protomattr reviewed The Science of Interstellar by Kip S. Thorne
Review of 'The Science of Interstellar' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
How many movies spawn books like this, what nearly amounts to a science textbook (or at least the really readable parts of one)? Okay, this is supposed to be a review of the book, not the movie. Kip Thorne, who has been involved with Interstellar from the beginning, is a physicist on the same level as Stephen Hawking, and from this sample is an outstanding popular science writer. He covers pretty much the entire movie from a scientist's perspective, and that is a testament to the mass of science presented in it. The various ideas are labeled as "true," "educated guess," and "speculation," clearly delineating them according to his expert yet not at all arrogant opinion. I appreciated that, as well as his copious notes, including enough further reading to occupy oneself on a trip to Saturn, as well as some equations (the main text avoids math for the general …
How many movies spawn books like this, what nearly amounts to a science textbook (or at least the really readable parts of one)? Okay, this is supposed to be a review of the book, not the movie. Kip Thorne, who has been involved with Interstellar from the beginning, is a physicist on the same level as Stephen Hawking, and from this sample is an outstanding popular science writer. He covers pretty much the entire movie from a scientist's perspective, and that is a testament to the mass of science presented in it. The various ideas are labeled as "true," "educated guess," and "speculation," clearly delineating them according to his expert yet not at all arrogant opinion. I appreciated that, as well as his copious notes, including enough further reading to occupy oneself on a trip to Saturn, as well as some equations (the main text avoids math for the general audience), and even exercises (I'm sure Thorne couldn't resist). I also really enjoyed his anecdotes regarding conversations with the cast and crew, in particular director Christopher Nolan, whom I respect even more now.
An excellent book in its own right, made even better as a sort of wormhole to further learning.
