The Physics of the Buffyverse (Paperback)

~ (Author) "One starry night, Willow and her girlfriend, Tara, are gazing at the constellations when they spot a meteor streaking across the sky..." (more)
Key Phrases: hagfish slime, vengeance demon, dimensional portals, Team Angel, Los Angeles, Miss Kitty (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

There's science beneath the fantasy in the beloved television series about a teenage girl battling monsters in her California exurb, insists this lightweight pop-science primer. Science writer Ouellette (Black Bodies and Quantum Cats) hopscotches through the fictive world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spinoff Angel to rationalize their outlandish goings-on and mine heuristics that illustrate scientific principles. She compares exotic demons to real animals, draws lessons on Newtonian kinematics from Buffy's kickboxing, susses conservation laws in Buffy's economy of magic and compares Buffy's fight against evil to mankind's doomed struggle against entropy. Many Buffyverse plot devices (teleportation, time loops, alternate dimensions) lead Ouellette to advanced physics concepts (wormholes, relativity, quantum entanglement) that are equally weird and esoteric. Here, unfortunately, the author's sketchy disquisitions fall back on strained metaphors ("Just like the couplings... between the various characters in the Buffyverse, each iteration of string theory is connected to another through various dualities") and opaque analogies ("[i]t's best to think of imaginary time as a direction of time that runs at right angles to real time") that laymen will find as baffling as a runic scroll in a dead language. Too often, Ouellette's treatment comes across the way science does on Buffy—as a breezy, jargon-filled, unenlightening gloss on some fanciful spectacle. (Jan.)
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From Booklist

Vampires and demons might be regarded as the stuff of fantasy writers' imaginations, but science writer Ouellette finds that real-world science can indeed be applied to the universe of the cult TV showsBuffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Despite the title--which owes a debt to the 1995 tome The Physics of Star Trek--Ouellette doesn't limit herself to physics; she also takes a look at the biological and chemical workings of the Buffyverse. Ouellette explains the ins and outs of vampire physiology, discusses why Buffy's fighting techniques are successful, and even delves into robotics and AI technology as seen on the show, and in our world. Not everything is scientifically sound--Ouellette argues against the possibility of telekinesis based on the amount of energy it would require--but she presents a strong case for many of the seemingly impossible aspects of the world Buffy and her friends inhabit. All the while, she makes the science accessible, guaranteeing that fans of the show will be receptive. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (December 26, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0143038621
• ISBN-13: 978-0143038627
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #607,090 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable and Educational, February 8, 2007

By	SciFiChick "www.SciFiChick.com" (Fishers, IN USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

The Physics of the Buffyverse, by Jennifer Ouellette is an in-depth look at the science behind the hit shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Ouellette pulls from a wide variety of examples of extraordinary monsters and happenings from the Buffyverse and explains how they might be possible in the real world, and how they'd work. She often compares vampires and other demons' abilities to the nature of common animals and insects in Ouellette's section on biology.

I was afraid that this might be a bit over my head, since my favorite subject wasn't physics. But Ouellette does a wonderful job of explaining the science in layman's terms, complete with the occasional illustration to drive her points. I found a lot of the facts behind "what is possible and why" pretty interesting. From how someone the size of Buffy could toss a larger man to theories on time manipulation, Ouellette covers a large range of topics and conjectures.

If you're a big fan of Buffy and Angel, and would like learning more about how things work in the Buffyverse, this book is for you.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars dellightful fun!, March 30, 2007

By	J. Weber (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

Not a "Buffy" fan but had heard about the show many times during it's long run. I came across a review of this book and was instantly intrigued by the concept! I thought it was almost rebellious to combine the previously tedious and boring subject of physics with a television show, especially Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I find the book captivating and easy to read. I'm not plowing through it cover to cover but reading some every few days and the writer is a hoot AND I think I'm learning something at the same time. A real pleasure. Kindof makes me wish I had had a teacher as interesting when I was in school.

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars fun convergence of science and Buffy, January 21, 2007

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Jennifer Ouellette analyzes the Buffy and Angel TV shows through the spectrum of science using several disciplines besides the obvious misleading title Physics to include zoology, and several branches of math (when did a curve become the shortest distance between two points?). Fans of the two related series will enjoy the deep insight into the biology of vampires, demons and other supernatural essences as much as the deep look into robotics. Also adding fun to the tale is the theory behind multidimensional portals such as wormholes and the energy displacement physics of a witch's spell. Obviously targeting fans of the Buffyverse, but within that circle to an even more limited cell of those who enjoy reading the complexities of how string theory applies to the multiverse of vampire slayers. In short this reviewer enjoyed the convergence of science and Buffy, but not as much as my husband who tries to keep current on the latest theories in science and math.

Harriet Klausner