Reviews

"This book is fun, and Mr. Krauss has a nice touch with a tough subject...Readers drawn by frivolity will be treated to substance.""--New York Times Book Review""Today's science fiction is often tomorrow's science fact. The physics that underlies "Star Trek is surely worth investigating. To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit."--Stephen Hawking (in the foreword)A

Although a bit more physics than Star Trek, this latest effort from the author of Fear of Physics (LJ 10/1/93) is another worthy attempt to coax the TV generation into the esoteric realm of such abstract curiosities as wormholes, time/space curvature, quantum particles, and the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. The strategy of drawing on the enormous familiarity of the Star Trek universe seems natural and intriguing, and the book certainly informs and entertains-to an extent. The cultural phenomenon of Star Trek is never fully integrated into the book, as the title would imply, with fewer, briefer references and no photos from any of the films or television series that might properly be expected. Krauss does provide memorable descriptions of the immense difficulties facing the actual development of various Star Trek technologies, particularly with the prohibitive energy requirement to power starships near or past the speed of light and the rather shocking operations necessary for transporters and replicators. For general readers.-Patrick Dunn, East Tennessee State Univ. Lib., Johnson City