The Resource Wizards, aliens, and starships : physics and math in fantasy and science fiction, Charles L. Adler
Wizards, aliens, and starships : physics and math in fantasy and science fiction, Charles L. Adler
Resource Information
The item Wizards, aliens, and starships : physics and math in fantasy and science fiction, Charles L. Adler represents a specific, individual, material embodiment of a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Portland Public Library.This item is available to borrow from 1 library branch.
Resource Information
The item Wizards, aliens, and starships : physics and math in fantasy and science fiction, Charles L. Adler represents a specific, individual, material embodiment of a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Portland Public Library.
This item is available to borrow from 1 library branch.
- Summary
- "From teleportation and space elevators to alien contact and interstellar travel, science fiction and fantasy writers have come up with some brilliant and innovative ideas. Yet how plausible are these ideas--for instance, could Mr. Weasley's flying car in Harry Potter really exist? Which concepts might actually happen--and which ones wouldn't work at all? Wizards, Aliens, and Starships delves into the most extraordinary details in science fiction and fantasy--such as time warps, shape changing, rocket launches, and illumination by floating candle--and shows readers the physics and math behind the phenomena. With simple mathematical models, and in most cases using no more than high school algebra, Charles Adler ranges across a plethora of remarkable imaginings, from the works of Ursula K. Le Guin to Star Trek and Avatar, to explore what might become reality. Adler explains why fantasy in the Harry Potter and Dresden Files novels cannot adhere strictly to scientific laws, and when magic might make scientific sense in the muggle world. He examines space travel and wonders why it isn't cheaper and more common today. Adler also discusses exoplanets and how the search for alien life has shifted from radio communications to space-based telescopes. He concludes by investigating the future survival of humanity and other intelligent races. Throughout, he cites an abundance of science fiction and fantasy authors, and includes concise descriptions of stories as well as a glossary of science terms. Wizards, Aliens, and Starships will speak to anyone wanting to know about the correct--and incorrect--science of science fiction and fantasy"--
- Language
- eng
- Extent
- xi, 378 pages
- Contents
-
- Playing the game : The purpose of the book ; The assumptions I make ; Organization ; The mathematics and physics you need ; Energy and power
- Part I. Potter physics. Harry Potter and the great conservation laws : The taxonomy of fantasy ; Transfiguration and the conservation of mass ; Disapparition and the conservation of momentum ; Reparo and the second law of thermodynamics
- Why Hogwarts is so dark : Magic versus technology ; Illumination
- Fantastic beasts and how to disprove them : Hic sunt dracones ; How to build a giant ; Kleiber's law, part I: mermaids ; Kleiber's law, part 2: owls, dragons, hippogriffs, and other flying beasts
- Part II. Space travel. Why computers get better and cars can't (much) : The future of transportation ; The reality of space travel ; The energetics of computation ; The energetics of the regular and the flying car ; Suborbital flights
- Vacations in space : The future in science fiction: cheap, easy, space travel? ; Orbital mechanics ; Halfway to anywhere: the energetics of spaceflight ; financing space travel
- Space colonies : Habitats in space ; O'Neill colonies ; Matters in gravity ; Artificial "gravity" on a space station ; The Lagrange points ; Off-earth ecology and energy issues ; The sticker price
- The space elevator : Ascending into orbit ; the physics of geosynchronous orbits ; What is a space elevator, and why would we want one? ; Why buildings stand up--or fall down ; Stresses and strains: carbon nanotubes ; Energy, "climbers," lasers, and propulsion ; How likely is it? ; The unapproximated elevator
- Manned interplanetary travel : It's not an ocean voyage or a plane ride ; Kepler's three laws ; The Hohmann transfer orbit ; Delta v and all that ; Getting back ; Gravitational slingshots and chaotic orbits ; costs
- Advanced propulsion systems : Getting there quickly ; Why chemical propulsion won't work ; The most famous formula in physics ; Advanced propulsion ideas ; Old "bang-bang": the Orion drive ; Prospects for interplanetary travel
- Speculative propulsion systems : More speculative propulsion systems Mass ratios for matter-antimatter propulsion systems ; Radiation problems
- Interstellar travel and relativity : Time enough for anything ; Was Einstein right? ; Some subtleties ; Constant acceleration in relativity
- Faster-than-light travel and time travel : The realistic answer ; The unrealistic answer ; Why FTL mean times travel ; The general theory ; Gravitational time dilation and black holes ; Wormholes and exotic matter ; The grandfather paradox and other oddities
- Part III. Worlds and Aliens. Designing a habitable planet : Adler's mantra ; Type of star ; Planetary distance from its star ; The greenhouse effect ; Orbital eccentricity ; Planetary size and atmospheric retention ; The Anna Karenina principle and habitable planets ; Imponderables
- The scientific search for Spock : Exoplanets and exoplants ; Doppler technique ; Transits and the Kepler mission ; The spectral signatures of life ; Alien photosynthesis
- The mathematics of talking with aliens : Three views of alien intelligences ; Motivation for alien contact ; Drake-equation models and the mathematics of alien contact
- Part IV. Year googol. The short-term survival of humanity This is the way the world will end ; The short-term: man-made catastrophes
- World-building : Terraforming ; Characteristics of Mars ; Temperature and the Martian atmosphere ; Atmospheric oxygen ; Economics
- Dyson spheres and ringworlds : Dyson's sphere ; The Dyson net ; Niven's ringworld ; The ringworld, GPS, and Ehrenfest's Paradox ; The ringworld is unstable!; Getting there from here--and do we need to?
- Advanced civilizations and the Kardashev scale : The Kardashev scale ; Our type 0.7 civilization ; Type I civilizations ; Moving upward ; Type II civilizations ; Type III civilizations
- A googol years : The future of the future ; The "short term": Up to 500 million years or so ; The "medium term": up to about 1013 years ; The "long term": up to a googol years ; Blackhole-powered civilizations ; Protons decay--or do they? ; A googol years--all the black holes evaporate ; Our last bow
- Isbn
- 9780691196374
- Label
- Wizards, aliens, and starships : physics and math in fantasy and science fiction
- Title
- Wizards, aliens, and starships
- Title remainder
- physics and math in fantasy and science fiction
- Statement of responsibility
- Charles L. Adler
- Subject
-
- Criticism, interpretation, etc
- Englisch, ..
- Fantastische Literatur
- Fantasy literature
- Fantasy literature -- History and criticism
- Littérature fantastique -- Histoire et critique
- MATHEMATICS -- General
- Mathematics
- Mathematics -- Miscellanea
- Mathematics -- Miscellanea
- Mathematics in literature
- Mathematics in literature
- Mathematik
- Mathématiques -- Miscellanées
- Mathématiques dans la littérature
- Miscellanées
- Physics
- Physics -- Miscellanea
- 17.90 literature in relation with other areas of science and culture
- Physics in literature
- Physics in literature
- Physik
- Physique -- Miscellanées
- Physique dans la littérature
- SCIENCE -- Physics
- Science fiction
- Science fiction -- History and criticism
- Science fiction -- History and criticism
- Science-Fiction-Literatur
- Technologie
- Trivia and miscellanea
- Trivia and miscellanea
- Physics -- Miscellanea
- Language
- eng
- Summary
- "From teleportation and space elevators to alien contact and interstellar travel, science fiction and fantasy writers have come up with some brilliant and innovative ideas. Yet how plausible are these ideas--for instance, could Mr. Weasley's flying car in Harry Potter really exist? Which concepts might actually happen--and which ones wouldn't work at all? Wizards, Aliens, and Starships delves into the most extraordinary details in science fiction and fantasy--such as time warps, shape changing, rocket launches, and illumination by floating candle--and shows readers the physics and math behind the phenomena. With simple mathematical models, and in most cases using no more than high school algebra, Charles Adler ranges across a plethora of remarkable imaginings, from the works of Ursula K. Le Guin to Star Trek and Avatar, to explore what might become reality. Adler explains why fantasy in the Harry Potter and Dresden Files novels cannot adhere strictly to scientific laws, and when magic might make scientific sense in the muggle world. He examines space travel and wonders why it isn't cheaper and more common today. Adler also discusses exoplanets and how the search for alien life has shifted from radio communications to space-based telescopes. He concludes by investigating the future survival of humanity and other intelligent races. Throughout, he cites an abundance of science fiction and fantasy authors, and includes concise descriptions of stories as well as a glossary of science terms. Wizards, Aliens, and Starships will speak to anyone wanting to know about the correct--and incorrect--science of science fiction and fantasy"--
- Assigning source
- Provided by publisher
- Cataloging source
- DLC
- http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
- Adler, Charles L
- Illustrations
- illustrations
- Index
- index present
- Literary form
- non fiction
- Nature of contents
- bibliography
- http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
-
- Englisch, ..
- Physik
- Fantasy literature
- Science fiction
- Physics in literature
- Mathematics in literature
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Littérature fantastique
- Physique dans la littérature
- Mathématiques dans la littérature
- Physique
- Mathématiques
- 17.90 literature in relation with other areas of science and culture
- SCIENCE
- MATHEMATICS
- Fantasy literature
- Mathematics
- Mathematics in literature
- Physics
- Physics in literature
- Science fiction
- Mathematik
- Fantastische Literatur
- Science-Fiction-Literatur
- Technologie
- Science fiction
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Label
- Wizards, aliens, and starships : physics and math in fantasy and science fiction, Charles L. Adler
- Bibliography note
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 359-369) and index
- Carrier category
- volume
- Carrier category code
-
- nc
- Carrier MARC source
- rdacarrier
- Content category
- text
- Content type code
-
- txt
- Content type MARC source
- rdacontent
- Contents
- Playing the game : The purpose of the book ; The assumptions I make ; Organization ; The mathematics and physics you need ; Energy and power -- Part I. Potter physics. Harry Potter and the great conservation laws : The taxonomy of fantasy ; Transfiguration and the conservation of mass ; Disapparition and the conservation of momentum ; Reparo and the second law of thermodynamics -- Why Hogwarts is so dark : Magic versus technology ; Illumination -- Fantastic beasts and how to disprove them : Hic sunt dracones ; How to build a giant ; Kleiber's law, part I: mermaids ; Kleiber's law, part 2: owls, dragons, hippogriffs, and other flying beasts -- Part II. Space travel. Why computers get better and cars can't (much) : The future of transportation ; The reality of space travel ; The energetics of computation ; The energetics of the regular and the flying car ; Suborbital flights -- Vacations in space : The future in science fiction: cheap, easy, space travel? ; Orbital mechanics ; Halfway to anywhere: the energetics of spaceflight ; financing space travel -- Space colonies : Habitats in space ; O'Neill colonies ; Matters in gravity ; Artificial "gravity" on a space station ; The Lagrange points ; Off-earth ecology and energy issues ; The sticker price -- The space elevator : Ascending into orbit ; the physics of geosynchronous orbits ; What is a space elevator, and why would we want one? ; Why buildings stand up--or fall down ; Stresses and strains: carbon nanotubes ; Energy, "climbers," lasers, and propulsion ; How likely is it? ; The unapproximated elevator -- Manned interplanetary travel : It's not an ocean voyage or a plane ride ; Kepler's three laws ; The Hohmann transfer orbit ; Delta v and all that ; Getting back ; Gravitational slingshots and chaotic orbits ; costs -- Advanced propulsion systems : Getting there quickly ; Why chemical propulsion won't work ; The most famous formula in physics ; Advanced propulsion ideas ; Old "bang-bang": the Orion drive ; Prospects for interplanetary travel -- Speculative propulsion systems : More speculative propulsion systems Mass ratios for matter-antimatter propulsion systems ; Radiation problems -- Interstellar travel and relativity : Time enough for anything ; Was Einstein right? ; Some subtleties ; Constant acceleration in relativity -- Faster-than-light travel and time travel : The realistic answer ; The unrealistic answer ; Why FTL mean times travel ; The general theory ; Gravitational time dilation and black holes ; Wormholes and exotic matter ; The grandfather paradox and other oddities -- Part III. Worlds and Aliens. Designing a habitable planet : Adler's mantra ; Type of star ; Planetary distance from its star ; The greenhouse effect ; Orbital eccentricity ; Planetary size and atmospheric retention ; The Anna Karenina principle and habitable planets ; Imponderables -- The scientific search for Spock : Exoplanets and exoplants ; Doppler technique ; Transits and the Kepler mission ; The spectral signatures of life ; Alien photosynthesis -- The mathematics of talking with aliens : Three views of alien intelligences ; Motivation for alien contact ; Drake-equation models and the mathematics of alien contact -- Part IV. Year googol. The short-term survival of humanity This is the way the world will end ; The short-term: man-made catastrophes -- World-building : Terraforming ; Characteristics of Mars ; Temperature and the Martian atmosphere ; Atmospheric oxygen ; Economics -- Dyson spheres and ringworlds : Dyson's sphere ; The Dyson net ; Niven's ringworld ; The ringworld, GPS, and Ehrenfest's Paradox ; The ringworld is unstable!; Getting there from here--and do we need to? -- Advanced civilizations and the Kardashev scale : The Kardashev scale ; Our type 0.7 civilization ; Type I civilizations ; Moving upward ; Type II civilizations ; Type III civilizations -- A googol years : The future of the future ; The "short term": Up to 500 million years or so ; The "medium term": up to about 1013 years ; The "long term": up to a googol years ; Blackhole-powered civilizations ; Protons decay--or do they? ; A googol years--all the black holes evaporate ; Our last bow
- Control code
- 840160967
- Dimensions
- 24 cm
- Extent
- xi, 378 pages
- Isbn
- 9780691196374
- Lccn
- 2013027794
- Media category
- unmediated
- Media MARC source
- rdamedia
- Media type code
-
- n
- Note
- WorldCat record variable field(s) change: 650, 655
- Other physical details
- illustrations
- System control number
- (OCoLC)840160967
- Label
- Wizards, aliens, and starships : physics and math in fantasy and science fiction, Charles L. Adler
- Bibliography note
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 359-369) and index
- Carrier category
- volume
- Carrier category code
-
- nc
- Carrier MARC source
- rdacarrier
- Content category
- text
- Content type code
-
- txt
- Content type MARC source
- rdacontent
- Contents
- Playing the game : The purpose of the book ; The assumptions I make ; Organization ; The mathematics and physics you need ; Energy and power -- Part I. Potter physics. Harry Potter and the great conservation laws : The taxonomy of fantasy ; Transfiguration and the conservation of mass ; Disapparition and the conservation of momentum ; Reparo and the second law of thermodynamics -- Why Hogwarts is so dark : Magic versus technology ; Illumination -- Fantastic beasts and how to disprove them : Hic sunt dracones ; How to build a giant ; Kleiber's law, part I: mermaids ; Kleiber's law, part 2: owls, dragons, hippogriffs, and other flying beasts -- Part II. Space travel. Why computers get better and cars can't (much) : The future of transportation ; The reality of space travel ; The energetics of computation ; The energetics of the regular and the flying car ; Suborbital flights -- Vacations in space : The future in science fiction: cheap, easy, space travel? ; Orbital mechanics ; Halfway to anywhere: the energetics of spaceflight ; financing space travel -- Space colonies : Habitats in space ; O'Neill colonies ; Matters in gravity ; Artificial "gravity" on a space station ; The Lagrange points ; Off-earth ecology and energy issues ; The sticker price -- The space elevator : Ascending into orbit ; the physics of geosynchronous orbits ; What is a space elevator, and why would we want one? ; Why buildings stand up--or fall down ; Stresses and strains: carbon nanotubes ; Energy, "climbers," lasers, and propulsion ; How likely is it? ; The unapproximated elevator -- Manned interplanetary travel : It's not an ocean voyage or a plane ride ; Kepler's three laws ; The Hohmann transfer orbit ; Delta v and all that ; Getting back ; Gravitational slingshots and chaotic orbits ; costs -- Advanced propulsion systems : Getting there quickly ; Why chemical propulsion won't work ; The most famous formula in physics ; Advanced propulsion ideas ; Old "bang-bang": the Orion drive ; Prospects for interplanetary travel -- Speculative propulsion systems : More speculative propulsion systems Mass ratios for matter-antimatter propulsion systems ; Radiation problems -- Interstellar travel and relativity : Time enough for anything ; Was Einstein right? ; Some subtleties ; Constant acceleration in relativity -- Faster-than-light travel and time travel : The realistic answer ; The unrealistic answer ; Why FTL mean times travel ; The general theory ; Gravitational time dilation and black holes ; Wormholes and exotic matter ; The grandfather paradox and other oddities -- Part III. Worlds and Aliens. Designing a habitable planet : Adler's mantra ; Type of star ; Planetary distance from its star ; The greenhouse effect ; Orbital eccentricity ; Planetary size and atmospheric retention ; The Anna Karenina principle and habitable planets ; Imponderables -- The scientific search for Spock : Exoplanets and exoplants ; Doppler technique ; Transits and the Kepler mission ; The spectral signatures of life ; Alien photosynthesis -- The mathematics of talking with aliens : Three views of alien intelligences ; Motivation for alien contact ; Drake-equation models and the mathematics of alien contact -- Part IV. Year googol. The short-term survival of humanity This is the way the world will end ; The short-term: man-made catastrophes -- World-building : Terraforming ; Characteristics of Mars ; Temperature and the Martian atmosphere ; Atmospheric oxygen ; Economics -- Dyson spheres and ringworlds : Dyson's sphere ; The Dyson net ; Niven's ringworld ; The ringworld, GPS, and Ehrenfest's Paradox ; The ringworld is unstable!; Getting there from here--and do we need to? -- Advanced civilizations and the Kardashev scale : The Kardashev scale ; Our type 0.7 civilization ; Type I civilizations ; Moving upward ; Type II civilizations ; Type III civilizations -- A googol years : The future of the future ; The "short term": Up to 500 million years or so ; The "medium term": up to about 1013 years ; The "long term": up to a googol years ; Blackhole-powered civilizations ; Protons decay--or do they? ; A googol years--all the black holes evaporate ; Our last bow
- Control code
- 840160967
- Dimensions
- 24 cm
- Extent
- xi, 378 pages
- Isbn
- 9780691196374
- Lccn
- 2013027794
- Media category
- unmediated
- Media MARC source
- rdamedia
- Media type code
-
- n
- Note
- WorldCat record variable field(s) change: 650, 655
- Other physical details
- illustrations
- System control number
- (OCoLC)840160967
Subject
- Criticism, interpretation, etc
- Englisch, ..
- Fantastische Literatur
- Fantasy literature
- Fantasy literature -- History and criticism
- Littérature fantastique -- Histoire et critique
- MATHEMATICS -- General
- Mathematics
- Mathematics -- Miscellanea
- Mathematics -- Miscellanea
- Mathematics in literature
- Mathematics in literature
- Mathematik
- Mathématiques -- Miscellanées
- Mathématiques dans la littérature
- Miscellanées
- Physics
- Physics -- Miscellanea
- 17.90 literature in relation with other areas of science and culture
- Physics in literature
- Physics in literature
- Physik
- Physique -- Miscellanées
- Physique dans la littérature
- SCIENCE -- Physics
- Science fiction
- Science fiction -- History and criticism
- Science fiction -- History and criticism
- Science-Fiction-Literatur
- Technologie
- Trivia and miscellanea
- Trivia and miscellanea
- Physics -- Miscellanea
Genre
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