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Title: I'm Working on That : A Trek From Science Fiction to Science Fact by William Shatner ISBN: 0-671-04737-X Publisher: Star Trek Pub. Date: 01 August, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.56 (18 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Science fiction or science fact?
Comment: This is a unique book that examines the connection between the science fiction universe of Star Trek and our current understanding of science fact. Inspired by Shatner's curiosity about how things work and the uncanny embodiment of 1960's Star Trek gadgetry, such as the flip-open communicator, in what are now common consumer products - Bill and Chip toured the country, with many fun adventures along the way, to find out what other Star Trek inventions are likely to pop into reality in the near future. To look for answers, they visited some of the premier think-tanks and universities in the US, posing the question to a host of leading researchers, including luminaries such as Edward Tellar (father of the hydrogen bomb - Los Alamos Labs), Eric Drexler (leading nanotechnologist - Foresight Institute) and Marc Millis (propulsion visionary - NASA). Using Star Trek episodes as a light-hearted guide, particularly reminiscent for the real fans that can recognize an episode in a few sound bites, all areas of Star Trek science and technology are examined. Teleportation, warp drive, time travel, computer science, robotics, genetics and nanotechnology are some of the hottest topics on the agenda.
The book raises the question, does science fiction help us invent technology and explore science by providing compelling visions of what might be possible? What comes first, the invention, or the fantasy about the invention? These are questions I also find myself asking as a researcher, one who had the good fortune to meet the authors during their visit to Xerox PARC, described in Chapter 8, Get Smart. Star Trek certainly inspired me in my career and influenced many of my colleagues who are also Star Trek enthusiasts. Reading this book you will discover that even the great physicist Stephen Hawkins is a fan, who's passing comments led to the title of this book. There is no doubt in my mind that a strong connection exists between science fantasy and science endeavor, and drives many of us to push the limits of what is possible.
The book does an excellent job of bringing these issues to the fore, and I can recommend the result as a good read. You'll have flash backs to all the best Star Trek episodes and find the commentary and technology discussions enjoyable, sometimes humorous, but always well informed.
Rating: 3
Summary: An easy, enjoyable read
Comment: First let me say that I've been a Star Trek fan since Star Trek priemiered in he 60's, although I preferred Jean-Luc Picard to James Tiberius Kirk. I'm also a technically oriented person, with a background in physics and computer science, so I came to this book already reasonably well informed on most of the topics Shatner wrote about.
Despite that, I still enjoyed the book. Shatner and the scientists he spoke to do a good job of explaining in plain English some horrifically complicated and obtuse subject matter. No one should think that they'll walk away from this more with more than a very rudimentary understanding of the basics of, say, Artifical Intelligence, for example, but deep understanding isn't Shatner's goal. Rather, his goals, are to convey some of the wonder of science as well as to warn about the potentially fatal pitfalls that we'll have navigate in the years to come if we are to survive our creations.
Rating: 5
Summary: Thought provoking
Comment: Very interesting- I bought this for my father as a gift, but I ended up reading it first! It's very easy to read for us non-science types and the format keeps you turning the pages.
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Title: No Limits (Star Trek New Frontier) by Peter David ISBN: 0743477073 Publisher: Star Trek Pub. Date: 01 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: Well of Souls (Star Trek: The Lost Era, 2336) by Ilsa J. Bick ISBN: 0743463757 Publisher: Star Trek Pub. Date: 01 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Captain's Blood (Star Trek) by William Shatner, Judith Reeves-Stevens, Garfield Reeves-Stevens ISBN: 067102129X Publisher: Star Trek Pub. Date: 01 December, 2003 List Price(USD): $23.95 |
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Title: The Art of the Impossible (Star Trek: The Lost Era, 2328-2346) by Keith R.A. DeCandido ISBN: 0743464052 Publisher: Star Trek Pub. Date: 01 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Daedalus: Part One of Two (Star Trek: Enterprise) by Dave Stern ISBN: 0743471180 Publisher: Star Trek Pub. Date: 01 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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