Reviews

La scienza di Mondo Disco by Ian Stewart, Terry Pratchett, Jack Cohen

selise's review against another edition

funny informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.5

lexia_39's review against another edition

adventurous funny informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

olityr's review against another edition

funny informative inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This was a surprisingly good introduction to a wide variety of sciences. 

Favorite quotes:

• "Sufficiently advanced physics is indistinguishable from magic."
• "Science is not about building a body of known ‘facts’. It is a method for asking awkward questions and subjecting them to a reality-check, thus avoiding the human tendency to believe whatever makes us feel good."
• "That's where science and common sense overlap; science is common sense applied to evidence. Using common sense in that manner, you often come to conclusions that are very different from the obvious common sense assumptions that because the universe appears to behave in some manner, that it really does."
• "Whenever a scientist says 'There is no scientific evidence for...' there are three important questions you should ask, especially if it's a government scientist. These are; 'Is there any evidence against?', 'Has anyone looked?' and, If they did, 'Would they expect to find anything?"
• "Because we've got minds, we also have the capacity to create a little bit of mind in a lot of other creatures."
• "And then complicity really set in because what's on a piece of paper can come back and bite you in the ankle. The rulers started putting constitutional rights and obligations down on paper to protect their own position. Once it's down on paper that the king has certain rights and obligations, then the paper can always be referred to later and used as an argument. But what the kings didn't realize to start with is that when they put their rights and obligations down on paper, they were implicitly constraining their own actions. The citizens could read what was on the paper too. They could tell if their king was suddenly assuming rights or obligations that were not on the piece of paper. The whole effect of law on human society started to change when you could write the law down and anyone who could read could see what the law was. This didn't mean that the king's always obeyed the law, of course, but it meant that when they disobeyed it, everyone knew what they were doing. That had a big effect on the structure of human society. One minor aspect of it is that we always appear to be nervous of people who write things down." 

lukasmummy's review against another edition

funny informative

4.0

greeblegraphics's review against another edition

funny informative lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

The Science of Discworld surprised me. I listened to it because I could borrow it for free and it involved Terry Pratchett. I knew nothing about it. Lucky me -- it's a genuine Discworld story! Every odd-numbered chapter features the wizards of Unseen University analyzing the weird puzzle of our magic-free universe. Every even-numbered chapter explains the known science of our magic-free universe. Recommended for fans of the "wizard" Discworld stories. 

nclarke84's review against another edition

3.0

An interesting premise interlocking the universes of Discworld with our own Roundworld

mirandag908's review against another edition

funny informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

goobdiddy's review against another edition

3.0

A bit dry, and probably more interesting for people who don't have degrees in the sciences, but an interesting concept. What they've done is alternate chapters, with one chapter being a story with the wizards of unseen university followed by a short scientific essay explaining some of our "roundworld" science relating to what is happening on the discworld.

2shadowsdeep's review against another edition

adventurous funny informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

canaanmerchant's review against another edition

2.0

A: the book is seriously out of date on a few things. That can't be helped in some cases but if you're going to print a new edition then it might help to mention this.

B: I'm not a big fan of science. It's just there and I let it be. But somehow I knew most of the info already which makes me wonder who this book is actually for.

C: that said the discworld chapters feature classic wizard shenanigans which is always helpful and the science writers are good at explaining the concepts and clearing up popular misconceptions or lies-to-children as they call it.

It was enough to let me finish the book but not enough for me to enjoy it very much. If I ever come across free or cheap copies of the follow ups then maybe I'll read the fictional chapters only.