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. Through this original Terry Pratchett story (with intervening chapters from Cohen and Stewart) we discover how puny and insignificant individual lives are against a cosmic backdrop of creation and disaster. Yet, paradoxically, we see how the richness of a universe based on rules, has led to a complex world and at least one species that tried to get a grip of what was going on...
About the Author
Terry Pratchett is the bestselling author of the Discworld novels. Ian Stewart is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick. Jack Cohen is a biologist and science writer.
Reviews
'The hard science is as gripping as the fiction', The Times .'An irreverent but genuinely profound romp through the history and philosophy of science, cunningly disguised as a collection of funny stories about wizards and mobile luggage. More that that, it offers a fresh look at the place that humans hold in the history of the planet', Richard Wentk, Frontiers
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Reviews
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What more can I say - Terry Pratchett is a master. His weaker works are even better than the best of many others. Had difficulty getting this mini series for a good price, but with a voucher and I'm happy as larry. Many many fans don't realise this series is really a story - it has often been confused with the other books of maps, cooking, compendiums, biographies, etc.
As many others will point out to you, this is not the usual Discworld fare. Instead, it alternates between a story (based in the Discworld and in 'Roundworld') and real-life sciencey stuff. If you don't want to read the science, just skip every other chapter, and you will get to the story stuff, but the science does inform the story. Not Pratchetts most classic work, but still a good one to have anyhow.
The wizards just played God and created the Roundowrld - our world - where people believe in magic when there isn't any gods when there aren't any, and that the way of creation was grand - rather then Dean juts putting his hands in a jar and swirling. However, the wizards have decided to take care of Roundworld -
God help Roundworld.
This is ok, but it is trying to do two things and once and I found it a little forced, and as such a little on the dull side. The discworld wizards and playing with academics and a computer experiment to do some world building.
Pratchett is giving a few real world science lessons along the way. More interesting perhaps to someone that knows none of it already.
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