Make us homepage
Add to Favorites
FAIL (the browser should render some flash content, not this).

Main page » Fiction literature » Science of Discworld


Science of Discworld

 
25

In the high-energy magic facility of Unseen University, the wizards have created a miniature cosmos that includes Roundworld, known to us as Earth. As they bicker over the meaning of this - to them - unfeasible and bizarre planet, we go on a tour of Big Science. From astrophysics to quantum mechanics, the interleaved chapters give us a briefing on the history and the present state of play of our scientific learning, while stressing alway the limits of our knowledge–. The tone is intelligent and humorous (think Horizon with laughs) and demands an intellectual engagement on the part of the reader. The result is a book in which the hard science is as gripping as the fiction–one for anyone with an interest in where science comes from and where it is going.” - The Times
Book 2 - The Globe
The acclaimed Science of Discworld centered around an original Pratchett story about the Wizards of Discworld. In it, they accidentally witness the creation and evolution of our universe in a plot interwoven with a Cohen & Stewart non-fiction narrative about Big Science. In The Globe, the same structure applies, only this time the themes are Human Science: History, Origins of Language, Archaeology, Anthropology, Evolutionary Psychology and, overall, the importance of Story to our culture (and of course to all Pratchett fans). There is a well-known theory that there are only seven stories known to man. The Elves of Discworld have discovered an eighth �?a story of awesome power �?which they play out on Roundworld (Earth) in their attempt to defeat the Witches of Discworld.
Book 3 - Darwin’s Watch
The wizards discover to their cost that it’s no easy task to change history.
Roundworld is in trouble again, and this time it looks fatal. Having created it in the first place, the wizards of Unseen University feel vaguely responsible for its safety. They know the creatures that lived there escaped the impending Big Freeze by inventing the space elevator �?they even intervened to rid the planet of a plague of elves, who attempted to divert humanity onto a different time track. But now it’s all gone wrong �?Victorian England has stagnated and the pace of progress would embarrass a limping snail. Unless something drastic is done, there won’t be time for anyone to invent space flight, and the human race will be turned into ice-pops.
Why, though, did history come adrift? Was it Sir Arthur Nightingale’s dismal book about natural selection? Or was it the devastating response by an obscure country vicar called Charles Darwin whose bestselling Theology of Species made it impossible to refute the divine design of living creatures?
Can the God of Evolution come to humanity’s aid and ensure Darwin writes a very different book? And who stopped him writing it in the first place?



Purchase Science of Discworld from Amazon.com
Dear user! You need to be registered and logged in to fully enjoy Englishtips.org. We recommend registering or logging in.


Tags: Science, Discworld, about, history, Roundworld, science, where, think, demands, briefing, chapters, interleaved