Customer Reviews

The Science of Star Wars: An Astrophysicist's Independent Examination of Space Travel, Aliens, Planets, and Robots as Portrayed in the Star Wars Films and Books

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Quality entertainment is its' own reward, so in many ways the plausibility of the scenarios is not an overriding concern. However, there is a threshold of believability that cannot be crossed, for if it is, it can cease to be entertainment. The quality of the entertainment has a great deal to do with the location of the threshold, if the story is very good, the bar is higher, but for a mediocre story it can be much lower. In the Star Wars movies, the bar is generally considered pretty low, as most people who watch them are fairly uncritical of the scientific basis for the events. George Lucas was brilliant when he opened the series with the phrase, " A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away." This is equivalent to the classic "Once upon a time" opening to fairy tales. By immediately giving the Star Wars events the status of a fairy tale, Lucas provides himself with a great deal of scientific poetic license in his Star Wars movies.
However, there are always people who examine the actions on the screen and consider the plausibility based on the current theories of science. In this book Cavelos critically examines the major events in the Star Wars series from the perspective of modern science. The opening chapter is a discussion of the major environments where the action takes place. It starts with the questions concerning how prevalent planets are in the universe. In this case, recent research indicates that there are an enormous number of planets, so the focus moves to planets that could support life, in particular, human life. Here, the odds drop substantially, as the range of temperature, gravity and atmosphere that humans can function in is in all cases very narrow. The existence of specific planets such as Tatooine with its' two suns, the moon "planets" of Endor and Yavin and the ice planet Hoth are all seriously examined. Given the constant number of new surprises that the study of planets in our solar system has provided, while unlikely, most of these environments cannot be ruled out.
Chapter two, which deals with the characteristics of alien life forms, was my favorite. Many of the main species, such as the Wookies, Hutts, Banthas, Jawas, and Ewoks are examined from a biological perspective. How their bodies are constructed and if they could function in their environment makes an interesting exercise in comparative biology. By examining Jar Jar Binks, one can reach many conclusions concerning how his species functions. This is a chapter that would make an excellent study topic in high school biology classes.
Chapters three and four deal with the technology, with chapter three devoted to the artificial intelligence (AI) of droids and four the technology of the spacecraft. Despite many problems in implementation, there appears to be no reason to doubt that droids with the capability of R2-D2 and C-3PO will eventually be constructed. However, the development of interstellar craft that travel through hyperspace will require substantial advancements in harnessing energy and the presence of scientific realities that we currently know nothing about.
The Force, that all-encompassing energy field, is the topic of the last chapter. It is also the most difficult to envision, although in many cases, it is just another name for God. The difference is of course that using the force would mean that an individual could channel the power of God for their own purposes, independent of the goodness rating of the action. Extra-sensory perception and the current "evidence" for it are also examined.
I am a devoted fan of Star Wars, and as I scientist I recognize when scientific laws are broken on the screen. Nevertheless, it was a very fun book to read, because there is scientific evidence that indicates that some of what happens in these movies could actually take place.

Let me start out by saying that I could hardly put this book down. Once I started, each chapter made me starve for the next. The book, as the title suggests, offers a scientific look with amazing theories and explanations to some of the concepts in the movie, "Star Wars." For example, one may ponder the existence of aliens and the ability to travel at light speed--or even faster! Well, this book provides a thorough look at these questions giving an opportunity for some very accomplished scientists in such fields as physics and statistics to share their views and offer a hypothesis. I especially enjoyed the chapter on 'The Force.' Here I found it incredibly interesting. For there is not only a physical scientific look at this phenomenon but also a parapsychological view, fusing physics, psychology, metaphysics and even quantum mechanics together. In conclusion, this book is an asset to anyone who has pondered the many what ifs... in life. A great read as well as a perfect look at the blending of "Star Wars" with science, the human experience and the human mind. Great Work.

This book is written in a readable way that touches on many of the major topics brought up by physics. I think it is a great starting point for those of us that wan't to leap into physics. Being thirteen I have to give her credit for making the book understandable, quantum mechanics is pretty hard to explain and it takes someone who knows what she's talking about to do so. It has brought me to the point where my mind begins to understand things, and starts asking questions! It has furthered my desire to be an astrophysicist and is quite a good book!

The author clearly loves Star Wars (original trilogy). She saw it when she was 17 and explains some interesting Cosmos (Carl Sagan) type concepts related to Star Wars. e.g. could a planet have 2 visible suns (as Luke looks), is there enough moisture for condensers on a desert planet, why Ewoks seem unlikely to have evolved the fighting tools they use in ROTJ, etc. Also, several other PhD types give various input in the chapters - like saying "we all know there is no explosion noise in space, but it makes the Sci-Fi movie fun". So, this would be a 4 star book for the select audience that is science geeks like me, and loves the original trilogy films. The 5th (of 5) chapters gets weak and lowers this book a star for me. The author covers "The Force." In this chapter she brings up Remote Viewing, ESP, clairvoyance, etc. with quotes from non-credible scientific types like Dr. Utts. My issue is that the author is scientific and wise enough to know science from pseudoscience yet gives far more credibility to farce. Dr. Utts is referenced on 13 pages with gems like "although each ESP experiment may be flawed, since all show some effect, there MUST be some real phenomenom there." Really? Try to get a peer-reviewed journal article published under that guise Dr. Utts. Meanwhile, voices of sanity like James Randi (his Flim Flam book is excellent by the way) get referenced on merely 4 pages. I understand the author wants to give "A New Hope" that these sci-fi fantasies are possible, an "Undiscovered Country" (ooops, Star Trek ref), but this is irresponsible to present known frauds from the fringe with equal (or in this case greater) treatment. The last 20% of the book really turned me off and it is a shame, because the prior 4 chapters, although more scientific than some may like, appealed to me. Also, I did enjoy that the author clearly loves the Star Wars movies and books. The Phantom Menaces stuff is tacked on and other than the minor stuff about Jar Jar Binks eye placement and heat disapating ears, nothing to write hope about. However, I'm an original trilogy guy, and that is what this book dives into - so that is good too. I would hope a future edition would refute the pseudoscience about ESP and other stuff as fiction (as the author does do well with the Leia in the Box argument about quantum mechanics).

What I loved about the Star Wars saga is the fact that travel
across the galaxy is as commonplace and taken for granted as
car and air travel is today. And I love the alien world our
heroes visit like the Fourth Moon of Yavin,the Moon of Endor,
Tatooine,Hoth,Bespin,Dagobah and Coruscant.

This book explores the possibility of rapid interstellar travel
and alien planets and extraterrestrial life and the even how to
build lightsabers and blasters with incredible detail. Cavelos

explains that such breaktroughs may or may not happen in a few
thousand years. Who knows what breaktroughs humanity will make?
We may not be at war with aliens or other civilizations and I
hope it won't happen. But I do hope that someday people will be
able to travel to other solar systems and galaxies as quickly
and easily as crossing our oceans. Cavelos gives interesting
detail on wormholes,warp drives,and even what it would be like
to travel at warp drive with the stars stretching into streaks
of light. That will be a very exciting time. I hope that galactic
travel and even intergalctic travel will be used for tourism as
well as exploration and colonization. People will travel to exotic planets and moons like Yavin 4,Endor,Hoth,Coruscant etc.
and even view our own galaxy from above as a glowing celestial
spiral. That would be a very exciting time!!Perhaps it
will happen in the next thousand years or so.

I loved this book. Like all Star Wars books I read, I could barely put it down. The only reason it's not perfect is that the whole Star Wars series is very loosely based on science, so this book really has a very shaky fundamental basis. The fact that Jeanne Cavelos can write a great book around this weak foundation, though, is a testament to the skill with which the author writes.

I am not a huge, or even big Star Wars fan (heck, I didn't even like the first one), but I loved this book. A great concept, very well done. I could not put it down.

If you're a person that loves to rationalize every detail, this book is definitely for you. In my opinion, it was somewhat depressing due to the fact that the author proved that so many things fetured in star wars could never happen. It was also interesting, though, especially about the droids and midi-chlorians (paperback edition).

I'm only a freshman and high school, and I understood everything perfectly. It was nice that the author explained what equation meant what and so on. I basically rated this book only three stars because, if you're not a science lover, there are some lulls that become really boring. Overall, this was a very interesting book.

This book is more about using scenarios from Star Wars as a basis to explain scientific principles than it is about trying to find scientific explanations for how things work in Star Wars. It serves as a fun way to get young people into science and it's those people who would benefit most from the book. It demonstrates science in a simple and clear way and is often accompanied by humorous references which I really enjoyed.

Sorry to geek-out, but I couldn't help but nitpick. From a star wars fan's perspective the book suffers slightly in its attempt to take the concept seriously. I feel that a more thorough understanding of some of the obscure information from Star Wars would have helped. For instance the author devotes a lot of thought to how realistic a Star Wars Galaxy is that is populated with so many humans, humanoid aliens, and human-habitable planets.

In a typical galaxy that can be be assumed to have many billions of planets, we only see about a hundred or so different planets and species in Star Wars. It makes sense from the perspective of the story that it would only focus on those that are human like, and not the countless other non-human like environments that there may be.

Although the author does put some consideration in the concept, it makes more sense that the locales in Star Wars as we see them are more influenced by space colonization than by specific planetary evolution. The civilization in Star Wars dates back about one million years and it is likely that the species we see most are descended from a group of humanoid creatures which gives more plausibility to their form. In fact, all of the humans in Star Wars originate from the Corellian solar system, which was created by advanced technical means rather than natural planetary formation.

I was born on Star Wars day, May 4th, so I am a huge fan of everything having to do with Star Wars. It may be a coincidence. "They say May the fourth be with you" instead of the famous quote from the movies, "May the force be with you". Anyways, I had to read this book once I saw it on the shelf. I have seen every movie a thousand times, and I have all the movies on DVD and VHS. I thought I knew everything about Star Wars until I started reading this book. I realized that I did not know why and how everything happened or may eventually happen. The book also explained if we humans in the 21st century could make droids like C-3PO and R2-D2, lightsabers, ships that go faster than the speed of light, and much more. The Science of Star Wars is a fascinating book, full of information into the "whys" and the "hows" of the Star Wars universe. My favorite chapter was the chapter that explained the Force using what we understand right now about physics and biology. The only bad thing I have to say about the book is that the author explained things in a way that I could not really understand. The book was well-written, and the information that was in it explained very well, but hard to understand for a high-schooler that has not even heard of half of the things mentioned in the book. All-in-all, I give this book a five-out-of-five stars.