What do you think?
Rate this book
Science of Discworld #1
The Science of Discworld
Not just another science book and not just another Discworld novella, The Science of Discworld is a creative, mind-bending mash-up of fiction and fact, that offers a wizard’s-eye view of our world that will forever change how you look at the universe.
Can Unseen University’s eccentric wizards and orangutan Librarian possibly shed any useful light on hard, rational Earthly science?
In the course of an exciting experiment, the wizards of Discworld have accidentally created a new universe. Within this universe is a planet that they name Roundworld. Roundworld is, of course, Earth, and the universe is our own. As the wizards watch their creation grow, Terry Pratchett and acclaimed science writers Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen use Discworld to examine science from the outside. Interwoven with the Pratchett’s original story are entertaining, enlightening chapters which explain key scientific principles such as the Big Bang theory and the evolution of life on earth, as well as great moments in the history of science.
Can Unseen University’s eccentric wizards and orangutan Librarian possibly shed any useful light on hard, rational Earthly science?
In the course of an exciting experiment, the wizards of Discworld have accidentally created a new universe. Within this universe is a planet that they name Roundworld. Roundworld is, of course, Earth, and the universe is our own. As the wizards watch their creation grow, Terry Pratchett and acclaimed science writers Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen use Discworld to examine science from the outside. Interwoven with the Pratchett’s original story are entertaining, enlightening chapters which explain key scientific principles such as the Big Bang theory and the evolution of life on earth, as well as great moments in the history of science.
457 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 3, 1999
805 people are currently reading
9817 people want to read
About the author
Terry Pratchett
630 books45.6k followersSir Terence David John Pratchett was an English author, humorist, and satirist, best known for the Discworld series of 41 comic fantasy novels published between 1983–2015, and for the apocalyptic comedy novel Good Omens (1990), which he co-wrote with Neil Gaiman.
Pratchett's first novel, The Carpet People, was published in 1971. The first Discworld novel, The Colour of Magic, was published in 1983, after which Pratchett wrote an average of two books a year. The final Discworld novel, The Shepherd's Crown, was published in August 2015, five months after his death.
With more than 100 million books sold worldwide in 43 languages, Pratchett was the UK's best-selling author of the 1990s. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1998 and was knighted for services to literature in the 2009 New Year Honours. In 2001 he won the annual Carnegie Medal for The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, the first Discworld book marketed for children. He received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 2010.
In December 2007 Pratchett announced that he had been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. He later made a substantial public donation to the Alzheimer's Research Trust (now Alzheimer's Research UK, ARUK), filmed three television programmes chronicling his experiences with the condition for the BBC, and became a patron of ARUK. Pratchett died on 12 March 2015, at the age of 66.
Pratchett's first novel, The Carpet People, was published in 1971. The first Discworld novel, The Colour of Magic, was published in 1983, after which Pratchett wrote an average of two books a year. The final Discworld novel, The Shepherd's Crown, was published in August 2015, five months after his death.
With more than 100 million books sold worldwide in 43 languages, Pratchett was the UK's best-selling author of the 1990s. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1998 and was knighted for services to literature in the 2009 New Year Honours. In 2001 he won the annual Carnegie Medal for The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, the first Discworld book marketed for children. He received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 2010.
In December 2007 Pratchett announced that he had been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. He later made a substantial public donation to the Alzheimer's Research Trust (now Alzheimer's Research UK, ARUK), filmed three television programmes chronicling his experiences with the condition for the BBC, and became a patron of ARUK. Pratchett died on 12 March 2015, at the age of 66.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 502 reviews
July 30, 2023
“Science is not about building a body of known ‘facts’. It is a method for asking awkward questions and subjecting them to a reality-check, thus avoiding the human tendency to believe whatever makes us feel good.”
Obviously, a proper world to support life would be a flat planet carried through space on the back of four giant elephants standing on the shell of the world turtle, the Great A’Tuin. The world full of magic and powered by narrativium, where things happen because everyone knows they are *supposed* to happen.
Obviously. But…
But imagine just for a moment that due to the excess magic the wizards of Discworld have created a sort of a science project, a pocket universe that contains what we shall call, let’s say, “Roundworld”, the place where instead of magic there are rules, and no world turtles, and life still manages to cling on somehow, possibly powered by some elusive bloodymindium. Just imagine that.
“Darwin’s theory of evolution explains how lower lifeforms can evolve into higher ones, which in turn makes it entirely reasonable that a human should evolve into an orangutan (while remaining a librarian, since there is no higher life form than a librarian).”
This is not, as one may think from the title, the science of Discworld itself; it will not try to explain how world turtles work or how humans can realistically be turned into orangutans, or how slowly light travels on the Disc. Instead it explains the science of Roundworld, filtered through the perception of Discworld wizards, and with a few convenient “lies-to-children” dethroned.
“As humans, we have invented lots of useful kinds of lie. As well as lies-to-children ('as much as they can understand') there are lies-to-bosses ('as much as they need to know') lies-to-patients ('they won't worry about what they don't know') and, for all sorts of reasons, lies-to-ourselves. Lies-to-children is simply a prevalent and necessary kind of lie. Universities are very familiar with bright, qualified school-leavers who arrive and then go into shock on finding that biology or physics isn't quite what they've been taught so far. 'Yes, but you needed to understand that,' they are told, 'so that now we can tell you why it isn't exactly true.'
The origins of the universe, quantum mechanics, planetary formation, evolution, periodic table, dinosaurs, Snowball Earth and the sheer bloody-minded persistence of life — all that and more is explained. Now, it’s originally was published in 1999 and updated a few years later, so don’t be surprised that poor little Pluto is still a planet here — but it’s still pretty relevant, easily understandable and funny. Plus, it tells a lovely Discworld story (wizards, Rincewind, Hex the computer and the Librarian) in the Pratchett chapters, so for that alone it’s worth it, even if you’re not science-minded.
“Triboplasts played a crucial role in evolution, precisely because they did have internal organs, and in particular they could ingest food and excrete it. Their excreta became a major resource for other creatures; to get an interestingly complicated world, it is vitally important that shit happens.”
5 easy stars.
——————
Also posted on my blog.
December 22, 2021
“Sometimes scientists change their minds. New developments cause a rethink. If this bothers you, consider how much damage is being done to the world by people for whom new developments do not cause a rethink.”
In Terry Pratchett's The Science of Discworld, science and magic are alternately discussed in ways that highlight scientific inquiry as rational and magic as most assuredly not. I enjoyed the appearance of wizards such as Rincewind as well as inquiries at Unseen University. These were juxtaposed with explorations of scientific topics, including the origins of the universe, the theory of relativity, the periodic table, quantum mechanics and more. I enjoyed this and liked how science was presented.
“Darwin’s theory of evolution explains how lower lifeforms can evolve into higher ones, which in turn makes it entirely reasonable that a human should evolve into an orangutan (while remaining a librarian, since there is no higher life form than a librarian).”
“Triboplasts played a crucial role in evolution, precisely because they did have internal organs, and in particular they could ingest food and excrete it. Their excreta became a major resource for other creatures; to get an interestingly complicated world, it is vitally important that shit happens.”
“Two student wizards were arguing vehemently, or at least repeatedly stating their point of view in a loud voice, which suffices for argument most of the time.”
In Terry Pratchett's The Science of Discworld, science and magic are alternately discussed in ways that highlight scientific inquiry as rational and magic as most assuredly not. I enjoyed the appearance of wizards such as Rincewind as well as inquiries at Unseen University. These were juxtaposed with explorations of scientific topics, including the origins of the universe, the theory of relativity, the periodic table, quantum mechanics and more. I enjoyed this and liked how science was presented.
“Darwin’s theory of evolution explains how lower lifeforms can evolve into higher ones, which in turn makes it entirely reasonable that a human should evolve into an orangutan (while remaining a librarian, since there is no higher life form than a librarian).”
“Triboplasts played a crucial role in evolution, precisely because they did have internal organs, and in particular they could ingest food and excrete it. Their excreta became a major resource for other creatures; to get an interestingly complicated world, it is vitally important that shit happens.”
“Two student wizards were arguing vehemently, or at least repeatedly stating their point of view in a loud voice, which suffices for argument most of the time.”
May 10, 2019
Unfortunately the Science in this book was too basic for me, but I must applaud the authors for their approach through Discworld. Now, what kept me reading was the story of the wizards. I must point out that it was difficult not to cheat and skip over all the science chapters. But I would have enjoyed this book even more if I was younger.
February 9, 2008
Back in the late 90s, there was a whole slew of "Science Of...." books. The science of Star Trek, X-Files, Star Wars, all of them did their best to explain the fantastic in terms of what we already knew about science. They weren't trying to disprove these worlds - saying that warp speed is impossible, for example, or how The Force violates any number of natural laws - but rather they tried to figure out how we could explain these things, and perhaps, someday, make them real.
This isn't that sort of book.
The Discworld, as the writers say straight out, runs on stories, on some mysterious element that we might call Narrativium. Things happen a certain way because that's how they're supposed to happen. The eighth son of an eighth son HAS to become a wizard, even if he turns out to be a daughter. And a million-to-one shot HAS to come off, because the Story demands it.
In this story, the wizards at the Unseen University at Ankh-Morpork have a little problem. Their thaumic reactor, built in the middle of the squash court, is pumping out dangerous levels of magic - enough to turn most of the Ankh-Morpork plains into the playground of horrible betentacled Things from the Dungeon Dimension. So, in order to siphon off the massive amounts of magic being generated from splitting the thaum, they channel the extra energy into the Roundworld Project. Essentially they create a universe where magic - and Narrativium - do not exist. It's a place that works on its own laws but, unlike the Discworld, it does not work towards any particular end.
Our universe, as it turns out.
The wizards watch our world form, try to figure out the rules, and watch it progress. They see life emerge, make its best effort towards intelligence, and then get wiped out. Over and over.
The wizards give us an interesting perspective - the creation of the universe and the evolution of intelligent life collapsed down to about a week. They're able to use a kind of magical VR to watch things in real time, but still, they have a wide view of Earth history that allows commentary on the other part of the book....
Interleaved with the Discworld story about the Project, Stewart and Cohen talk about the science that the wizards are watching. Where the stars came from, how the moon got formed, what primeval Earth might have looked like, how life arose and, most importantly, how it managed to stick around for so long.
Viewed on a long scale, the Earth is not really a very hospitable place. Giant rocks and snowballs falling from the sky every few million years, ice ages and volcanic catastrophes, disasters of nearly every imaginable magnitude. Species rising, flourishing and vanishing without so much as a ripple in the fossil record.... Nice, pleasant weather, like we have now, is relatively rare.
As Rincewind says, "This world is an anvil. Everything here is between a rock and a hard place. Every single thing on it is the descendant of creatures that have survived everything the world could throw at them. I just hope they never get angry...."
Pratchett is a fantastic writer, as we all know, and somehow Stewart and Cohen manage to keep up with him. The chapters on hard science are just as interesting and entertaining as those with the wizards. They illuminate the concepts that the wizards don't understand ("There are no turtles anywhere!") and set you up for what will come next. It's a rare book that can educate and entertain with consistency, and this book achieves it.
Next up will be the followup books. Let's see how they hold up....
This isn't that sort of book.
The Discworld, as the writers say straight out, runs on stories, on some mysterious element that we might call Narrativium. Things happen a certain way because that's how they're supposed to happen. The eighth son of an eighth son HAS to become a wizard, even if he turns out to be a daughter. And a million-to-one shot HAS to come off, because the Story demands it.
In this story, the wizards at the Unseen University at Ankh-Morpork have a little problem. Their thaumic reactor, built in the middle of the squash court, is pumping out dangerous levels of magic - enough to turn most of the Ankh-Morpork plains into the playground of horrible betentacled Things from the Dungeon Dimension. So, in order to siphon off the massive amounts of magic being generated from splitting the thaum, they channel the extra energy into the Roundworld Project. Essentially they create a universe where magic - and Narrativium - do not exist. It's a place that works on its own laws but, unlike the Discworld, it does not work towards any particular end.
Our universe, as it turns out.
The wizards watch our world form, try to figure out the rules, and watch it progress. They see life emerge, make its best effort towards intelligence, and then get wiped out. Over and over.
The wizards give us an interesting perspective - the creation of the universe and the evolution of intelligent life collapsed down to about a week. They're able to use a kind of magical VR to watch things in real time, but still, they have a wide view of Earth history that allows commentary on the other part of the book....
Interleaved with the Discworld story about the Project, Stewart and Cohen talk about the science that the wizards are watching. Where the stars came from, how the moon got formed, what primeval Earth might have looked like, how life arose and, most importantly, how it managed to stick around for so long.
Viewed on a long scale, the Earth is not really a very hospitable place. Giant rocks and snowballs falling from the sky every few million years, ice ages and volcanic catastrophes, disasters of nearly every imaginable magnitude. Species rising, flourishing and vanishing without so much as a ripple in the fossil record.... Nice, pleasant weather, like we have now, is relatively rare.
As Rincewind says, "This world is an anvil. Everything here is between a rock and a hard place. Every single thing on it is the descendant of creatures that have survived everything the world could throw at them. I just hope they never get angry...."
Pratchett is a fantastic writer, as we all know, and somehow Stewart and Cohen manage to keep up with him. The chapters on hard science are just as interesting and entertaining as those with the wizards. They illuminate the concepts that the wizards don't understand ("There are no turtles anywhere!") and set you up for what will come next. It's a rare book that can educate and entertain with consistency, and this book achieves it.
Next up will be the followup books. Let's see how they hold up....
May 18, 2014
Imagine sitting down to read a book from your favorite author. At the end of the first chapter your friend takes away the book and replaces it with a transcript of the show Cosmos with Neil deGrasse Tyson. You like Cosmos and Mr Tyson is interesting so you read it. At the first break, your friend takes away Cosmos and replaces it with the book by your favorite author that you had started reading. Now imagine doing this 45 more times and you have the idea behind The Science of Discworld.
The Terry Pratchett book is "The Lost Continent" (I believe) and it gets interrupted at odd places because Mr Pratchett doesn't do chapters. The science is presented in an interesting way by Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen but a lot of the chapters drag on especially when the Pratchett chapters fly by. They've made the effort to find relevant parts of the Pratchett book to match up with relevant parts to the science that they want to discuss but sometimes its a stretch.
The book was okay, not sure I would recommended it and I certainly don't want to read the next two books in the series!
The Terry Pratchett book is "The Lost Continent" (I believe) and it gets interrupted at odd places because Mr Pratchett doesn't do chapters. The science is presented in an interesting way by Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen but a lot of the chapters drag on especially when the Pratchett chapters fly by. They've made the effort to find relevant parts of the Pratchett book to match up with relevant parts to the science that they want to discuss but sometimes its a stretch.
The book was okay, not sure I would recommended it and I certainly don't want to read the next two books in the series!
January 1, 2023
I bought this book some years ago because I love Terry Pratchett's Discworld stories and I liked to end the year with a funny story with quirky characters and hilarious ideas.
This is basically a popular science book that explains the origin of the universe, planets and stars, with an analysis of the theories formulated over the centuries on the laws of physics which have allowed its evolution (or which it is thought are the most probable laws). At the same time, this part is accompanied by a story set in the Invisible University and involving the main elderly wizards in a project never attempted before: the creation of a miniature universe they call Roundworld. The book is the first of four written by Pratchett in collaboration with Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen, all following the same outline, alternating a Discworld story with a scientific discussion.
The story at university is the starting point to explain the evolution of our universe, starting from its creation. Each chapter that tells the progress of the wizards' experiment is followed by another that explains the evolution of our universe at that stage, from a physical, astronomical and biological point of view. For example, if the first chapter shows the creation of Roundworld, the following chapter explains how ours was formed (or at least the most probable theories at the time of writing the book).
The wizards' story is funny and written in a Pratchett's classic style, always a pleasure to read. The protagonists are many characters already encountered in his books, each with its own bizarre peculiarities. The scientific part is very accurate, written in a clear and exhaustive way even for a profane, although many concepts are not at all. Since the first edition is more than 20 years old, some information is a bit dated, especially regarding the celestial bodies identified, or the most recent theories. Anyway, in the Italian edition of 2010 there are updated notes where the data has changed.
Maybe it wasn't exactly the easy reading I expected, but it's an interesting book nonetheless, and if nothing else, reading about stars, galaxies, and billions of years of evolution reminds us that we're pretty insignificant after all.
After this one, I will definitely read the next ones too.
This is basically a popular science book that explains the origin of the universe, planets and stars, with an analysis of the theories formulated over the centuries on the laws of physics which have allowed its evolution (or which it is thought are the most probable laws). At the same time, this part is accompanied by a story set in the Invisible University and involving the main elderly wizards in a project never attempted before: the creation of a miniature universe they call Roundworld. The book is the first of four written by Pratchett in collaboration with Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen, all following the same outline, alternating a Discworld story with a scientific discussion.
The story at university is the starting point to explain the evolution of our universe, starting from its creation. Each chapter that tells the progress of the wizards' experiment is followed by another that explains the evolution of our universe at that stage, from a physical, astronomical and biological point of view. For example, if the first chapter shows the creation of Roundworld, the following chapter explains how ours was formed (or at least the most probable theories at the time of writing the book).
The wizards' story is funny and written in a Pratchett's classic style, always a pleasure to read. The protagonists are many characters already encountered in his books, each with its own bizarre peculiarities. The scientific part is very accurate, written in a clear and exhaustive way even for a profane, although many concepts are not at all. Since the first edition is more than 20 years old, some information is a bit dated, especially regarding the celestial bodies identified, or the most recent theories. Anyway, in the Italian edition of 2010 there are updated notes where the data has changed.
Maybe it wasn't exactly the easy reading I expected, but it's an interesting book nonetheless, and if nothing else, reading about stars, galaxies, and billions of years of evolution reminds us that we're pretty insignificant after all.
After this one, I will definitely read the next ones too.
January 21, 2017
The Science of Discworld is an odd sort of Discworld book. Based on the name, I had thought it was going to delve into more detail about the fictional workings of the Discworld. Like, say, how the giant turtle and the elephants stay alive outside of an atmosphere or how water on the Discworld gets replenished when it keeps falling off the disc… If that last sentence makes it sound like I’ve gone off the deep end, then you clearly haven’t tried reading Discworld.
The science in this book is actually more about the real science of our own world, with a very thin Discworld story interspersed between the science bits. The Discworld part of the story takes place in the Unseen University, where the wizards end up creating a simulation of the birth of a universe remarkably like ours, followed by many million years’ worth of evolution on “roundworld”, a planet that is also remarkably like ours. Each short Discworld-based chapter is then followed up with a science chapter discussing topics related to what’s going on in the Discworld story.
For the first 25% of this book, I wasn’t sure I was going to make it through to the end. The science parts were boring me to tears because they mostly covered either terribly basic concepts or entirely theoretical topics that I wasn’t very interested in reading about. As it went on, it got more interesting, although there were still scattered bits of boredom here and there. If this had been a book about computer science, I probably would have enjoyed the theoretical parts equally as well as the practical parts. Actually, even though it wasn’t at all the focus of the story, computer science did get a few mentions here and there, and I particularly enjoyed those parts. When it comes to the natural sciences, however, my interest isn’t strong enough to sustain me through theory. I enjoyed it when the authors discussed what we do know and why we think we know it, whereas the various speculations about things we have no way of knowing for sure were more frustrating to me than interesting.
The Discworld part of the story was very short, but amusing. It served as a nice way to break up the science bits and provide some humor. However, the story had a major logical flaw that annoyed me to no end.
So… will I read the second science book? Yes, I think so, once I get to that point in the publication order. Whether or not I read the last two will probably depend on my reaction to the second one.
The science in this book is actually more about the real science of our own world, with a very thin Discworld story interspersed between the science bits. The Discworld part of the story takes place in the Unseen University, where the wizards end up creating a simulation of the birth of a universe remarkably like ours, followed by many million years’ worth of evolution on “roundworld”, a planet that is also remarkably like ours. Each short Discworld-based chapter is then followed up with a science chapter discussing topics related to what’s going on in the Discworld story.
For the first 25% of this book, I wasn’t sure I was going to make it through to the end. The science parts were boring me to tears because they mostly covered either terribly basic concepts or entirely theoretical topics that I wasn’t very interested in reading about. As it went on, it got more interesting, although there were still scattered bits of boredom here and there. If this had been a book about computer science, I probably would have enjoyed the theoretical parts equally as well as the practical parts. Actually, even though it wasn’t at all the focus of the story, computer science did get a few mentions here and there, and I particularly enjoyed those parts. When it comes to the natural sciences, however, my interest isn’t strong enough to sustain me through theory. I enjoyed it when the authors discussed what we do know and why we think we know it, whereas the various speculations about things we have no way of knowing for sure were more frustrating to me than interesting.
The Discworld part of the story was very short, but amusing. It served as a nice way to break up the science bits and provide some humor. However, the story had a major logical flaw that annoyed me to no end.
So… will I read the second science book? Yes, I think so, once I get to that point in the publication order. Whether or not I read the last two will probably depend on my reaction to the second one.
April 22, 2020
Discworld runs on magic. Roundworld runs on science.
I repeat: Roundworld runs on science.
I repeat: Roundworld runs on science.
January 6, 2021
Няма по-прекрасен начин да посрещнеш Новата година от нова книга на Тери Пратчет! В абсурдното време, в което живеем всеки втори има експертно мнение и развява невидими дипломи от още по-невидими университети, конспиративни теории замъгляват здравия разум, а една съвсем немалка група хора твърдят убедени до фанатизъм, при това без каквато и да било помощ от Светата инквизиция, че глобусът трябва да е плосък като пица. Как да оцелее човек, освен с усмивка? Обилна доза наука и факти, поднесени с остроумен, хаплив, но в крайна сметка изключително не-циничен и човеколюбив хумор на незабравимия Пратчет – ето това ни очаква в новото издание на „Сиела” „Науката от Света на Диска”. Иън Стюарт и Джак Коен удрят по едно рамо с научната част в този своеобразен спиноф на приключенията на Ринсуинд и компания. Като повечето жители на Света на Кълбото, и ние живеем в „продължителна скука, изпъстрена с кратки периоди на смърт“, но преди Смърт да ви навести, задължително убийте скуката (и невежеството!) с тази книга! Прочетете ревюто на „Книжни Криле”: https://knijnikrile.wordpress.com/202...
September 3, 2022
Despite the title, the book is not really about the science of Discworld. It’s about the science of Roundworld, i.e. our world. It’s a collection of short essays about various aspects of the history of the universe and our Earth in it, and the development of life on it. The essays are loosely connected with the short scenes from the Discworld’s Unseen University, where the wizards are conducting an experiment that results in creating a universe and a roundworld very much like ours. Both the Discworld scenes and the science essays are very engaging and funny, as one would expect from anything that has Terry Pratchett’s name on it.
As this edition was published 20 years ago, it is a bit dated in places. Pluto was still counted as a planet in our solar system; there were only about 70 exoplanets discovered by then (today the number stands at more than 5,000); and the scientific stance on the climate crisis was nowhere near as definite as it is today. So I had to take off one star for this shortcoming – as lovely and entertaining as the book is, it is no longer the best place to go to look for scientific answers.
However, it certainly has the advantage of honesty. The Authors weren’t afraid to admit that in some areas science has no reliable answers and all that it can offer are pure guesses. ‘The better the monkeys got at answering [...] questions, the more baffling the universe became.’
Last but not least, kudos to the Authors for recognising librarians as the highest life form in the universe!
As this edition was published 20 years ago, it is a bit dated in places. Pluto was still counted as a planet in our solar system; there were only about 70 exoplanets discovered by then (today the number stands at more than 5,000); and the scientific stance on the climate crisis was nowhere near as definite as it is today. So I had to take off one star for this shortcoming – as lovely and entertaining as the book is, it is no longer the best place to go to look for scientific answers.
However, it certainly has the advantage of honesty. The Authors weren’t afraid to admit that in some areas science has no reliable answers and all that it can offer are pure guesses. ‘The better the monkeys got at answering [...] questions, the more baffling the universe became.’
Last but not least, kudos to the Authors for recognising librarians as the highest life form in the universe!
July 12, 2015
Recommended for people who have had the following thoughts:
"I've heard a lot about this Discworld business, but I wish it had, like, science, you know?"
"I love Discworld, but I wish there was a book that was even more of the wizards of Unseen University being dicks to each other."
"I love popular science nonfiction, but what if I could read a fantasy novel at the same time?"
The wizards of Unseen University (and Rincewind) have accidentally created a pocket universe, and in that universe is a world which, against all narrative good sense, appears to be round and not carried on the back of a turtle at all. It runs on some simple rules and a bit of bloody-minded stubbornness. Every time our wizardly friends poke it with a stick, the authors jump in to explain the science of what happens, from the Big Bang to the evolution of humanity. It's a brisk survey of the sciences, returning to the wizards every other chapter for some more stick-poking.
The science bits draw heavily on a conceit they call "lies-to-children," by which they mean the oversimplifications you use in teaching to introduce difficult concepts. Things like the planetary model of the atom--completely wrong, but pedagogically useful. Lies-to-children aren't bad; they're necessary. But once you've grasped the basics, the lie-to-children can be swept away and replaced with the facts. Except they aren't, always, which is where the authors of the book figure they come in.
I did notice some inaccuracies, especially in the paleontology bits, although I can't entirely decide whether to chalk them up to the book being published 14 years ago, or actually being wrong. And in the molecular biology bits (my actual area of expertise) there were some lies-to-children that never actually got corrected. But in fairness, the book's already 400 pages long. They didn't have time.
In spite of all that I enthusiastically recommend this book. It's fun! You don't get someone like Terry Pratchett every century, but the science chapters are almost as cheeky and entertaining as the fiction bits. Rating: there's 3 more books in the series and my birthday is in October please and thank.
"I've heard a lot about this Discworld business, but I wish it had, like, science, you know?"
"I love Discworld, but I wish there was a book that was even more of the wizards of Unseen University being dicks to each other."
"I love popular science nonfiction, but what if I could read a fantasy novel at the same time?"
The wizards of Unseen University (and Rincewind) have accidentally created a pocket universe, and in that universe is a world which, against all narrative good sense, appears to be round and not carried on the back of a turtle at all. It runs on some simple rules and a bit of bloody-minded stubbornness. Every time our wizardly friends poke it with a stick, the authors jump in to explain the science of what happens, from the Big Bang to the evolution of humanity. It's a brisk survey of the sciences, returning to the wizards every other chapter for some more stick-poking.
The science bits draw heavily on a conceit they call "lies-to-children," by which they mean the oversimplifications you use in teaching to introduce difficult concepts. Things like the planetary model of the atom--completely wrong, but pedagogically useful. Lies-to-children aren't bad; they're necessary. But once you've grasped the basics, the lie-to-children can be swept away and replaced with the facts. Except they aren't, always, which is where the authors of the book figure they come in.
I did notice some inaccuracies, especially in the paleontology bits, although I can't entirely decide whether to chalk them up to the book being published 14 years ago, or actually being wrong. And in the molecular biology bits (my actual area of expertise) there were some lies-to-children that never actually got corrected. But in fairness, the book's already 400 pages long. They didn't have time.
In spite of all that I enthusiastically recommend this book. It's fun! You don't get someone like Terry Pratchett every century, but the science chapters are almost as cheeky and entertaining as the fiction bits. Rating: there's 3 more books in the series and my birthday is in October please and thank.
January 6, 2022
I found The Science of Discworld to be similar to Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything, as most of the topics are covered in both books. However, The Science of Discworld is much more accurate (and witty); plus, it manages to explain difficult concepts in a clear and compelling way. As a popular science book, it's one of the best I've ever read. Unfortunately the topics are pretty much the same as other works in the genre and aren't explored in much depth (entirely normal for a book about scientific matters, which should be easily understood by all readers without the risk of being boring). However, you may always find something of particular interest and decide to delve into it at a later time; for me it was the concept of extelligence and that of a space elevator, which I found quite interesting.
The idea of mixing the chapters (one about the science of our world and one about Discworld's wizards studying it) is winning and makes for a lighter, more enjoyable narrative. It's amusing to see how they address each other and bicker, especially Archchancellor Ridcully and the Dean.
I must say I was hoping for something rather different, to tell the truth. A more imaginative, discworldly approach would have made this book unique, though perhaps the explanations would not have been as rigorous, and the authors clearly wanted to be rigorous. Nonetheless I enjoyed the read. I recommend it to anyone who wants to explore some interesting aspects of our world and hear what the UU wizards have to say about them (nothing good I'm afraid).
The idea of mixing the chapters (one about the science of our world and one about Discworld's wizards studying it) is winning and makes for a lighter, more enjoyable narrative. It's amusing to see how they address each other and bicker, especially Archchancellor Ridcully and the Dean.
I must say I was hoping for something rather different, to tell the truth. A more imaginative, discworldly approach would have made this book unique, though perhaps the explanations would not have been as rigorous, and the authors clearly wanted to be rigorous. Nonetheless I enjoyed the read. I recommend it to anyone who wants to explore some interesting aspects of our world and hear what the UU wizards have to say about them (nothing good I'm afraid).
December 27, 2020
Магьосниците от Диска изследват Земята: http://knigolandia.info/book-review/n...
Както ще се убедите, тази неопределимо жанрова книга се оказва посветена не толкова на Диска (макар част от действието се вихри там), колкото на собствената ни планета, на нейната поява, на космическия квартал наоколо, на появата на живота и усърдието му да оцелее. Този свят, който магьосниците от Невидимия университет откриват случайно – и който в смелите си експерименти (в много широкия смисъл на понятието да бучкаш нещо напосоки) сякаш подтикват към създаване, и който ги шокира със своята причудливост, кръгловатост и липсата на магия. Но най-вече с наличието на изключително ценния елемент наративий, който образува истории… и както казват авторите, “Човешкото мислене си пада по щедри дози наративий”. Също, не по-малко важен, и елементът инатий, характерен за живота изобщо, който упорито пак и пак се възражда след всяко катастрофално събитие.
CIELA Books
http://knigolandia.info/book-review/n...
Както ще се убедите, тази неопределимо жанрова книга се оказва посветена не толкова на Диска (макар част от действието се вихри там), колкото на собствената ни планета, на нейната поява, на космическия квартал наоколо, на появата на живота и усърдието му да оцелее. Този свят, който магьосниците от Невидимия университет откриват случайно – и който в смелите си експерименти (в много широкия смисъл на понятието да бучкаш нещо напосоки) сякаш подтикват към създаване, и който ги шокира със своята причудливост, кръгловатост и липсата на магия. Но най-вече с наличието на изключително ценния елемент наративий, който образува истории… и както казват авторите, “Човешкото мислене си пада по щедри дози наративий”. Също, не по-малко важен, и елементът инатий, характерен за живота изобщо, който упорито пак и пак се възражда след всяко катастрофално събитие.
CIELA Books
http://knigolandia.info/book-review/n...
May 2, 2012
My girlfriend tried to buy this book for me while we were browsing a second hand bookshop. I said "No thanks" and I said it firmly because I really don't like those series tie in books that people write which might have the original authors name on the cover but are actually written by second rate hacks hired by the publisher to milk the last drop of cash from the cow.
Luckily my girlfriend ignored me completely and bought it anyway because this is not one of those books.
This book doesn't try and give a scientific explanation for how a discworld could exist supported on the backs of four elephants or how discworld light can move slowly enough for you to watch it wash over the landscape. Instead it describes our universe, the solar system, earth and the life on it through the eyes of people living on the discworld. It does it darned well too.
Luckily my girlfriend ignored me completely and bought it anyway because this is not one of those books.
This book doesn't try and give a scientific explanation for how a discworld could exist supported on the backs of four elephants or how discworld light can move slowly enough for you to watch it wash over the landscape. Instead it describes our universe, the solar system, earth and the life on it through the eyes of people living on the discworld. It does it darned well too.
February 22, 2019
When a wizardly experiment goes adrift, the wizards of Unseen University find themselves with a pocket universe on their hands: Roundworld, where neither magic nor common sense seems to stand a chance against logic. The Universe, of course, is our own. And Roundworld is Earth. As the wizards watch their accidental creation grow, we follow the story of our universe from the primal singularity of the Big Bang to the Internet and beyond.
Being a huge lover of science and discworld this was just perfect for me the book is layed in a way that you have 1 chapter with the wizards of Unseen university doing something weird and wonderful but that something would always have something to do with the next subject chapter. For example the wizards get bored and start making comets and snowballs and throwing them at planets and the next chapter was about the reason comets exist and the rest of the book play out like this. So you get a little technical language of science and then you'd get the fun and wacky wizards it's a great mix. I think the only downside for me is that this book was wrote in 1999 and it now being 2019 i feel that maybe in the 20 years since some of the science might have changed or been updated or proved wrong completely so that's a worrie but apart from that the book is solid it's informative and fun your always in a state of wonder unlike school when you was being taught or AkA "lies to children" so if you have children or you yourself are intrested in science or discworld or both i would say you should defiantly pick this one up.
5/5 stars on goodreads
100/100 Ginger points
Being a huge lover of science and discworld this was just perfect for me the book is layed in a way that you have 1 chapter with the wizards of Unseen university doing something weird and wonderful but that something would always have something to do with the next subject chapter. For example the wizards get bored and start making comets and snowballs and throwing them at planets and the next chapter was about the reason comets exist and the rest of the book play out like this. So you get a little technical language of science and then you'd get the fun and wacky wizards it's a great mix. I think the only downside for me is that this book was wrote in 1999 and it now being 2019 i feel that maybe in the 20 years since some of the science might have changed or been updated or proved wrong completely so that's a worrie but apart from that the book is solid it's informative and fun your always in a state of wonder unlike school when you was being taught or AkA "lies to children" so if you have children or you yourself are intrested in science or discworld or both i would say you should defiantly pick this one up.
5/5 stars on goodreads
100/100 Ginger points
June 1, 2011
Although I loved the book, the title is maybe a little misleading. Unlike The Science of Star Trek or The Science of Harry Potter, which will explain in exhaustive detail how it might be scientifically possible to build a transporter or a flying broom, The Science of Discworld uses the wizards of Discworld to explain science in our world. Which on the Disc is called Roundworld, and is a wizard's experiment to see how a world without magic or narrativium works.
There's no attempt to explain anything that happens in Discworld, because a) there can be no scientific explanation and b) it is explained; it's all magic and narrativium, the element that makes stories work. So to wizards, Roundworld's lack of storyline is baffling and frustrating. That's the Discworld half of the story, their bafflement at how Roundworld evolution works. They have, after all, met the God of Evolution on the Disc.
The science half is woven in between Discworld chapters. As Roundworld evolves, the science chapters cut in to explain what's going on and why. I don't have a clue in the world how accurate the science is, but it was enjoyable to read. I'm not usually a reader of hard science. To be totally honest, I'm here for the Discworld story, and nothing else. But I was kept reading through all of the science, which is something for me. At the same time, you really could read only the Discworld sections without missing much. You'd have to really like reading the wizards, though. But honestly, who doesn't?
There's no attempt to explain anything that happens in Discworld, because a) there can be no scientific explanation and b) it is explained; it's all magic and narrativium, the element that makes stories work. So to wizards, Roundworld's lack of storyline is baffling and frustrating. That's the Discworld half of the story, their bafflement at how Roundworld evolution works. They have, after all, met the God of Evolution on the Disc.
The science half is woven in between Discworld chapters. As Roundworld evolves, the science chapters cut in to explain what's going on and why. I don't have a clue in the world how accurate the science is, but it was enjoyable to read. I'm not usually a reader of hard science. To be totally honest, I'm here for the Discworld story, and nothing else. But I was kept reading through all of the science, which is something for me. At the same time, you really could read only the Discworld sections without missing much. You'd have to really like reading the wizards, though. But honestly, who doesn't?
May 9, 2019
Don't expect your typical lighthearted novel as you'd normally get from Terry Pratchett. Instead, you will find a hilarious, whimsical look at the deep scientific theories and explanations of how scientists believe our universe and world works. If you've avoided topics like gravitational forces, quantum theory or evolution, then this is the book for you! Seriously.
The magic of this book is how the authors take the unreality of Discworld and use it to show the reader how our universe and world work. The wizards of Unseen University take us on a time traveling journey as they peer into our universe beginning at its inception and then periodically along the way until they glimpse us and then our possible future. The beauty of this framework is how complex theories and scientific discoveries are broken down into manageable pieces of information.
The authors dismiss the idea of God or gods in favor of evolutionary theory dropping in subtle remarks and even a few not-so-subtle quips. While they admit to science being a huge amount of guessing and not knowing, they refuse to admit the possibility of a Creator.
The content is such that young readers would really be lost and even many teens would find this hard to understand. The only curse word doesn't even count in my book because it really was used in context. Sex comes up quite often, but only as it relates as a motivational factor for animals. I'd say this book is really suited to older teens and adults, regardless if they are familiar with Terry Pratchett's works or not.
The magic of this book is how the authors take the unreality of Discworld and use it to show the reader how our universe and world work. The wizards of Unseen University take us on a time traveling journey as they peer into our universe beginning at its inception and then periodically along the way until they glimpse us and then our possible future. The beauty of this framework is how complex theories and scientific discoveries are broken down into manageable pieces of information.
The authors dismiss the idea of God or gods in favor of evolutionary theory dropping in subtle remarks and even a few not-so-subtle quips. While they admit to science being a huge amount of guessing and not knowing, they refuse to admit the possibility of a Creator.
The content is such that young readers would really be lost and even many teens would find this hard to understand. The only curse word doesn't even count in my book because it really was used in context. Sex comes up quite often, but only as it relates as a motivational factor for animals. I'd say this book is really suited to older teens and adults, regardless if they are familiar with Terry Pratchett's works or not.
August 27, 2022
Nice. Recommended.
January 20, 2025
This is quite different from the usual Discworld book in that it alternates between science ideas as they relate to alternate chapters about a fantastical Discworld story where wizards create Earth. I drifted on some of the science chapters but most was interesting. Some of the the science is dated but this was written in 1999 so no surprise.
December 16, 2020
Едно от добрите неща, които правим в “Сиела” е да издаваме добри книги. Имам предвид наистина добри. Като казвам добри, имам предвид написани от писател с добро сърце, необятен ум и поразяващо забавен стил. Да четеш Тери Пратчет е радост на квадрат, а да четеш Тери Пратчет с някой наоколо е и облекчение, защото постоянно ти идва да четеш на глас. Някои от най-забавните изречения в световната литература принадлежат на Пратчет, както и най-често срещаните корици по българските плажове. Минавам да споделя, че току що публикувахме “Науката в света на диска”. Това е повече от наука, уверявам ви. Както и повече от роман. Тоест, нещо като научно-фантастичен роман от Света на Диска, но с вплетени теории за Света на Кълбото, т.е. нашата Вселена. Тук Сър Тери Пратчет си е партнирал с истински учени (биолога Джак Коен и математика Иън Стюарт). Резултатът е адски развлекателна смесица между магия и наука, измислица и факти, остроумие и реални дебати. Магьосниците от Невидимия Университет са колкото забавни, толкова и полезни. Защо? Докато се смееш си припомняш, научаваш, разтягаш сивото вещество. Голяма книга. Пре-по-ръч-вам!!!
Искам тук да отбележа изключителния превод на Богдан Русев. Изисква се нещо повече от задълбочено познаване на английски език, за да преведеш Пратчет. Изисква се задълбочено познаване на английския език и вселенския мозък на този литературен гений. Богдан Русев — отличен писател, редактор и преводач — е съумял да преведе най-трудното за превеждане, а именно хумора. Браво!
Искам тук да отбележа изключителния превод на Богдан Русев. Изисква се нещо повече от задълбочено познаване на английски език, за да преведеш Пратчет. Изисква се задълбочено познаване на английския език и вселенския мозък на този литературен гений. Богдан Русев — отличен писател, редактор и преводач — е съумял да преведе най-трудното за превеждане, а именно хумора. Браво!
January 24, 2012
I think this is a really good book. I was surprised to find that it had alternating chapters of Discworld focus (entertainment) and our real world focus (science). I think many people would enjoy this Discworld portion and get a better grasp of what science can and can not accomplish by reading this book . I would get a kick out of seeing this book listed in the bibliography of some high school science report. There is enough real information to be used in that manner.
I think this format of teach a chapter and entertain for chapter would be greatly successful in general education text for schools. It could keep the pupils engaged enough so they would learn without struggling. Difficult to do but boy it might just be worth it.
I think this format of teach a chapter and entertain for chapter would be greatly successful in general education text for schools. It could keep the pupils engaged enough so they would learn without struggling. Difficult to do but boy it might just be worth it.
January 1, 2021
Five stars for the Discworld bits, but only four stars for the science bits. Why's that?
Someone without a science background, or who hasn't read much in the way of popular science, would get MUCH more out of the "real world" parts. Consider this a strong recommendation for that audience. They cover a lot of ground and also took the time to update parts several years after initial publication. On top of that, I hadn't heard of axions before, so I learned something!
Someone without a science background, or who hasn't read much in the way of popular science, would get MUCH more out of the "real world" parts. Consider this a strong recommendation for that audience. They cover a lot of ground and also took the time to update parts several years after initial publication. On top of that, I hadn't heard of axions before, so I learned something!
March 22, 2021
По-скоро 3.5*, беше чудесна книга на границата между фантастичното и истинското, ако изобщо можем да си говорим за граници.
Повече ми хареса, разбира се, отдадеността на магьосниците за успеха на проект "Кръгъл свят", дори и при наличието на толкова безумно голямо количество от елемента "инатий". Опитите им се съчетават чудесно с истинската (нашата си, кръгла) наука и примерите и обясненията са изключително свежи и достъпни за всеки.
Повече ми хареса, разбира се, отдадеността на магьосниците за успеха на проект "Кръгъл свят", дори и при наличието на толкова безумно голямо количество от елемента "инатий". Опитите им се съчетават чудесно с истинската (нашата си, кръгла) наука и примерите и обясненията са изключително свежи и достъпни за всеки.
May 22, 2018
First book I DNF'd after 30%. I wanted a good fiction and what we got was a class on the creation of the universe. Eh, so disappointed.
March 24, 2009
OK..first off I'd like too point out i have a slightly better than average grasp on the 3 main sciences...but only slightly.
the science isn't really "dumbed down" much, but even if that fly's right over your head the comedy is still gold and worth a read.
the way Terry wrote this was in alternating chapters, one with stories of "our" science, then one with the sciences from the last chapter looked at and explained from the point of view of the diskworld wizards looking at it "in a bottle"....i guarantee you won't look at a rainbow the same way again, and you'll dread the questions 5 year old's might ask.
the science isn't really "dumbed down" much, but even if that fly's right over your head the comedy is still gold and worth a read.
the way Terry wrote this was in alternating chapters, one with stories of "our" science, then one with the sciences from the last chapter looked at and explained from the point of view of the diskworld wizards looking at it "in a bottle"....i guarantee you won't look at a rainbow the same way again, and you'll dread the questions 5 year old's might ask.
June 27, 2017
There are a ton of these auxiliary-Discworld books out there, and most of them have typically been difficult to find. Luckily, it looks like they're getting easier to track down, which is exciting.
I wasn't sure what to expect opening the book, but I'm happy with how it was presented -- alternating chapters of the Wizards (who I never felt had enough books in the latter half of Pratchett's writings) and a deep dive into a pop science topic. While the information in many cases is already dated (!), I still learned quite a bit. And, of course, loved spending more time with the Wizards... good prep for my eventual Discworld re-read.
Recommended for the die-hard Discworld fan.
I wasn't sure what to expect opening the book, but I'm happy with how it was presented -- alternating chapters of the Wizards (who I never felt had enough books in the latter half of Pratchett's writings) and a deep dive into a pop science topic. While the information in many cases is already dated (!), I still learned quite a bit. And, of course, loved spending more time with the Wizards... good prep for my eventual Discworld re-read.
Recommended for the die-hard Discworld fan.
November 29, 2018
I LOVE the Science of Discworld books! They can be a bit slow, especially the science parts (ha!) but you always get a great Discworld part to look forward to. I have learned quite some things from this book. If you want to educate yourself but also love fantasy, please read this. But read it when you're wide awake, I loved it a lot but snoozed often when I read this before bedtime.. zzZzz.. Can't really say why, not that it's boring, but it used quite a lot of my brain power! XD
March 2, 2019
This book is incredibly hard to categorize, it contains elements of non-fiction, fiction, humour and some good old admonishing. It was, in a word, brilliant, and while there very definitely was a plot, it kept getting pushed aside for explanations, both serious and humourous. I very much enjoyed the climax and the resolution. I will have to continue with the series, and try and contain my absolute missing of Pratchett.
February 27, 2019
For me personally it is always harder to read a non-fiction book. It is a shame, because this book is actually a nice mix between science and fiction. Still I struggled at times to keep focussed, eventough the topics are interesting enough. Still 4 stars because I think it is a great idea to mix the information with the storyline like this.
August 22, 2020
Starting to be a little dated and (as an astronomer) I noticed a few errors in the astronomy, but still very interesting and a nice combination of discworld wizards and round world science and history. Some prescient comments about the state of politics in the world.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 502 reviews