Must see, must read

I think I might have seen something like that - a virtual tour of an alien planet, using robotics and speculation as to what we might find and how we might go about discovering it ??

Actually, nuts, it wasn't that particular show but something along those lines. It was fascinating and I'm gonna go see if I can figure out what it was called.

Meantime, this is my favorite Physicist (aside from my niece who studies plasma physics and isn't published yet)

http://www.mkaku.org

This summer I plan to read his Beyond Einstein, and I'll share what I can figure out I've read some of his papers on String Theory and on my list of things to read is his: Parallel Worlds.

ETA: This is the program I remember watching: http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/alienplanet/splash.html

It was pretty interesting - they created an alien world with strange, yet logically thought out creatures, then supposed that we had sent intelligent robots to explore the planet, before risking human astronaughts. Some of the creatures were pretty far-fetched, but it is an alien world, so anything goes within the realm of physics. And they had really gone out of their way to take various non-Earth factors into consideration. Among my favorite of the creatures was a massive walking "hammerhead" that would hibernate for so many years, entire forests would grow on it's back, making it a virtual walking ecosystem when it had to get up and move to a new food source.

MidnightMuse said:

ETA: This is the program I remember watching: http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/alienplanet/splash.html

Click to expand...

Incredibly interesting, thanks for posting the link. Definitely some good inspiration there.

Neil DeGrasse Tyson

I was watching Book Events a while ago, and it featured astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson, with his book, Death by Black Hole: and Other Cosmic Quandaries, and WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW. I REALLY want to read some of his stuff. Quantum science and astrophysics have never been my strong point, but I've always found them interesting, so watching this was a real treat.

He explained everything from what a black hole is, to how it affects the universe around us, to why they exist- just, everything! It really was outstanding.

Has anyone read any of his books? If so, would you say it's worth buying?

Kind of surprised this hasn't been more popular. I got a few suggestions for must reads.
First up - the Science of The Discworld series. I know what you're thinking, 'What the hell kind of science can you have on a world that floats through space on the back of a giant turtle and four slightly less giant elephants?'
Well, the answer is - not very much. But these books don't aim to explain science on the Discworld, rather, they use the denizens of the Discworld to explain science in our world.
The books all have alternate chapters written by either Pratchett, or the two scientists he collaborated with. Pratchett's chapters tell the story of how the wizards at the Unseen University create another dimension that they call 'Roundworld' - that's right, it's our universe. They observe Roundworld and try to explain it's bizarre science. The scientist's chapters then go on to give real explanations of the science.
It works very well, giving a fresh view of science from the point of view of the bumbling wizards who know nothing about it.
An excellent series of books, with something for science newbies and also for the more knowledgeable.
First one

Second One

And the final one

Next up, A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson.
Another great intro to the world of science, it doesn't quite cover even nearly everything (after all, there's an awful lot of everything to cover) but what it does cover it does with an engaging and humerous simplicity that was always missing from those dry text books you had to read in school. Should be required reading on every science syllabus.

[URL="http://www.amazon.com/Short-History-Nearly-Everything/dp/076790818X/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-7266825-0612631?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1175206779&sr=8-1" ]On Amazon[/URL]

Final one for now - a magazine. New Scientist. I buy this from time to time and it has some great stuff in it. A lot of it goes way over my head ('It's all quantam!'), but what I do understand, I really enjoy.

Website

ETA - Almost forgot the two New Scientist books. They have a section in the magazine called 'The Last Word'. Readers send in any burning questions they have, and they are published for other readers to answer. They've published two compendiums made up of these questions - Does Anything Eat Wasps? and Why Don't Penguin's Feet Freeze?

Planet Earth

Has anyone seen this series on the discovery channel? I just tuned in for the caves series and Zowie!! I discovered new worlds for my fantasy novel. Sometimes the best alien world is right here on earth. It looks like Discovery is going to continue with reruns of their program for a few more weeks. It's on sunday night at 8pm. Luckily I was able to take notes on 'alien' creatures. Oh, and on the seas series, they had a creature called "Vampire Squid from Hell." I swear, that's its name. It's a squid but it has glowing eyes and little lights on the ends of its mantel. It waves them around and look like many eyes. then it fades into the darkness. What an incredible alien creature!!!! Here's a video of it, but the narration is in Japanese, but you get the idea: http://babblemur.com/blog/?p=972

Imagine something like that coming at your space ship. Anyway, if you can catch the reruns of Planet Earth, it'll be worth watching. Great ideas for an 'alien' world.

kim




kim

An excellent example of a one book fantasy story:

Howl's Moving Castle by Dianne Wynne Jones

I don't think I'll be in the majority here, but 1981's Heavy Metal.

Dancre said:

Has anyone seen this series on the discovery channel?

Click to expand...

The Planet Earth series is reason enough to buy a hi-def tv.

TsukiRyoko said:

I was watching Book Events a while ago, and it featured astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson, with his book, Death by Black Hole: and Other Cosmic Quandaries, and WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW. I REALLY want to read some of his stuff. Quantum science and astrophysics have never been my strong point, but I've always found them interesting, so watching this was a real treat.

He explained everything from what a black hole is, to how it affects the universe around us, to why they exist- just, everything! It really was outstanding.

Has anyone read any of his books? If so, would you say it's worth buying?

Click to expand...

Yes, I've read his first book "The Sky Is Not The Limit: The Adventures of An Urban Astrophysicist" and found it excellent on many levels. I must admit this one is more of a memoir than a hard-hitting science book, though it does have a chapter or two about science and the philosoply of it, and where "God" fits in. He wrote of his early interest in astronomy as a child, and of his sister helping him take his telescope to the top of the apartment building he lived in Brooklyn. I've not read any other book by him, but surely "Death by Black Hole" goes deeper into the science.

When I find myself enjoying a book as I did this one, I can only wonder how much of my interest is kept up by the subject matter, and how much of it is good writing. I'm sure it's some of both.

Has anyone been watching The Universe series on The History Channel? Great series so far IMO. Airs on Tues nights at 9PM eastern/8PM central. The way alot of educational series and cable shows have been going, it seems like they're splitting alot of 20 to 24 episodes in half and airing them with about 3 or 4 months between each half. The Universe should be getting close to ending for this first half but they replay them on various nights at around 12AM or 1AM central or so. I haven't exactly found an exact time yet it seems. But as soon as this first half of the season ends, I'm sure they'll have a marathon of them some weekend. I can't wait so I can tape 'em all at once.

Tirjasdyn said:

An excellent example of a one book fantasy story:

Howl's Moving Castle by Dianne Wynne Jones

Click to expand...

Really? I disagree. I find her books weakly written. My "Must Reads" in Fantasy are the Harry Potter books. Creative, imaginative and successful. All that because she wrote what she liked to read and write. She didn't try to cater to anyone.

Great thread. Mostly because I discovered that I'm not the only nut-job..

Firstly I want to add my praise to Neil DeGrasse Tyson. Not only does he explain things in an understandable manner, he's also deceptively funny.

Next, the Science of Discworld series is amazing. Funny AND educational. Our universe explained in contrast to a universe that's completely different (in Pratchett's words his universe doesn't function by laws and physics, but by common sense and consensus.)

Now for some other "must read/wach".

The documentary series "Time" (Day Time, Life Time, Earth Time and Cosmic Time), with Michio Kaku. Explains time in all the forms we've (we as in the human race ) discovered it by now.

The documentary series "Atom" (Sorry, can't find a listing of it anywhere) is also very educational (and entertaining), and I bet you can guess what it's about.

The first part of "WHAT THE #$*! DO WE KNOW?!" (before it goes all ethereal in the second part) is great for inspirational purposes (if not so much for education.)

Here you can watch the complete "Physics for future Presidents" course that Prof. Richard A. Muller at Berkley Uni. teaches. It's GREAT for getting a basic understanding of how physics works (from cosmology to quantum physics) and how it applies to our daily lives. You can even download the study guide (I think).

To understand the basics of nanotechnology I can recomend "Nanotechnology: A gentle indroduction to the next big idea". It's not so much technical as a history of nanotechnology and explanations as it goes along.

Well, that about sums it up for the non-fiction, but I feel I must list a couple of fictional sources of (my) sci-fi inspiration as well.

Richard Morgan's "Altered Carbon" is something as unusual as a sci-fi detective noir novel, and if you like it brutal and intricate, it's perfect. Touches on some pretty novel ideas, which are (amazingly) not outside our current understanding of the universe and human physiology. This and the other Takeshi Kovacs novels (Broken Angels and Woken Furies) has been life-changing for me, I never knew it was possible to write the way Richard Morgan does in these books. Brutal and uncompromising AND intelligent at the same time.

Sandy Michell's Comissar Cain novels (For the Emperor, Traitor's Hand, Caves of Ice and Death or Glory) are all incredible if you like Warhammer 40K or just enjoy brutally funny (as in brutal AND funny ) sci-fi. I had only heard about warhammer in passing before I read these books, and I was riveted for the entirety of the time I spent reading them. I've also had to re-purchase two of them (For the Emperor and Death or Glory) because I've read them so many times they started to fall apart.

Then there's Hitch-hiker's Guide, of course, but that almost goes without saying. I'm almost embarassed to say I'm a fanatic fan, because it seems everyone and their goat are also fans of these books, but on the off chance someone hasn't read it I feel I must say that it's awesome and a definite must-read.

Oldies but goodies

Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny.
A recasting of Hindu and Buddhist legend as science fiction. It won the Hugo and the Nebula in the late '60s. The novel asks "What does it mean to be a god?" and tries to answer that question in astounding, hypnotic, poetic prose. It's also a rocking good adventure tale.

The Dying Earth by Jack Vance.
Vance is fantasy's Oscar Wilde, and The Dying Earth is a series of lush, elaborate, decadent stories that spotlight Man's vanity and egotism with a mordant sense of humor.

If This Goes On- and Blowups Happen by Robert Heinlein.
Two stories in his collection The Past Through Tomorrow. The first predicts a Fundamentalist takeover of the United States, using TV as its spearhead. The second investigates the psychological dangers of working on an atomic reactor. Both were written before reactors existed or TV had come out of the lab.

Protector, by Larry Niven.
Written in the '70s, it proposes a radically different take on human evolution, uses Bussard ramjets to fight interstellar wars, and explains why we get wrinkles.

And this is just scratching the surface....

"with friends like these" & "who needs enemies" 2 collections of short stories by alan dean foster-- my favorite is "Why Johnny Can't Speed"
very diverse group of stories. foster has a ton of other novels out there--good read.

Pthom said:

Just watched a re-airing of a BBC Science & Nature documentary, "The Hawking Paradox" on Discovery Channel tonight. I was especially intrigued not so much by the way stuff is sucked into black holes, which seems to defy all the concepts of physics, but by the concept of the conservation of information.

For thirty years, Hawking claimed that the stuff that goes into black holes never comes out--and that in fact, it disappears from the universe. But that violates the concept that no matter how much you dissassemble something, even down to sub-sub atomic particles and pure energy, if there was a way to keep track of all the bits, it is conceivable that the something could be reassembled. Hawking, who is very near the end of his remarkable life, defying all the odds as a 40-year sufferer of ALS and who does most of his research completely in his head, finally came up with a postulate that the information is not lost, but that it is preserved in an alternate universe, which is connected to ours by the black hole. On our side, there is apparently loss of information, but on the other side, there is no black hole and therefore, the information is preserved.

Put that in your SF story!

Click to expand...

Yeah, I saw that too. I'm not impressed, however. The main idea behind the Black Hole theory is that the mass of a Black Hole is so compact that it is it's gravity that pulls everything in there.

Now, if the stuff pulled in were to disappear into a parallell Universe, where is the gravity????
Where is the mass????

As far as I've understood, these phenomenons are called Black Holes because the gravity is such that not even light (i.e photons) can escape their pull. Hence, everything pulled into it would simply add more mass - and gravity.

I have no suggestion as to what to read, or watch, on this subject, but I bet there's lot's of stuff out there to study. Maybe by simply google Edward Witten....

biology sci fi writers might enjoy this. this is an article from a weekly mag I get.
it talks about starting life in the lab from non-living material. while I was reading it all I could think of was "so this is where it begins, in 50 - 100 years when the war between 'Eve's Children' and 'The Lab People' starts, the historians will be reading this article." Or, "so this is how it started 4 billion years ago. some alien society got bored and wanted to start an experiment."


http://sciencenews.org/articles/20080112/bob9.asp

Some background stuff on Nanotechnology

This is all "old" stuff, but IMHO it's essential background reading for anyone interested in nanotechnology, and especially anyone who would write (fiction or non) about it.

First is Richard Feynman's 1959 talk where he first presents the idea of making things by moving one atom at a time into place:
http://www.zyvex.com/nanotech/feynman.html

Next is an image from the then-newly-invented Scanning Tunneling Microsope (STM) of individual atoms on a silicon surface. As the text says, this won a 1985 Nobel Prize:
http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/vintage/vintage_4506VV3181.html

The discovery that the STM could actually be used to MOVE individual atoms around and place them precisely on a surface was a great advance, showing nanotechnology appears to be actually possible:
http://www.ieee-virtual-museum.org/collection/event.php?id=3457012&lid=1

And to show that these things have "practical applications," here's some "art" done with STM's moving atoms around:
http://www.almaden.ibm.com/vis/stm/atomo.html

Eric Drexler's 1987 book "Engines of Creation" helped popularize the idea of nanotechnology, and sort of "started the ball rolling." His 20th Anniversary edition of the book is available as an ebook from his website (this requires registration at wowio to get the ebook), but of course the hardcopy book is also orderable from Amazon and other places:
http://www.e-drexler.com/

Drexler also wrote a followup book "Unbounding The Future", though I think this falls out of the "required reading" category and into the merely "strongly suggested" if the previous reads have whetted your appetite and you want to continue reading about the topic. But both of these books are "accessible" in that they don't get too technical, and most any reader should be able to follow them. The text of "Unbounding The Future" is available from this page where it's readable online without registration (the "Engines of Creation" link just redirects to Drexler's website):
http://www.foresight.org/cms/resources/55

Great list, folks, thanks for the tips.
May I add the book 1984? Guess no further explanation is necessary.
Also, for trends and gadgets of the near future, there's Wired magazine. Not only has good articles about what is - and will - happen but also one can have at least 5 ideas for covers per issue.

JimmyB27 said:

First up - the Science of The Discworld series. I know what you're thinking, 'What the hell kind of science can you have on a world that floats through space on the back of a giant turtle and four slightly less giant elephants?'
Well, the answer is - not very much. But these books don't aim to explain science on the Discworld, rather, they use the denizens of the Discworld to explain science in our world.

Click to expand...

*nods* I second this. Just finished "The Science of Discworld 2, the Globe" It was incredibly interesting. The normal Discworld books are brilliant too.

I dont have a new contribution, just had to back Jimmy up

I think Ancient Mirrors series by Jayel Gibson is a really well written fantasy series. We are talking about Fantasy too, right.