Customer Reviews

Science of Doctor Who

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

To fully appreciate this book, I think you need to be like my husband and I who read it outloud to each other. I've been a Whovian since I was a child, I'm talking since I was four years old way back in the early 1970s. My husband has a degree in physics and taught it for a few years. So a great book about science and Doctor Who had to meet a high standard around our house.

This book meets that standard. First, it is clear that Paul Parsons knows his Whovian universe. Not just the classics, not the new series, but it all. He pulls in examples from across the decades to demonstrate how the show has developed or maintained ideas about history, the future, humanity and alien life. Secondly, while my husband noted a handful of problematic explanations of science and I could nitpick about a few historical and social comments, by and large we found the discussion and diagrams useful.

The premise of the book is really to gauge how the world of Doctor Who fits into our current understanding of how things work through all branches of social and physical sciences. The book is divided into four Part which cover the Doctor and time travel, aliens including humans, technology, and journeys into the truly unknown and fundamental questions of the universe. There are a total of 35 relatively short chapters making it easy to read.

He covers all 11 doctors, including the brief glimpse of Matt Smith at the end of 10th doctor's tenure. Indeed the book has been repeatedly updated and expanded over a few years and I hope it continues to be revised every few years to cover changes in science and in the show.

Over all a very enjoyable and educational book.

The science of Dr who is a clever little book. It attempts to rationalize the scientific and magical events, species, and technologies by applying current physical and biological laws. It has a healthy element of humor and whimsy. The author has clearly done his homework and refers to the work of experts in their fields. He appears to have forged personal relationships with the experts he has consulted. The author has an encyclopedic knowledge of the Dr. Who series from the very beginning to the present day. I found it an enjoyable and entertaining read.

I was hoping for a trip through the history of the Dr. Who series with the science explained as we went. However, this is not what this book is about.

This is also not a book for beginners to the Dr. Who series. It is primarily a science book (though written in a 'popular science' manner). The tie with Dr. Who gives Parsons a whole range of jumping off points to get into his science.

I'm not an expert on Dr. Who or science, but I have an interest in both. But, I have not judged the book any less because my expectations were not the goal of the author. Taken for what has been written, it is very informative. It really helps if you are very knowledgeable about Dr. Who and want to learn science.

The science seems sound and most of it is explained so I could, if not 'understand' it, I could at least get the general feel for it.

I enjoyed reading this book that takes the fantasy of Dr. Who and shows where real science collides. You learn about how Time Lords have two hearts and then how, in nature, other animals have similar anatomy and the concept of a human like creature having two hearts doesn't seem so far fetched. This book isn't exactly a quick read and I found myself re-reading passages multiple times. I loaned it to a younger reader who is a huge Dr. Who fan and she devoured it in a day. However, when I asked her if she enjoyed it and read all of it, she said it was "pretty good" and she skipped the more "sciencie" parts.

The book goes into a great amount of detail. The author explores the deepest and most popular aspects of a show he is clearly passionate about, and comes up with clear and conceivable answers, all based on real science. An excellent read.

I will assume, of course, that anyone bothering to read this review is a fan of Doctor Who. Otherwise, why even consider this book? The question then becomes: is this a book worth reading because it's good or because you simply are interested in all things Doctor Who? Fortunately, the answer is: it's worth reading because it is good.

As a physics teacher, I'm always on the lookout for user-friendly writing to introduce concepts to my students. The concepts he talks about are, for the most part, beyond the scope of an introductory course but there is definitely some useful stuff here and plenty to excite the imagination.

Parsons covers an incredible amount of ground in a short space. He talks about how the TARDIS might work, how various types of aliens might exist (Cybermen, Daleks, Slitheen, Autons, etc.), what robots might be like (hello, K-9!), using a sonic screwdriver, the possibility of E-space, and much, much more. I was amazed at the range of real science Parsons was able to cover. However, the chapters are short which keeps everything pretty digestible. That said, some of the scientific information is complex and, even with Parsons' skill, it can be difficult to make sense of it, especially with the short chapters.

Still, this is an excellent read. As a Doctor Who fan from childhood, I was particularly glad to see that the show is more than just a jumping-off point, as it is in some books of this type. Mr. Parsons is constantly making connections to the show and not just superficially. They drive his discussion of the science. Any Doctor Who fan with an interest in science should not pass up this book.

"Hey, it could happen!"
"Naw, that couldn't happen!"
"Now, that reminds me of something scientific."
"Do you remember when the Doctor . . .?"

And so on and so on and so on. This book attempts to blend science with science fiction, but probably only arrives with a text that a Dr. Who fan could enjoy. Because Dr. Who is so campy, however, I doubt that even Dr. Who fans will be too impressed. They don't expect the series to get mired down with serious science. Now if the book had been about the social commentaries of Dr. Who, it might have been a hit! While the series doesn't involved itself too much in science, it takes every shot it can get at pop culture and politics.

The Science of doctor who is kind of an oxymoron of a title. It manages references to Doctor Who all over and manages to reference all sorts of theories as well but the connections it makes is so tenuous and so contrived that it's almost criminal that person would make the sale.

There isn't a whole lot of Doctor Who and an awful lot of the science if very theoretical, it's not bad or boring but it really seems to go all over the place.

It really seems to me like it is a throw together book to manage to make a couple of bucks off the Dr. Who franchise.

I've been following the series for over 30 years. I take a lot of pleasure in the whole deal, but seriously this book wasn't the least bit fun.

If you absolutely positively have to have anything with the words "Doctor Who" on it then I suppose you might buy it, but I can't think of any solid reason otherwise.

I have only seen a couple of episodes of Dr. Who, but I found this book very enjoyable. The author doesn't make knowledge of the show critical, because he describes the people, situations, and gadgets being used on the show prior to any further discussion of the science related to them. And I should mention that the author doesn't just talk about the science of the show. He looks at the known science and then the potential for what happens in the show to someday actually happen. This is what made the book enjoyable to me. For example, there are a variety of weapons on the show like lasers, nuclear grenades, and sonic blasters. The author would describe the weapon's use in the show, and then he would tell us about the science encompassing the weapon. Then through discussions with others, he would tell us if there is current technology that is close the that on the show, if there is the potential for the development of the technology on the show, or if it was pure science fiction. It was really interesting to hear about how there is the potential for so many of the sci fi gadgets on the show to actually one day become a reality. And it was also interesting to hear about the things that just can't happen and why. And the variety of science covered was a plus. There was talk about various areas of physics, biology, anatomy, chemistry, etc. They covered time travel, high speed travel, long range space travel, various weapons, various ways to destroy things like stars and planets, the idea of sustaining life on other planets, how certain aliens like cyborgs could live and function. He managed to cover so much in such a little while, that I came away with an interest in seeing the show and also with some conversation worthy knowledge about a lot of science related to sci fi. I feel like I could sit down with Dr. Who fans, Star Trek fans, or Star Wars fans and share in the fun of discussing the science around any of the shows. I highly recommend the book.

The "Science of Doctor Who" targets fans of the show interested in the more "technical" aspects of time travel, robots, aliens and alien worlds, and Time Lord regeneration. Yes, only hardcore fans and science geeks need apply, hahahah. I proudly consider myself a big fan so the book is a perfect fit. Specialized though it is, Parsons really delivers for this core audience. He too is a lifelong Dr. Who fan, and it shines through in his exuberance with the subject matter (as does his Philosophy Ph.D in Cosmology).

Parson writes in an unassuming, straight forward manner, and though some of the science can get quite advanced, the plain language and his enthusiasm makes it easier to understand. The original show began airing before I was born, but I discovered it in reruns while in college and have been a fan ever since. I always thought of Dr. Who as more of a fantasy show rather than a hard SciFi one, but Parsons does a great job of examining the various concepts and exploring what we know now, what is possible and what could be. This is no dry overview, but is instead a dynamic book that follows the chronology of the show very closely, including the new series. I haven't seen the last couple of seasons, but reading TSoDW really gears me up to want to.

I devoured the book soon after it arrived from Amazon. It jumps right into some of the heavier topics like time travel and the physics of the TARDIS. This may make for more difficult reading for casual fans but I enjoyed it. I would have liked to see a little more attention given to time travel and the paradoxes it can create, but that is minor disappointment. If you've ever seen television shows like "The Science of Star Trek" or "The Science of Star Wars" or read The Physics of Star Trek or The Science of Star Wars, then you have a good idea of what to expect. Star Trek and Star Wars focus more on technology and gadgets, but the Dr. Who universe isn't too shabby in this regard either. Concepts introduced in the show but not overly explored are given more attention here, much to my delight. There are even some topics I never gave much though, but am glad that Parsons did. There are a few inaccuracies that I picked up on, but they didn't really detract from my reading enjoyment.

For the hardcore Dr. Who fans, this book delivers and is deserving of at least 4 stars. General readers, you can safely skip and not worry that you are missing out on great literature.