how to build a Death Star, the role of DNA and generics and natural selection in the world of Star Wars...
Thanks for the copy and hope those who are interested enjoy the book.
Really interesting book for any person who watched the Star Wars Trilogy and the other movies that are part of the Star Wars canon and brand.
The authors Drake and Chase did their best to communicate scientific ideas and theories to the layman through the Star Wars world. One learns how to build a Death Star, the role of DNA and generics and natural selection in the world of Star Wars...
Thanks for the copy and hope those who are interested enjoy the book.
December 6, 2016
Loved this book. Being a Star Wars fan and a lover of science I found this fascinating and easy to understand
October 6, 2020
The speech path in me got excited when they mentioned an electrolarynx...but disappointed on the whole.
July 30, 2024
REALLY disappointed that it’s canon based and not legends. Some if this is really good and some of it is just okay. Overall I’ll go 3.8 stars. I definitely learned a few things.
December 28, 2016
This was a goodreads giveaway book that I received for free in exchange for a review of the book.
When I was in college I took a science course on geology. It was affectionately called "rocks for jocks" because it wasn't too hard but still counted as a science credit. This book reminds me of that class. It isn't too heavy on the science. It covers a lot of topics but none of them in depth. I would have preferred that it covered less but covered it more deeply. The chapters are short, 5 to 6 pages each, and each covers a different topic which appears in the Star Wars universe. I should warn people, each chapter starts with a review of a scene from one of the movies. If you aren't up to date on the movies there are some spoilers. If you don't like that sort of thing, catch up on the movies before you get the book.
When I was in college I took a science course on geology. It was affectionately called "rocks for jocks" because it wasn't too hard but still counted as a science credit. This book reminds me of that class. It isn't too heavy on the science. It covers a lot of topics but none of them in depth. I would have preferred that it covered less but covered it more deeply. The chapters are short, 5 to 6 pages each, and each covers a different topic which appears in the Star Wars universe. I should warn people, each chapter starts with a review of a scene from one of the movies. If you aren't up to date on the movies there are some spoilers. If you don't like that sort of thing, catch up on the movies before you get the book.
July 1, 2017
I'm a big fan of Randall Munroe's What If? series, and I thought that this would be something along those lines. Unfortunately for me, while this is great for kids or teenagers as an introduction, it's a mixed bag "scientifically" containing far too much speculation, meandering exposition and generally introduces almost as many questions as it answers. Conceptually it's a lot of fun, and it's certainly informative and full of inspiration for the science beginner, but it falls short of any real impact and I didn't find it particularly engaging.
March 9, 2025
Ég keypti þessa fyrir löngu, m.a. til að geta rætt efnið við börnin mín. Svo liðu árin og ég gleymdi að lesa hana, eins og svo margar aðrar, en ákvað svo að prófa eitthvað öðruvísi. Og það var nú það. Fljótlesin, stundum skemmtileg og áhugaverð en svo koma frekar döll kaflar inn á milli, og mér finnst vanta einhvers konar lokaorð til að hnýta efnið saman. En nú get ég alltént rætt efnið við yngri börnin mín, sem hafa enn áhuga á Star Wars.
December 2, 2019
Not enough real science
Read the physics of star trek. Then you will see that this book is lacking. Also, you have to be a real star wars geek. I've watched them but am not up on all the characters.
Read the physics of star trek. Then you will see that this book is lacking. Also, you have to be a real star wars geek. I've watched them but am not up on all the characters.
June 9, 2017
I thought this was a very enjoyable book, though the authors seldom answer the questions they pose at the beginning of each section. They go into good detail about how the movies used the term in question and then how we might use it or do use it in real life. One of the reasons for this is because a lot of it is not possible in the Star Wars sense. We might have some analogous technologies, but not often do we possess the technology to read minds, travel in hyperspace, or create a death star. I compare this a bit to Krauss's "The Physics of Star Trek", which does answer how the physics of many Star Trek technologies might work if we had the correct know-how. But Star Wars was never really about the science of what they do, it was about the stories and fantasy. So this is a fun book, especially when they give us how much it would cost to build an actual death star. Would it be sensible to do so? Not at all. But it's fun to think about.
March 2, 2020
I love Star Wars, and I live for science, but this book suuuuuucked! I actively read through the first half, and raced through the second half just to be done with it.
No stars. Would not recommend.
No stars. Would not recommend.
December 27, 2024
a must read if you want to know and understand more about star wars
May 30, 2017
Lots of speculation and conjecture of that's your thing. I found it dull after a few chapters. Then i cherry picked what i wanted to read. Eventually lost interest. Not sure who i would recommend this to.
Read
January 13, 2024Fun theories. I need a textbook version with tons of math now.
November 23, 2019
EN/CZ
A mess, which hurts Star Wars and science more than it helps.
I read the Czech translation of the book, but that would not change the concept and general flow of the book. It seemed to me as if the authors glued a series of blog posts together. They are inconsistent in style, repeat themselves, and have no overarching concept or story. Even the division into categories does not fit its contents. It felt as if the book needed a few more reads to be streamlined but the authors decided it is not worth the hassle, it has Star Wars on it so idiot fans will buy it anyways.
Two things I hated the most. First, Star Wars often seemed to be just a vaguely connected jump-off point to a quite different topic, for example, they describe the exploration of Mars by speaking about BB8, although they do not establish any clear connection, they go from astromech droids to planetary exploration. It is like a thinly veiled salesman pitch from a telemarketing show. And I think it is actually doing a disservice to Star Wars. Because they do not deal with things from Star Wars, instead it felt as if they use Star Wars to trick you into reading a normal, boring science book.
Second, they are at times weirdly and uselessly specific, instead of focusing on physics and general principles, they mention particular brands and products. This makes sense in a magazine or blog, but not in a book that should be still relevant in a year or two (not to mention more). They jump between "Rhyl Phillips who works for the company blabla in blabla said: ..." to "scientists in Germany found out".
Read Lawrence Krauss and his Star Trek and science instead. I think he manages well to use sci-fi to demonstrate principles from physics.
CZ ==============
Bordel, co myslím vědě i Star Wars spíš škodí než jim prospívá.
Připadalo mi, jako by to bylo jen spojení několika blogových článků neboť nejsou konzistentní stylem, opakují se a nemají ani ucelený koncept či myšlenku. Dokonce ani dělení do částí nedávalo úplně smysl a spíš působilo dojmem, že autoři měli hotové články, které se snažili nacpat do nějakých škatulek až na závěr práce. Můj celkový dojem byl, že kniha potřebovala ještě hodně redakční práce pro uhlazení, ale autoři si řekli, že není třeba a mohou to vydat už v takové polovičaté podobě protože Star Wars fandové si to budou stejně kupovat.
Nejvíce mě na knize štvaly dvě věci. Za prvé mi Star Wars přišlo jako jen chabá záminka nás donutit přečíst špatnou knížku o vědě. Na příklad začnou o astromech droidech a BB8 a přeskočí k průzkumu Marsu. Prakticky doslova udělají: "ve Star Wars epizodě 7 vidíme BB8 a ten se nám líbil, ale víte, kde se ještě používají roboti na písku? Na Marsu." Je to jako špatný telemarketing. Osobně se domnívám, že je to na škodu jak Star Wars tak vědě. Chtěl jsem se dočíst o fyzikálních či inženýrských principech ve Star Wars. Místo toho je zde Star Wars jen záminkou k tomu dát mi polovičatou přednášku o fyzice nebo pár vynálezech. Ani se nesnaží kriticky rozebírat možnosti fungování prvků ve Star Wars, spíš to zahrají do autu na něco triviálně známého (např. blesky Temné síly - věděli jste, že existuje elektrický úhoř? nebo Jedi mind trick - víte, že nás může reklama ovlivňovat?).
Jako druhý mě iritoval nekonzistentní styl odkazování k vědě. Někdy prakticky jen vypíší základní poznatky ze středoškolské fyziky bez pořádné reflexe (Co je to Síla?) a jindy zase začnou vypisovat konkrétní produkty a technologie, které byly v době napsání k dispozici. Na blog či článek, možná vhodný přístup, ale tato kniha by měla ještě chvíli být relevantní a tedy nechápu, proč se nezaměřili na kritickou práci právě z fyzikou či obecnějšími principy (neboť ani jeden z autorů není vědec, tak možná proto, že jim ani sami nerozumí dost dobře). Také skáčí mezi větami jako "Rhyl Phillips kdo pracuje pro firmu X v Y řekl: ..." a "vědci v Německu zjistili, že ...". Třeba to je doopravdy jen blbý telemarketing firem a vědců, které autoři znají. Nebo, spíš, jen špatně a líně sepsaná kniha, která chce zneužívat Star Wars fanoušky.
Doporučuji místo toho Lawrence Krausse a jeho Star Trek a věda. Myslím, že ohodně lépe demonstruje principy fyziky a vědy za využití či hraní si se scifi.
A mess, which hurts Star Wars and science more than it helps.
I read the Czech translation of the book, but that would not change the concept and general flow of the book. It seemed to me as if the authors glued a series of blog posts together. They are inconsistent in style, repeat themselves, and have no overarching concept or story. Even the division into categories does not fit its contents. It felt as if the book needed a few more reads to be streamlined but the authors decided it is not worth the hassle, it has Star Wars on it so idiot fans will buy it anyways.
Two things I hated the most. First, Star Wars often seemed to be just a vaguely connected jump-off point to a quite different topic, for example, they describe the exploration of Mars by speaking about BB8, although they do not establish any clear connection, they go from astromech droids to planetary exploration. It is like a thinly veiled salesman pitch from a telemarketing show. And I think it is actually doing a disservice to Star Wars. Because they do not deal with things from Star Wars, instead it felt as if they use Star Wars to trick you into reading a normal, boring science book.
Second, they are at times weirdly and uselessly specific, instead of focusing on physics and general principles, they mention particular brands and products. This makes sense in a magazine or blog, but not in a book that should be still relevant in a year or two (not to mention more). They jump between "Rhyl Phillips who works for the company blabla in blabla said: ..." to "scientists in Germany found out".
Read Lawrence Krauss and his Star Trek and science instead. I think he manages well to use sci-fi to demonstrate principles from physics.
CZ ==============
Bordel, co myslím vědě i Star Wars spíš škodí než jim prospívá.
Připadalo mi, jako by to bylo jen spojení několika blogových článků neboť nejsou konzistentní stylem, opakují se a nemají ani ucelený koncept či myšlenku. Dokonce ani dělení do částí nedávalo úplně smysl a spíš působilo dojmem, že autoři měli hotové články, které se snažili nacpat do nějakých škatulek až na závěr práce. Můj celkový dojem byl, že kniha potřebovala ještě hodně redakční práce pro uhlazení, ale autoři si řekli, že není třeba a mohou to vydat už v takové polovičaté podobě protože Star Wars fandové si to budou stejně kupovat.
Nejvíce mě na knize štvaly dvě věci. Za prvé mi Star Wars přišlo jako jen chabá záminka nás donutit přečíst špatnou knížku o vědě. Na příklad začnou o astromech droidech a BB8 a přeskočí k průzkumu Marsu. Prakticky doslova udělají: "ve Star Wars epizodě 7 vidíme BB8 a ten se nám líbil, ale víte, kde se ještě používají roboti na písku? Na Marsu." Je to jako špatný telemarketing. Osobně se domnívám, že je to na škodu jak Star Wars tak vědě. Chtěl jsem se dočíst o fyzikálních či inženýrských principech ve Star Wars. Místo toho je zde Star Wars jen záminkou k tomu dát mi polovičatou přednášku o fyzice nebo pár vynálezech. Ani se nesnaží kriticky rozebírat možnosti fungování prvků ve Star Wars, spíš to zahrají do autu na něco triviálně známého (např. blesky Temné síly - věděli jste, že existuje elektrický úhoř? nebo Jedi mind trick - víte, že nás může reklama ovlivňovat?).
Jako druhý mě iritoval nekonzistentní styl odkazování k vědě. Někdy prakticky jen vypíší základní poznatky ze středoškolské fyziky bez pořádné reflexe (Co je to Síla?) a jindy zase začnou vypisovat konkrétní produkty a technologie, které byly v době napsání k dispozici. Na blog či článek, možná vhodný přístup, ale tato kniha by měla ještě chvíli být relevantní a tedy nechápu, proč se nezaměřili na kritickou práci právě z fyzikou či obecnějšími principy (neboť ani jeden z autorů není vědec, tak možná proto, že jim ani sami nerozumí dost dobře). Také skáčí mezi větami jako "Rhyl Phillips kdo pracuje pro firmu X v Y řekl: ..." a "vědci v Německu zjistili, že ...". Třeba to je doopravdy jen blbý telemarketing firem a vědců, které autoři znají. Nebo, spíš, jen špatně a líně sepsaná kniha, která chce zneužívat Star Wars fanoušky.
Doporučuji místo toho Lawrence Krausse a jeho Star Trek a věda. Myslím, že ohodně lépe demonstruje principy fyziky a vědy za využití či hraní si se scifi.
August 8, 2024
A “POSITIVE” EVALUATION OF THE FEASIBILITY OF “STAR WARS” CONCEPTS
Author Mark Brake wrote in the Introduction to this 2016 book, “For the better part of two decades, I’ve explored the relationship between space, science, and culture. This book does just that. Through the lens of Star Wars, we see the universe in a new light. Almost on a daily basis science unveils something new, and potentially shocking… In short, the universe is a strange place. Star Wars is a response to this cultural shock---the shock of finding ourselves in an increasingly marginal position in a hostile cosmos. The stories of Star Wars help us come to terms with this new universe unveiled by science. Star Wars works by conveying the taste, the feel, and the human meaning of the findings of science. Star Wars puts the stamp of humanity back onto the universe. It makes human what was once alien.”
He notes, “To maintain its crew’s well-being, a station needs like support systems … However, reduced gravity can also lead to various health problems such as bone and muscle atrophy… Earth’s gravitational attraction is due to its huge mass, but … assuming Death Star I has a diameter of 75 miles and a mass of 134 quadrillion tons… we can work out the gravitational force at its surface… a person weighing approximately seventy kilograms would feel a gravitational pull of about a quarter that of Earth’s. This would be more than the gravity felt on the moon… Another way to produce a gravitational-type force is to spin the craft like a merry-go-round… On a spacecraft, that pinning against the wall would feel similar to the way gravity acts to pin us down. The wall would effectively become our down, and the center of the spin would become our up. Using this idea, engineers have proposed the creation of a giant bicycle wheel habitat… this idea was … featured in ‘2001: A Space Odyssey.’” (Pg. 32-33)
He explains, “[Han Solo claimed that the Millennium Falcon] ‘made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs!’ In case you didn’t know, distance can have many units; one of which is the parsec. A parsec is … equivalent to how far light can travel in 3.26 years, which is nineteen trillion miles. That’s more than five thousand times the distance to Pluto. So Han Solo’s claim is that the Millennium Falcon made the Kessel Run in less than 230 trillion miles… this is 4.5 times further than the brightest star in the sky, Sirius. This is a distance that can only be achieved through hyperspace.” (Pg. 38)
He acknowledges, “We are a very, very long way from interstellar travel. The major problem is how to support life on such extreme journeys… imagine trying to leave the solar system. That being said, we have managed to send something that far. It’s … the Voyager I space probe, launched in 1977, [which] is now more than twenty billion kilometers away (134 times the distance from the Earth to the Sun)… In perspective, if it were heading in the direction of the nearest star, Proxima Centauri, it would still take more than 73,700 years to get there.” (Pg. 46)
Of the emergence of Life on Tatooine, he comments, “It’s evident that Tatooine has oxygen. Otherwise, Luke and his family would not be able to breathe there unaided… However, since there appears to be a serous lack of plant life… Where is the oxygen coming from? Ruling out the possibility of vast colonies of oxygen-producing bacteria existing somewhere on the planet, there has to be another option. It’s possible that the oxygen was produced in the past when Tatooine had a climate that could support a great deal of plant life. It’s been calculated that if photosynthesis suddenly stopped and no more oxygen were released on Earth, it would take … more than thirty-five thousand years to deplete the oxygen through respiration. So we could potentially be seeing Tatooine … after the loss of its main oxygen producers.” (Pg. 96)
About antigravity proposals, he observes, “If we want to defy gravity by hovering, we’re currently limited to technologies such as lighter-than-air crafts, vehicles with ducted fans… rotary wings, or jet propulsion. These technologies only work up to a maximum altitude or ceiling, above which there isn’t enough air pressure for them to function properly. The operational ceiling of repulsorlift technology … [is] meant to work by pushing against a planet’s gravity. So its operational ceiling would be the altitude at which gravity is too weak for the repulsorlift engines to support [Cloud City’s] weight. This antigravity is ubiquitous in the Star Wars universe, but nothing like it exists in the real world… As of right now, though… it looks as if the idea of a floating city just isn’t feasible.” (Pg. 105)
He says of the Force, “The Jedi are an exclusive organization of force-sensitive individuals, but when we eliminate the element of the Force, we see how similar they are to individuals in reality. They represent a hope of achieving something beyond ourselves, whether it’s superhuman powers, or a connection with some entity that’s bigger than us yet within us all. George Lucas said, ‘I put the Force into the movies in order to try to awaken a certain kind of spirituality in young people. More a belief in God than a belief in particular, you know, religious system.” (Pg. 150)
He states, “According to Star Wars canon, a tractor beam works by manipulating gravitational forces to grab objects… Where does modern science stand on this matter? According to Einstein’s theory of relativity, gravity is caused by a warping of space-time due to the presence of matter or energy… a tractor beam … could warp the space-time in front of an object casing the object to fall towards the warped region. The problem is that as far as we currently know, gravity cannot be focused; it operates in every direction from its source… Therefore gravity is possibly not a good solution unless a way can be found to control it and shield it from particular directions.” (Pg. 201-202)
He says of holographs, “In Star Wars the images are fully three-dimensional, allowing the subject to be viewed from every angle. Considering in some cases the holographic unit is sat in front of the viewer, the problem becomes, how do we get the image of the subject from all angles? At the moment we can only speculate on such a technology. When Anakin goes on a rampage in ‘Revenge of the Sith,’ Yoda and Obi-Wan watch the events unfold on a holoprojector… For this to work, the holoprojector would have to use some kind of sensor that can register a subject’s position and features within the particular field of view.” (Pg. 212)
He explains, “The Force incorporates ideas from many cultures such as the Chinese principle of Qi and the Roman Catholic god. The famous Jedi well-wish ‘May the Force be with you’ is an obvious refiguring of the saying ‘The Lord be with you.’ So it’s possible the Force is meant to be something more spiritual than scientific. Perhaps the Force represents an all-powerful and ever-present God, with the miracles of Jesus replaced by the abilities of the Jedi. Despite the possible symbolism, this abstract theory would bring us no closer to knowing what the Force REALLY is. The problem is, at a quick glance, these miracles and tricks appear to have no real mechanism through which they can be reliably understood.” (Pg. 232)
This book will be of keen interest to Star Wars fans who want to explore the feasibility of its fictional ideas.
Author Mark Brake wrote in the Introduction to this 2016 book, “For the better part of two decades, I’ve explored the relationship between space, science, and culture. This book does just that. Through the lens of Star Wars, we see the universe in a new light. Almost on a daily basis science unveils something new, and potentially shocking… In short, the universe is a strange place. Star Wars is a response to this cultural shock---the shock of finding ourselves in an increasingly marginal position in a hostile cosmos. The stories of Star Wars help us come to terms with this new universe unveiled by science. Star Wars works by conveying the taste, the feel, and the human meaning of the findings of science. Star Wars puts the stamp of humanity back onto the universe. It makes human what was once alien.”
He notes, “To maintain its crew’s well-being, a station needs like support systems … However, reduced gravity can also lead to various health problems such as bone and muscle atrophy… Earth’s gravitational attraction is due to its huge mass, but … assuming Death Star I has a diameter of 75 miles and a mass of 134 quadrillion tons… we can work out the gravitational force at its surface… a person weighing approximately seventy kilograms would feel a gravitational pull of about a quarter that of Earth’s. This would be more than the gravity felt on the moon… Another way to produce a gravitational-type force is to spin the craft like a merry-go-round… On a spacecraft, that pinning against the wall would feel similar to the way gravity acts to pin us down. The wall would effectively become our down, and the center of the spin would become our up. Using this idea, engineers have proposed the creation of a giant bicycle wheel habitat… this idea was … featured in ‘2001: A Space Odyssey.’” (Pg. 32-33)
He explains, “[Han Solo claimed that the Millennium Falcon] ‘made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs!’ In case you didn’t know, distance can have many units; one of which is the parsec. A parsec is … equivalent to how far light can travel in 3.26 years, which is nineteen trillion miles. That’s more than five thousand times the distance to Pluto. So Han Solo’s claim is that the Millennium Falcon made the Kessel Run in less than 230 trillion miles… this is 4.5 times further than the brightest star in the sky, Sirius. This is a distance that can only be achieved through hyperspace.” (Pg. 38)
He acknowledges, “We are a very, very long way from interstellar travel. The major problem is how to support life on such extreme journeys… imagine trying to leave the solar system. That being said, we have managed to send something that far. It’s … the Voyager I space probe, launched in 1977, [which] is now more than twenty billion kilometers away (134 times the distance from the Earth to the Sun)… In perspective, if it were heading in the direction of the nearest star, Proxima Centauri, it would still take more than 73,700 years to get there.” (Pg. 46)
Of the emergence of Life on Tatooine, he comments, “It’s evident that Tatooine has oxygen. Otherwise, Luke and his family would not be able to breathe there unaided… However, since there appears to be a serous lack of plant life… Where is the oxygen coming from? Ruling out the possibility of vast colonies of oxygen-producing bacteria existing somewhere on the planet, there has to be another option. It’s possible that the oxygen was produced in the past when Tatooine had a climate that could support a great deal of plant life. It’s been calculated that if photosynthesis suddenly stopped and no more oxygen were released on Earth, it would take … more than thirty-five thousand years to deplete the oxygen through respiration. So we could potentially be seeing Tatooine … after the loss of its main oxygen producers.” (Pg. 96)
About antigravity proposals, he observes, “If we want to defy gravity by hovering, we’re currently limited to technologies such as lighter-than-air crafts, vehicles with ducted fans… rotary wings, or jet propulsion. These technologies only work up to a maximum altitude or ceiling, above which there isn’t enough air pressure for them to function properly. The operational ceiling of repulsorlift technology … [is] meant to work by pushing against a planet’s gravity. So its operational ceiling would be the altitude at which gravity is too weak for the repulsorlift engines to support [Cloud City’s] weight. This antigravity is ubiquitous in the Star Wars universe, but nothing like it exists in the real world… As of right now, though… it looks as if the idea of a floating city just isn’t feasible.” (Pg. 105)
He says of the Force, “The Jedi are an exclusive organization of force-sensitive individuals, but when we eliminate the element of the Force, we see how similar they are to individuals in reality. They represent a hope of achieving something beyond ourselves, whether it’s superhuman powers, or a connection with some entity that’s bigger than us yet within us all. George Lucas said, ‘I put the Force into the movies in order to try to awaken a certain kind of spirituality in young people. More a belief in God than a belief in particular, you know, religious system.” (Pg. 150)
He states, “According to Star Wars canon, a tractor beam works by manipulating gravitational forces to grab objects… Where does modern science stand on this matter? According to Einstein’s theory of relativity, gravity is caused by a warping of space-time due to the presence of matter or energy… a tractor beam … could warp the space-time in front of an object casing the object to fall towards the warped region. The problem is that as far as we currently know, gravity cannot be focused; it operates in every direction from its source… Therefore gravity is possibly not a good solution unless a way can be found to control it and shield it from particular directions.” (Pg. 201-202)
He says of holographs, “In Star Wars the images are fully three-dimensional, allowing the subject to be viewed from every angle. Considering in some cases the holographic unit is sat in front of the viewer, the problem becomes, how do we get the image of the subject from all angles? At the moment we can only speculate on such a technology. When Anakin goes on a rampage in ‘Revenge of the Sith,’ Yoda and Obi-Wan watch the events unfold on a holoprojector… For this to work, the holoprojector would have to use some kind of sensor that can register a subject’s position and features within the particular field of view.” (Pg. 212)
He explains, “The Force incorporates ideas from many cultures such as the Chinese principle of Qi and the Roman Catholic god. The famous Jedi well-wish ‘May the Force be with you’ is an obvious refiguring of the saying ‘The Lord be with you.’ So it’s possible the Force is meant to be something more spiritual than scientific. Perhaps the Force represents an all-powerful and ever-present God, with the miracles of Jesus replaced by the abilities of the Jedi. Despite the possible symbolism, this abstract theory would bring us no closer to knowing what the Force REALLY is. The problem is, at a quick glance, these miracles and tricks appear to have no real mechanism through which they can be reliably understood.” (Pg. 232)
This book will be of keen interest to Star Wars fans who want to explore the feasibility of its fictional ideas.
September 1, 2017
Star Wars is such a popular saga that millions of people are familiar with. Since it's science fiction, it leads us to wonder whether the technology and concepts in it will always stay as fiction or if they are scientifically or theoretically possible. That is what this book is about; it answers questions that many who watched it have thought of at some point. Every chapter is titled with a question. For example, is Darth Vader technology really possible?
When I picked this for my summer reading, I was very excited. Recently, I had become interested in physics, and I pondered on whether Star Wars was scientifically sound or if the technology in it could be achieved. As I continued to read, however, the excitement wore off as I realized that most of the answers or solutions to each chapter were theoretical or not scientific. On the other hand, it does stir curiosity within one to look further into the topic. It never says that something (such as space travel) is impossible. Instead, the book encourages us that traveling at the speed of light and other unlikely stuff may be attainable through further discoveries.
One thing I would like to change about the book is the ending. It ends with just another chapter answering a question. It would have been nice to read a conclusion or afterword to the book.
Star Wars, especially teens, fanatics interested in science would like this book. If you like straight-up hard facts, this book is not for you since it answers with a lot of theories and unlikely possibilities. If you like books with a great, captivating plot, this book is not for you since it's more of a Question & Answer book. This book is something more for avid readers because if you're not interested in science or star wars, you'll find this book boring.
When I picked this for my summer reading, I was very excited. Recently, I had become interested in physics, and I pondered on whether Star Wars was scientifically sound or if the technology in it could be achieved. As I continued to read, however, the excitement wore off as I realized that most of the answers or solutions to each chapter were theoretical or not scientific. On the other hand, it does stir curiosity within one to look further into the topic. It never says that something (such as space travel) is impossible. Instead, the book encourages us that traveling at the speed of light and other unlikely stuff may be attainable through further discoveries.
One thing I would like to change about the book is the ending. It ends with just another chapter answering a question. It would have been nice to read a conclusion or afterword to the book.
Star Wars, especially teens, fanatics interested in science would like this book. If you like straight-up hard facts, this book is not for you since it answers with a lot of theories and unlikely possibilities. If you like books with a great, captivating plot, this book is not for you since it's more of a Question & Answer book. This book is something more for avid readers because if you're not interested in science or star wars, you'll find this book boring.
August 30, 2017
The Science of Star Wars is an informative book about how the star wars universe correlates with our own and the endless possibilities of space travel and colonizing new worlds. This book gives us an idea of how far we are from space travel and just how vast our galaxy is. I rated this book a four out of 5 because I really liked how the book talked about the possibility of alien life and how we may be able to find worlds that are almost the same as our own, but I didn't like how the chapters dragged on for more than they needed to. It felt like the chapters got their point across and explained certain things but after that it filled it's pages with other things that weren't really understandable and therefore useless filler. If I were to change something about the book that would change it from a good four out of five score to an amazing five out of five score, I'd reduce the amount of pages that each chapter had, talk more about space travel and alien life in the earlier chapters to prevent boredom, and leave the not so interesting stuff for the end of the book. I'd recommend this book to my english teacher, some nerdy friends that like this kind of stuff, and maybe my younger brother. Basically this book is for someone that likes to sit down with a long and complicated book and just read and think about the big what if scenarios that this book introduces to you.
November 6, 2023
I wanted to like this book, but unfortunately it proved too light in actual scientific discussion. It varied from chapter to chapter, ranging from a modest amount of science to scarcely any science at all.
Each chapter in this book runs roughly five pages, which lends itself to casual reading. Although each chapter is entitled with a question, the author may or may not actually answer the question. And this isn't a literary device, setting up a big question to be answered in a subsequent chapter. Each chapter is independent of the others, as if this is a collection of articles from a periodical.
What I was expecting was full-length chapters, each diving in depth into a scientific area, perhaps astrophysics or evolution, discussing the major principles and how they might relate to interplanetary travel or alien biology. Instead we get some hand-waving about faster-than-light travel and how we don't currently know how to but future scientists might, with no discussion of what relativity has to say on the matter.
I'm not really sure who the audience for this book is. It seems to be for someone with a basic understanding of science who doesn't want to feel lost in a bunch of science jargon. But is that person likely to pick up a book entitled "The Science of Star Wars"? Ultimately, the book seemed more like a kicking-off point for thought experiments or discussion about the depiction of science in the Star Wars universe rather than answering the very questions it poses.
Each chapter in this book runs roughly five pages, which lends itself to casual reading. Although each chapter is entitled with a question, the author may or may not actually answer the question. And this isn't a literary device, setting up a big question to be answered in a subsequent chapter. Each chapter is independent of the others, as if this is a collection of articles from a periodical.
What I was expecting was full-length chapters, each diving in depth into a scientific area, perhaps astrophysics or evolution, discussing the major principles and how they might relate to interplanetary travel or alien biology. Instead we get some hand-waving about faster-than-light travel and how we don't currently know how to but future scientists might, with no discussion of what relativity has to say on the matter.
I'm not really sure who the audience for this book is. It seems to be for someone with a basic understanding of science who doesn't want to feel lost in a bunch of science jargon. But is that person likely to pick up a book entitled "The Science of Star Wars"? Ultimately, the book seemed more like a kicking-off point for thought experiments or discussion about the depiction of science in the Star Wars universe rather than answering the very questions it poses.
December 23, 2018
I saw this in Half Price Books and thought about how cool it would be for my boyfriend as a Christmas gift since he's really into Star Wars. While I myself am not a Star Wars buff by any means, I do enjoy a good nonfiction science read, so I decided to pick it up before I gave it to him. It was pretty enjoyable; some of the topics were more interesting than others for me, but I liked the variety. Topics ranged from Aliens to Space Travel to whether humans on Earth could ever harness the Force like the Jedi do. I read this all the way through from start to finish, but you definitely don't have to since the individual chapters are very short and self-contained. The main problem I had with it was the organization; it seemed like some sections were written before others, but then compiled out of order. So I'd be reading and a particular word would be mentioned that I didn't know, but a few sections later, the word would be defined. It was a bit all over the place. Despite that, I liked this book, and I really think my boyfriend will too.
September 14, 2018
I would rate this higher if you consider yourself a more intense Star Wars fan than most , but it is a fun read nonetheless. As a fan , but not a acolyte, I felt some topics were a bit of a stretch, but I completely acknowledge that this could be due to my level of interest. My biggest bone of contention with this book is that I don’t really see Star Wars as science based; it is a fantasy set in a different locale. The book kind of proves my point : given the science surrounding the construction and operation of the Death Star, you have to conclude that , in a roundabout way, the author is saying both are impossible. Star Trek ( and I am about the same degree of fan) at least seems to start with , well, science?
If you love the sandbox, this is a great book . If you just have a casual interest, it will seem excessive.
If you love the sandbox, this is a great book . If you just have a casual interest, it will seem excessive.
July 25, 2018
Mark Brake & Jon Chase's "The Science of Star Wars: The Scientific Facts Behind the Force, Space Travel and More!" is a book that attempts to justify a lot of the science in the Star Wars universe as how it relates to reality as well as practicality. The book is divided into 5 distinct sections which have very small questions that it tries to answer although it does so in a way that is beyond choppy & makes the book very hard to read. Additionally, the book relies on we the reader having an in depth knowledge of Star Wars canon (especially w/ regards to the movies) which can be a bit hard to do especially if you haven't seen things in a while. Overall, this is a book that I'd only recommend for the die-hard fans & not a casual one as myself which can make this book even harder to read.
May 20, 2024
Anyone can enjoy the Star Wars movies without giving a lot of thought to the tech that makes the whole thing possible--I've personally seen A New Hope over 30 times and never get tired of it--but when I came across a listing of this book, I knew I wanted to read it. Authors Brake and Chase have managed, in a style that makes the whole thing comprehensible even to the tech-challenged, to offer very plausible explanations for the SW Galaxy itself, the Death Star, spacecraft, distances, the Falcon's trip through the asteroid field, why SW starships bank and loop, the possibility of life on other worlds, and much more. (Oddly, they never addressed the issue of how something as large as the Empire can be held together without some analog of interstellar radio; when I was writing a lot of SW fanfic, I solved the problem with "hypercom," a form of radio that depends on tachyons, a hypothetical particle that always travels faster than light and exists in Hilbert space, where nothing can travel *slower* than light.) The only place they really fall down is in trying to explain the Force--which even Ben Kenobi couldn't: "It's an energy field created by all living things... Stretch out with your *feelings*!"
Be sure not to confuse this book with Jeanne Cavelos's, even though they have the same title.
Be sure not to confuse this book with Jeanne Cavelos's, even though they have the same title.
March 9, 2018
This was really more of a look at scientific topics that relate in some way to various ideas present in Star Wars. As such, it was somewhat tedious at times, since Star Wars, while technically science fiction and featuring spaceships and such, really isn't that firmly based in science, so there was a lot of "we can't make things work with the understanding and technology we have" in this book. That gets old after a while, but other parts of the book were somewhat interesting, since I am interested in some of the topics. I just felt like this book didn't do all that well with the topic, and that a bit more depth might have helped.
August 1, 2019
I only got a couple of chapters in before I gave up. I was hoping that it would be like other "The Science of..." books that I've read, in which the authors would try to explain concepts within media with science and speculate as to whether or not they're possible. This book reads more like someone who was given an outline and wrote a few overview paragraphs for each section without trying to go into too much detail. It's possible that I'm being too harsh, since I didn't get very far into the book. It's not awful writing at all, just not at all what I was hoping for. If you enjoyed it, cool beans. It's just not for me.
August 31, 2017
The Science Of Star Wars was an interesting book. It talks,well,the The science IN star wars! It compares star wars logic to realitys logic alot in this book like how a light saber works or how much does the death star cost.regardless this book only works if you are a fan of star wars. If your not a fan of star was and you don't know anything about star wars,then this book won't make sense to those you. So if your a star was fan and you like reading, I recommend this book to you.
By the way. this review was a school project.
By the way. this review was a school project.
June 14, 2019
I think you have to be a real Star Wars fan to enjoy this book. It's entire premise is really "Is it possible Star Wars universe could be real?" and then proceeds to suggest implausible twists to science that might make it so. There is lots of science in here, but connected by strange twists and turns and never dealt in anything resembling a coherent fashion. Oh, and there seems to be a bit of confusion about what ideas should be credited to Star Wars and what to Science Fiction in general. Ok. Entertaining in a tongue in cheek sort of way. But certainly not recommended.
March 7, 2020
Very disappointing. Written in such a way that it was difficult to separate facts from fiction. That is to say what was strictly « made up » or impossible from what présent or near future technologies could do what we saw in Star Wars. At the onset it was different than what I had anticipated; I expected to be introduced to how the « creators » of Star Wars had elaborate their universe on extrapolations of modern Physics or biology. Instead it felt like the confused rambling of a confused scientist.
September 19, 2021
I had a hard time finishing this. Although, I appreciate how this book was written in simple terms that it was good enough to understand the basics.
It was literally an explanation to everything “science” in Star Wars. Like how and what possible materials we need to build an actual Death Star. How much do we need to spend, how long will it take to build etc.
Overall, it did not capture the intensity of the Star Wars universe and how it affects the future of science. I think the author needs to do more research.
It was literally an explanation to everything “science” in Star Wars. Like how and what possible materials we need to build an actual Death Star. How much do we need to spend, how long will it take to build etc.
Overall, it did not capture the intensity of the Star Wars universe and how it affects the future of science. I think the author needs to do more research.
February 20, 2019
3 stars might be a bit generous. I think I was expecting something different from this. What it is is some pretty deep science, trying to explain some of the sci-fi aspects of Star Wars. I'm a star wars fan, but I'm not a hardcore fanatic. I think you need to be pretty hardcore for this book to appeal to you. That said, parts of this were pretty interesting. I especially enjoyed the information about exoplanets, and the coat of building the first Death Star.
July 24, 2018
This is the most boring book about both science and star wars that I have read. the science barely hangs on to the world of star wars and the stuff about the world, such as details about the millennium falcon read like they are out of a companion book. I'm still deciding whether to finish it at all at this point.
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