Charles L. Adler

Entertaining book that looks at the science behind fantasy and science-fiction stories. Lots of maths/equations involved.

Although a great book applying science to fantasy, it falls into the trap of using the science to attack the premise of several fantasy worlds rather than attempting to add to or explain them.

The math was over my head, but the accompanying text was marvelous and lucid and more than made up for my deficiency. Highly recommended.

A physicist's semiquantitative study (actual equations are included) of many of the concepts appearing in speculative fiction. After wasting (in my opinion) the first 4 of his 21 chapters on "urban fantasy" (Harry Potter stuff, etc), he treats us to analyses of space elevators, off-Earth colonies, ultra-advanced propulsion schemes, exoplanets, extraterrestrial intelligence, the universe of the ultra-far future, and related matters. Not free of errors and clarity gaps, but a good and useful read.