Customer Reviews

The Real Science Behind the X Files: Microbes, Meteorites, and Mutants

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If you are an X Files fan, or even if you are not, 'The Real Science Behind the X Files' is a highly entertaining and informative romp through the many and varied fields of science touched upon by this unique and innovative television series. You may be surprised to learn that the very concepts that seem far too fantastic to be true are actually the closest to reality. Think black oil worms are a figment of Chris Carter's imagination? Guess again! A one-celled creature known as Dictyostelium discoideum can excrete a chemical to summon its relatives which then arrange themselves into a multicellular slug-like creature, looking for all the world like those disgusting stars of many episodes, and of course, the X Files movie. As science advisor for the X Files, Dr. Simon provides the foundation in reality on which the series builds its stories. Her book will both educate and engage you, and give you a deeper appreciation for the wonders of science, both terrestial and extra-terrestial. Her sense of humour and her ability to explain technical concepts in 'reader friendly' language will keep you entertained. And you will come away with an even greater appreciation for the lengths the series will go to 'get it right'. Just check out the viral DNA sequence that flashes past the next time you watch 'Herrenvolk'. Yep, its the real thing! Buy this book for yourself, for the X Philes on your shopping list, and for anyone with any interest in what's hot in science these days. I guarantee you will learn a lot and you'll have fun in the process.

This book makes fascinating reading, even for the non-scientist and non X-File fan. Personally, my last forays into science were sometime in the tenth grade, and I've only seen the X-Files show sporadically. But Professor Simon explains the scientific rationale behind the episodes in such an entertaining and illuminating manner, I never missed a beat. She is a thoroughly competent scientist, but I think it's her excellent storytelling ability that sets this work apart. As someone who's tried to struggle through a number of "science for laypeople" books and put them down unfinished, I would recommend this book as a very entertaining read.

Anne Simon's "The Real Science Behind the X-Files" is my new favorite book. It addresses complex subject matter in a manner similar to that of Physicist Stephen Hawking...easy for the layman to understand and enjoy, and packed with enough hard core science for a true scientist to become captivated. And to top it all off, you've got Mulder and Scully as the leading characters. Simon does a magnificent job of illustrating exactly where the real science becomes science fiction, but gives due respect to that which is not yet proven or is knocking on the door of discovery. It makes you appreciate the "X-Files" a whole lot more knowing how much thought and effort goes into making the storylines as accurate as possible. Great for a casual read and a pleasantly entertaining learning experience.

This is a great book for X-Files fans, but also for anyone who has even a passing interest in science. If you think science is dull, boring, difficult, only for nerds or without a shred of imagination - read this book. It is filled with lots of scientific facts and anecdotes that are, sorry Chris Carter, better than the X-Files. It turns out real science is more interesting than science fiction. The book is written so people of all levels can understand the concepts behind the X-Files, and some other ideas that are at the forefront of scientific research in the world today. I wanted to share this with a lot of my friends, and not only my science friends. I never new science could be so exciting. It turns out, that, science, like everything else, needs a little bit of luck, hard work, and a lot of imagination to discover the "microbes, meterorites, & mutants" that make this planet go around. A great gift, and get one for yourself.

Not being a fan of the fantastically popular Fox series, I picked up this book as a curiosity, and was pleasantly surprised by the depth to which Simon, the "science advisor" to the show, goes to elaborate on some of the plots to the TV show. Simon is a molecular biologist, and her discussion tend toward cell biology, but are written with such clarity that even those largely ignorant of life sciences (like me) won't be put off. For instance, her discussion of the the mystery of aging goes on for a fairly dense 20 pages, having been introduced by the episode plot "Turning Back Time" where Mulder and Scully search for the missing Dr. Ridley, who was conducting illegal research aimed at modifying the process by which cells age and eventually die. Anyone who enjoys a good scientific detective story will enjoy this book. Simon presents countless real-life mysteries from the recent research of biologists and geneticists. My only real complaint was arriving at the end of the book and NOT finding a "recommended reading" list. Reading this book really piqued my interest in some of these scientific hunts.

First I'd like to say that you don't even have to have seen the X-Files to enjoy this book. Everything is explained within the book and the show is used more as a vehicle to introduce different scientific concepts than the book as a vehicle to hype the show.

It is a wonderful book in how broad a range of topics are covered, all in an entertaining and engaging manner. It turns the ordinary into the extradinary: Why men as more susceptable to certain types of genetic diseases; how we rely on foreign microbes for our health; why treating cancer is so difficult; why we are carbon-based instead of silicon-based; why we age and how we may one day slow the aging process; etc.

What brought me to this book was that it was an "also bought" from 'The Physics of Star Trek'. Before reading this book I had only seen the X-Files once or twice. After reading this book, not only am I going to watch the X-Files because it tries to be scientifically accurate (both in what is theoritcally possible as well as proven scientific facts and proceedures), but I'm going to keep this book handy because of all the knowledge I can gain by reading a few pages and refreshing myself on the information.

Engaging, erudite and totally accessible, Dr. Simon dazzles the reader with this treasure drove of a book, a book that can be enjoyed by both X-Files fans and casual viewers, and both the scientific community and lay people. I haven't read anything as fun on scientific phenomena as this book for a long time, not since Hawking's "Brief History of Time". Each chapter begins with a scene from the show, then unfolds into a fascinating treatise on a myriad of differing topics, including virology, molecular biology, astrophysics, geology and genetics. Her tone is humorous, ironic, at times conspiratory, but always enthusiastic and never condescending. That she is genuinely passionate about her field of research and the scientific principles in general is never in doubt. She must make for a hell of a teacher. As a woman in a scientific field who's also an avid X-Files fan, I take my hat off to Dr. Simon.

I love the X files and I'm a mixture of Mulder and Scully with regard to their beliefs. But after reading this book, I think I have become a scully!This book is so lucid and simple in its explanation of certain "paranormal" phenomenon. The author does a wondeful job combining biology and humour to explain to the lay person that not all things are paranormal and that if you do a little scientific research most of the things out there will make sense. All my knowledge on DNA, chromosomes, cancer comes from this book !Though she herself admits that not everything you see on the X files can be explained by science, most of the things that happen on a macro scale in the X files happen on a micro scale in real life. Genetic mutation is a reality, a virus surviving an cosmic travel is plausible, and so on. Finally, for those of you who are deceived by books written by the layperson/idiots/quacks, read this book and you will become fascinated as to what science has to offer.

Sexual tension aside, the coolest thing about this show seems to be the questions it poses about nature and science as we know it. And being a molecular biology student, I always get a kick out of shooting down the supposed theories that the show's characters spout out. It's hard sometimes to figure out if Chris Carter and the powers that be are really serious about certain phenomenons/ideas. This book clears it up nicely. Dr. Simon is completely knowledgeable about these topics and presents the information with much more gusto than your typical molecular biology textbook. I'd rather be tested on her book come final exams, but such is life! :)

This is a great book for people who watch the X-Files and pay attention to the stuff Scully talks about. It is interesting to know what Scully means when she mentions things like "DNA sequencing" and "scanning electron microscope". For the intellectual viewers of The X-Files, this tome is full of facts about the leading-edge science that is the backbone of the show.