The Science of Doctor Who

by Parsons, Paul

• ISBN13: 9780801895609
• ISBN10: 080189560X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-05-05
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins Univ Pr

Summary

Almost fifty years after he first crossed the small screen, Doctor Who remains a science fiction touchstone. His exploits are thrilling, his world is mind-boggling, and that time travel machine -- known as the Tardis -- is almost certainly an old-fashioned blue police box once commonly found in London.Paul Parsons's plain-English account of the real science behind the fantastic universe portrayed in the Doctor Who television series provides answers to such burning questions as whether a sonic screwdriver is any use for putting up a shelf, how Cybermen make little Cybermen, where the toilets are in the Tardis, and much more.Taking the show as a starting point -- episode-by-episode in some cases -- Parsons dissects its scientific concepts. In addition to explaining why time travel is possible and just how that blue police box works, Parsons• discusses who the Time Lords are and how we may one day be able to regenerate just like them• ponders the ways that the doctor's two hearts might work and introduces us to a terrestrial animal with five• details the alien populations and cosmology of the Whovian Universe and relates them to what we currently know about our universe• compares the robotics of the show with startlingly similar real-world applications.This slender, almost equation-free discussion is penned by a Ph.D. cosmologist and is ideal beach reading for anyone who loves science and watches the show -- no matter which planet the beach is on.

Author Biography

Paul Parsons is a scientist, journalist, and lifelong Doctor Who fan. He is a freelance contributor to various science magazines, including BBC Focus and New Scientist.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
The Eleven Doctors	p. xv
Doctor in The Tardis
Who Is the Doctor?	p. 3
Time and Relative Dimension in Space, or Tardis	p. 13
Into the Vortex	p. 28
Regeneration	p. 42
One Giant Leap for DIY	p. 49
Partners in Time	p. 55
Aliens of London and Beyond
Other Worlds	p. 63
Carnival of Monsters	p. 77
The Cybermen	p. 88
The Daleks	p. 97
The Slitheen	p. 109
The Autons	p. 115
The Silurians and the Sea Devils	p. 120
The Sontarans	p. 124
Martians, Go Home!	p. 132
The Krynoid	p. 138
Stupid Apes	p. 144
Exile to Earth	p. 151
The Human Empire	p. 161
Invasion Earth	p. 166
Robot Dogs, Psychic Paper, And Other Celestial Toys
Scanning for Alien Tech	p. 173
Just What the Doctor Ordered	p. 184
K-9 and Company	p. 190
Psychic Paper	p. 197
Space-flight	p. 201
Space Stations and Moonbases	p. 209
Bombs, Bullets, and Death Rays	p. 216
Force Fields	p. 227
The Matrix	p. 232
Mission to The Unknown
Event One	p. 241
The Eye of Harmony and Other Black Holes	p. 250
Journeys through E-Space	p. 259
Strange Stars and Mirror Planets	p. 267
The More Things Change	p. 277
The End of Time	p. 283
Epilogue	p. 287
List of Episodes by Doctor	p. 289
Further Reading	p. 293
Index	p. 295
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