SCIENCE OF THE X FILES

by Michael White

Genres: Nonfiction, Science

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Michael White was a British writer who was based in Perth, Australia. He studied at King's College London (1977–1982) and was a chemistry lecturer at d'Overbroeck's College, Oxford (1984–1991).
He was a science editor of British GQ, a columnist for the Sunday Express in London and, 'in a previous incarnation', he was a member of Colour Me Pop. Colour Me Pop featured on the "Europe in the Year Zero" EP in 1982 with Yazoo and Sudeten Creche and he was then a member of the group The Thompson Twins (1982). He moved to Australia in 2002 and was made an Honorary Research Fellow at Curtin University in 2005.
He was the author of thirty-five books: these include Stephen Hawking: A Life in Science; Leonardo: The First Scientist; Tolkien: A Biography; and C. S. Lewis: The Boy Who Chronicled Narnia. His first novel Equinox – thriller, an occult mystery reached the Top Ten in the bestseller list in the UK and has been translated into 35 languages. His non-fiction production included the biography Galileo: Antichrist. Novels following Equinox include The Medici Secret, The Borgia Ring and The Art of Murder.
White wrote under two further names, Tom West and Sam Fisher. He used the latter pseudonym to publish the E-Force trilogy, State of Emergency, Aftershock, and Nano.
A further novel by White, The Venetian Detective, features characters including Galileo and Elizabeth.
White wrote a biography of Isaac Newton, The Last Sorcerer. He was both short-listed and long-listed for the Aventis prize. Rivals was short-listed in 2002, and The Fruits of War long-listed in 2006. He was also nominated for the Ned Kelly Prize for First Novel (for Equinox in 2007).

Reviews

[JP · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is an hidden gem. bought it because I really loved the series and once I started I could not put it down. it has the scientific deconstruction of all the paranormal phenomena from the x-files and you won't be less than amazed on how much you can learn from it!

[Elizabeth Suggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a pretty fun read. The book plays with a variety of themes talked about in the X-Files and goes through a list of ideas on whether or not these could be true or false. I enjoyed it, and it inspired me in several points—especially with the ideas on where the origins of vampires, loch ness, werewolves, etc. came from. As well as whether it's actually possibly that aliens have visited us, will visit us, or currently ARE visiting us.

This book is a little dated, but a lot of the theories and ideas still ring true. I'd love to read an updated version now that we have actual evidence of blackholes and of many other new theories.