Review of Lawrence M. Krauss.The Physics of Star Trek. New York: Basic Books, 1995. xvi + 188 pp. $20.00(cloth), ISBN 978-0-465-00559-8.
Reviewed by Anne Collins Smith (Austin Community College) Published on H-PCAACA (May, 1996

Smith, Anne Collins

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Stephen F. Austin State University SFA ScholarWorks Faculty Publications Division of Multidisciplinary Programs 5-31-1996 Smith on Krauss, 'The Physics of Star Trek' Anne Collins Smith Stephen F Austin State University, acsmith@sfasu.edu Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/multidisciplinary_facultypubs  Part of the Film and Media Studies Commons, Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons, and the Television Commons Tell us how this article helped you. Repository Citation Smith, Anne Collins, "Smith on Krauss, 'The Physics of Star Trek'" (1996). Faculty Publications. 9. https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/multidisciplinary_facultypubs/9 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Division of Multidisciplinary Programs at SFA ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of SFA ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact cdsscholarworks@sfasu.edu. H-PCAACA    Citation: H-Net Reviews. Smith on Krauss, 'The Physics of Star Trek'. H-PCAACA. 03-07-2014.https://networks.h-net.org/node/13784/reviews/13854/smith-krauss-physics-star-trekLicensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.1Smith on Krauss, 'The Physics of Star Trek'Review published on Friday, May 31, 1996Lawrence M. Krauss. The Physics of Star Trek. New York: Basic Books, 1995. xvi + 188 pp. $20.00(cloth), ISBN 978-0-465-00559-8.Reviewed by Anne Collins Smith (Austin Community College) Published on H-PCAACA (May, 1996)Science vs. Star Trek or the Science of ST?When I got my review copy of The Physics of Star Trek by Lawrence M. Krauss, I suddenly got coldfeet. According to the jacket, Dr. Krauss holds an endowed chair in physics, is chairman of thephysics department and is also a professor of astronomy at Case Western Reserve University. The listof his awards and achievements rivaled Captain Kirk's service record, and I wondered if I was in overmy  head.  As  an  instructor  of  philosophy  and  humanities,  with  little  more  than  a  high  schoolbackground in science, I doubted my ability to understand a work written at Dr. Krauss's level ofexpertise.To my surprise and delight, I found that I was exactly the sort of reader for whom the book waswritten! The book, which uses clear, simple explanations with plenty of examples and illustrations, isaimed at an audience with only a basic knowledge of science--and, of course, a familiarity with StarTrek.Krauss's approach is straightforward: he examines the advanced technology proposed as part of theStar Trek  universe in terms of our current understanding of the physics involved. He begins byconsidering the Enterprise's inertial dampers, which leads naturally into a discussion of the forces ofgravity and acceleration. He moves on to more complex issues such as time travel, warp drive, andalternate universes. In the course of examining these Trek phenomena, he manages to impart a gooddeal of easily digestible information about the interrelationship of space and time and the physicallaws that govern their interaction at both the macro and the micro levels.In addition to stating and explaining the physics behind the fiction, Krauss presents brief histories ofscientific  progress  as  relevant  to  the  subject  at  hand.  For  example,  he  traces  the  presentunderstanding of the interconnection of space and time back to the discovery of the relationshipbetween electricity and magnetism made in 1864 by James Clerk Maxwell (who was building on priorwork  by  Ampere,  Couplomb,  and  Faraday)  and  to  Maxwell's  further  conclusions  aboutelectromagnetic waves and the nature of light. Then Krauss moves forward, through experiments byA. A. Michelson and Edward Morley, who attempted to discover a medium through which light istransmitted, to Einstein's brilliant insight that space and time become relative as one approaches thespeed of light. This kind of historical progression presents science as dynamic rather than static, andis in keeping with the forward-looking project of making sense of the physics of the fictional twenty-third and twenty-fourth centuries: seeing how science has moved forward in the past makes it easierto understand how it might proceed in the future.Krauss does not rule out possibilities based on our present limitations; instead, he speculates aboutH-PCAACA    Citation: H-Net Reviews. Smith on Krauss, 'The Physics of Star Trek'. H-PCAACA. 03-07-2014.https://networks.h-net.org/node/13784/reviews/13854/smith-krauss-physics-star-trekLicensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.2the conditions necessary to bring about such technology in the future. In this process he makes somecareful  distinctions.  For  example,  he  distinguishes  between  Star  Trek  phenomena  that  aretheoretically possible according to our present understanding of physics, such as the existence ofwormholes; those which appear to be theoretically impossible, such as the "slingshot effect" as amethod of time travel; and those whose feasibility cannot yet be determined, such as warp drive. Heis also quite clear about when he is stating accepted scientific theory and when he is presenting hisown interpretations or arguments.The book closes with a brief chapter that Star Trek devotees will find amusing: Krauss describes histen favorite physics blunders committed in various episodes. The book also has a good index thatincludes topics, scientists, and Star Trek episodes.I can think of three uses for The Physics of Star Trek. The first is simply as light reading. This book isan excellent type of leisure reading: not only is it fun and entertaining, but it effortlessly informs andenriches the reader.A  second  use  would  be  as  a  textbook  in  a  "light  science"  course  for  non-majors,  preferablyaccompanied  by  the  occasional  showing  of  excerpts  from  relevant  Star  Trek  episodes.  In  myexperience, students take these "physics for poets" classes because they have to take some kind ofscience, which they often resent; in addition, some suffer from a kind of "science anxiety," much likestudents who fear math classes. This book's lively style will engage even reluctant students, andalthough some students may fear science, they generally find Star Trek familiar and non-threatening.I myself have had some success using Star Trek episodes to introduce difficult philosophical topicssuch as the mind/body problem; I can easily see a parallel use in such a science course.Finally, this would be a useful source book for a scholar working in the interdisciplinary field of therelationship between science and fiction. Although it is not one of the main points of the book, Kraussgives a number of examples of the interaction between science and science fiction. He mentions suchstories as the Next Generation episode "The Loss," whose plot is driven by the appearance of acosmic string fragment; and he cites scientific investigations conducted in an effort to explore thepossibility of various Star Trek devices, such as the theoretical proofs developed by physicist MiguelAlcubierre relating to the conditions required for the use of warp drive.This is a delightful book that I would recommend without hesitation to anyone familiar with StarTrek.This review is copyrighted (c) 1996 by H-Net and the Popular Culture and the American CultureAssociations. It may be reproduced electronically for educational or scholarly use. The Associationsreserve  print  rights  and  permissions.  (Contact:  P.C.Rollins  at  the  following  electronic  address:Rollins@osuunx.ucc.okstate.edu)Printable Version: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=444Citation: Anne Collins Smith. Review of Krauss, Lawrence M., The Physics of Star Trek. H-PCAACA,H-Net Reviews. May, 1996. URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=444Copyright © 1996 by H-Net and the Popular Culture and the American Culture Associations, allH-PCAACA    Citation: H-Net Reviews. Smith on Krauss, 'The Physics of Star Trek'. H-PCAACA. 03-07-2014.https://networks.h-net.org/node/13784/reviews/13854/smith-krauss-physics-star-trekLicensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.3rights  reserved.  H-Net  permits  the  redistribution  and  reprinting  of  this  work  for  nonprofit,educational  purposes,  with  full  and  accurate  attribution  to  the  author,  web  location,  date  ofpublication, originating list, and H-Net: Humanities & Social Sciences Online. For any other proposeduse,  contact  P.C.  Rollins  at  Rollins@osuunx.ucc.okstate.edu  or  the  Reviews  editorial  staff  athbooks@mail.h-net.org.

Smith on Krauss, \u27The Physics of Star Trek\u27

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Smith on Krauss, \u27The Physics of Star Trek\u27

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