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The Science of Discworld

The Science of Discworld

FantasyScience & Nature
Pages
336
Published
1999
Language
English

Synopsis

The wizards of Unseen University accidentally create a small pocket universe — a place of matter and light without magic, governed entirely by the laws of science. The resulting world, which they call Roundworld, turns out to be the Earth. Written in alternating chapters, The Science of Discworld interleaves a Discworld narrative about the wizards' bafflement at a world with no magic with accessible science writing by Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen, explaining the actual science of how our universe works. A unique hybrid of comic fiction and popular science.

Prose complexity
6/10

Vibe

FunnyInformativeThought-ProvokingIntellectual
Portal FantasyFish Out of WaterQuest

Genres

Fantasy Science & Nature Adventure Science Fiction

Authors

I
Ian Stewart

Ian Nicholas Stewart FRS CMath FIMA is a British mathematician and a popular-science and science-fiction writer. He is Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick, England. --Wikipedia

J
Jack Cohen

Jack Cohen, FRSB was a British reproductive biologist also known for his science books and involvement with science fiction. --Wikipedia

T
Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) was an English author best known for the Discworld series, a sequence of forty-one comic fantasy novels set on a flat world carried through space on the backs of four elephants standing on a giant turtle. Across four decades, the Discworld grew from a parody of sword-and-sorcery fantasy into one of the most sustained works of social satire in English literature, examining politics, religion, science, gender, race, capitalism, and the nature of stories themselves. Pra...

Characters

Archchancellor Mustrum RidcullyProtagonist

The head of Unseen University — practical, loud, and increasingly baffled by a world governed by something other than magic.

The LibrarianSupporting

The University's orang-utan librarian — present in the Discworld sections as a comic foil.

All characters in The Science of Discworld

Frequently asked questions

  • How is this book structured?

    The narrative alternates between chapters of a fictional story featuring the wizards of Unseen University and chapters of scientific exposition that explore the concepts raised by the wizards' experiments.

  • Does this book require knowledge of the other Discworld novels?

    While it features established characters from the series, the book functions as a distinct project that can be approached independently of the main sequence of novels.

  • Who wrote The Science of Discworld?

    The book has three authors: Terry Pratchett wrote the Discworld narrative sections, while Ian Stewart (a mathematician) and Jack Cohen (a biologist) wrote the alternating science essay chapters. First published in 1999 by Ebury Press.

  • What is the origin of the book's cover art?

    The cover illustration is a parody of the 1768 painting An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump by Joseph Wright of Derby.

  • How does the book work?

    It alternates between Discworld fiction (the wizards inadvertently creating Earth) and science essays (Stewart and Cohen explaining the actual science of evolution, cosmology, and physics). The fiction provides an engaging frame for the science writing.

  • Do I need to have read the Discworld to enjoy this?

    Some prior Discworld familiarity helps with the fiction sections, but the science chapters are entirely standalone. The book works as popular science with a comedic frame.

  • How many Science of Discworld books are there?

    Four: The Science of Discworld (1999), The Globe (2002, subtitled 'The Science of Discworld II'), Darwin's Watch (2005, 'Science of Discworld III'), and Judgement Day (2013, 'Science of Discworld IV').