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The Science of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials By Mary GribbinJohn Gribbin ( Laurel Leaf )
Release Date: 2007-07-10
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Product Description
Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy is renowned for its mystery and magic. What’s the truth behind it all? Is the golden compass actually based in science? How does the subtle knife cut through anything? Could there be a bomb like the one made with Lyra’s hair? How do the Gallivespians’ lodestone resonators really work? And, of course, what are the Dark Materials? Drawing on string theory and spacetime, quantum physics and chaos theory, award-winning science writers Mary and John Gribbin reveal the real science behind Philip Pullman’s bestselling fantasy trilogy in entertaining and crystal-clear prose.
From the Hardcover edition.
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Unlocks What Otherwise is Magical Fantasy ( resurgentreadermiami )
Fantasy for the sake of escapism is wonderful. Explanation of the same may become problematic. To the reader who enjoys escaping reality for fantasy, explanation for what otherwise has no reason is as inviting as the many hurtful "growing up" moments: e.g. when we learn that there is no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny or Tooth Afairy.
One of Great Britain's greatest fantasies is the Dark Materials' trilogy - where little children take on magical odysseys to cure what adults ruin. Similar to "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" or any of the J.K. Rowling "Harry Potter" books, Philip Pullman's fantasy has been the torch which lit many of a certain generation's children's dreams. A contemporary to Rowling, his writing has been the source of discussion and movie material.
And, so it is this book that makes it so unlike interpretations of many of its peer novels. Harry Potter novels are decried as the source for the intense growth of devil worshiping satanic cults. To the contrary, "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" has been accused of being a Christian lesson in mythic tale. Narnia - the land of "The Lion . . . " - is separate from our own. It is heaven or the "other world." Potter's world coexists with our own - he is different, he is the devil incarnate. Or, so critics tells us.
Pullman's world is both "other" as well as part of our own. He has Lyra and Will meet, even though they are from different worlds. With magic knife, Will cuts his way into our world. How, the authors ask, can this be?
Metaphysics. This book teaches us about the fourth dimension, string theory, dust, dark materials, quantum physics and more - and how each relates to what we thought was a children's novel. Peeling away at the layers of plot in the Pullman books, the authors of this book teach us more science than we probably have learned in decades. At times I wondered whether I was learning more science in this book than I had forgotten in a lifetime.
And, so the authors explain that our childlike imaginations are actually rooted in truths - scientific truths. That our fantasy is actually reality. That our escape is merely a change in direction to what we otherwise do not know. In short, science is as magical as it is logical. Science can be as much fun as . . . dare I say it. . . Rowling or Pullman or C.S. Lewis.
I learned a lot from this book. And, although it awakened me to learn something that I may have otherwise been just as comfortable as not knowing, I have no regrets. To the contrary, I regret having been so ignorant. I enjoyed reading this book which unlocked many mysteries which have been hidden from me for years. And, I only wish that science could have been taught in a similar manner.
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inconsistant ( sa92 )
This is a brilliant concept, and was executed relatively well. My main complaint is that the tone of writing is not consistant. I felt 'talked down to' in some chapters and then unexplained terms, concepts and/or examples were used that went over my head in other chapters. For example, the authors give a detailed definition of what "experiements" are, but then assume readers know what "poloroid lenses" are. I don't know about others, but I knew what an 'experiemnt' was about a decade before I had any experience with Poloroid lenses, and I'm still not 100% sure I'm thinking of the right thing. Particularly toward the end of the book the authors seemed to have jumped ship on breaking concepts down with the same voracity as in the beginning.
Obviously, this is a companion to the trilogy. Although I felt the editing should've been better for this book, it really is an invaluable addition to the His Dark Materials experience.
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The Science of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials
Mary & John Gribbin have created a well organized and eaily understood science guide to the authentic physics behind Philip Pullman's epic work. The Gribbins combine good, clear writing with a thurough understanding of phyisics that leads to simple explanations a layman can understand. With out this valualbe work, Mr. Pullman's fantastic tale would remain simply a 'story' underpinned by fanciful and extremely complex and difficult science that might or might not be real for our world. As it happens, much of it is real for our world.
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His Dark MATERIALS ( glong70 )
It is a fun book using the facts of Dark Matter in a rather cavalier way that is fun and gives a great explanation for the magic/ absurdities in the Dark Matter series.
i liked the book and bought is as part of a set of the dark matter trilogy that begins with The Golden Compass.
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Extra info for Pullman's "His Dark Materials"
For the ordinary person, this little book has pretty good coverage of the scientific basis for Pullman's trilogy. I am no expert, but from the info in the college courses I have taken with the Teaching Company, I think the writers have done well to condense so many items in a little space. It helps to understand that many of the ideas in Pullmans's fantasy have a bit of reality to them.
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