Customer Reviews

The Physics of the Buffyverse

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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.

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.

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

The Buffyverse was very unusual, not in a bad way but not in a terribly good way either. The author was trying to teach physics by putting the concepts into a pop culture context. Since I have watched every season of Buffy, I thought I would be more familiar with the references Ouellette makes, but I found myself scratching my head often, going "I don't remember this," an effect I attribute to my age and not Ouellette's writing. While it is clear that Jennifer is very knowledgeable, and must be a huge Buffy fan, the association she creates between the Buffyverse and our universe feels contrived, almost forced. On the other hand, Ouellette must be congratulated for trying to popularize science and doing it in a way meant to be entertaining. People do not have a real appreciation of science and the elegance of the scientific method and that Ouellette is trying to correct this. Overall, the book was enjoyable to read, by far a better review of physics than The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene but was not as a worthwhile expenditure of time as Big Bang by Simon Singh.

Fun book about a difficult subject. I especially liked the author's explanations of how the martial arts use physics to enhance fighting abilities and the various explanations for alternate universes.

My wife introduced our foster daughter to the wonders of Joss Whedon's creation, going through our complete DVD collections of both _Buffy_ and _Angel_. Back in July of 2010 I heard Jennifer Ouellette speak at Convergence (The big Twin Cities science fiction convention), and decided it was time to read her book, _The Physics of the Buffyverse_.

Behind the fantastic properties of the vampires, demons, etc., there is actually a lot of good physics in the series. From electricity and the mechanics of martial arts to the Many World Interpretation of quantum mechanics, the writers of the series drew upon wide variety of concepts in physics. Ouellette neatly disentangles the real science from the fantastic elements, maintaining a witty style quite appropriate for the subject matter. It is absolutely non-technical--no math needed.

You actually might learn a few usable theories,concepts and principles while reading this book -Beware!