pushingdessy's review against another edition
5.0
THIS BOOK WAS SO MUCH FUN!
"Wait Dessi seriously, are you calling a book trying to look scientifically at a made up world that is obviously going to prove how silly and nonsensical and impossible that world is, *fun*?"
HECK YES.
See, Cavelos is ahuge nerd big Star Wars fan. So against what you might think, this book doesn't go through Star Wars point by point just to say "in conclusion, this would never happen". She considers many expert arguments, including her own, to explain why something would be likely to happen or not, and what conditions would be necessary for it. Nothing is deemed impossible. Maybe that's overly optimistic in the future of science as we know it, like some readers suggest, but shouldn't science be overly optimistic?
Of course, the book is heavy on science, but even if I didn't fully understand some concepts, it still felt easy to read. And fun - did I say it was fun? The thing for me was, I like science, but I'm still a lay person and I don't spend enough time reading up on scientific developments. This book, using something fictional I enjoy, let me in on a lot of real life information I didn't know about - and it also reminded me just how creative science is, how creative it *needs* to be, by default.
Since this book dates from 1999, I really would love an updated version from this author, both to include more recent scientific discoveries and the new information about the GFFA we've received since then (the book was written before TPM was released, although the author still managed to include TPM in some of the chapters. Yes, she tackled the midichlorians question!)
I only take half a star back for some spelling mistakes - guess the editor was not a SW fan.
"Wait Dessi seriously, are you calling a book trying to look scientifically at a made up world that is obviously going to prove how silly and nonsensical and impossible that world is, *fun*?"
HECK YES.
See, Cavelos is a
Of course, the book is heavy on science, but even if I didn't fully understand some concepts, it still felt easy to read. And fun - did I say it was fun? The thing for me was, I like science, but I'm still a lay person and I don't spend enough time reading up on scientific developments. This book, using something fictional I enjoy, let me in on a lot of real life information I didn't know about - and it also reminded me just how creative science is, how creative it *needs* to be, by default.
Since this book dates from 1999, I really would love an updated version from this author, both to include more recent scientific discoveries and the new information about the GFFA we've received since then (the book was written before TPM was released, although the author still managed to include TPM in some of the chapters. Yes, she tackled the midichlorians question!)
I only take half a star back for some spelling mistakes - guess the editor was not a SW fan.
cmbohn's review against another edition
2.0
This woman is obsessed with Star Wars. I mean, seriously, beyond anyone I've ever known, obsessed with Star Wars. It's not obvious right at first, although on the flyleaf it told about how the author decided to become an astronomer after watching Star Wars for the first time. But as I was reading the book, I realized this was a whole different magnitude of fandom. She has obviously watched the movies hundred of times, and read every single book in all the series, at least once. But the reali giveaway was when she referred to Jar Jar Binks as "a loveable goofball." OK, that is just not normal.
But about the book - it wasn't quite what I expected either. It takes the whole Star Wars thing so seriously, and tries to seriously account for every aspect of the movie - the planets, the lifeforms, and so on. There wasn't enough tongue in cheek for me to be able to pay attention to the science. Only recommended for real Star Wars geeks.
But about the book - it wasn't quite what I expected either. It takes the whole Star Wars thing so seriously, and tries to seriously account for every aspect of the movie - the planets, the lifeforms, and so on. There wasn't enough tongue in cheek for me to be able to pay attention to the science. Only recommended for real Star Wars geeks.
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