Hollyweird Science, 1st ed. 2015 From Quantum Quirks to the Multiverse Science and Fiction Series

Lighthearted, quirky, and upbeat, this book explores the portrayal of science and technology on both the big and little screen -- and how Hollywood is actually doing a better job of getting it right than ever before. Grounded in the real-word, and often cutting-edge, science and technology that inspires fictional science, the authors survey Hollywood depictions of topics such as quantum mechanics, parallel universes, and alien worlds. Including material from interviews with over two dozen writers, producers, and directors of acclaimed science-themed productions -- as well as scientists, science fiction authors, and science advisors -- Hollyweird Science examines screen science fiction from the sometimes-conflicting vantage points of storytellers, researchers, and viewers. Including a foreword by Eureka co-creator and executive producer Jaime Paglia, and an afterword by astronomer and science fiction author Michael Brotherton, Ph.D., this book is accessible to all readers from the layperson to the armchair expert to the professional scientist, and will delight all of them equally.

Dedication.-  Acknowledgements.- Foreword.- Introduction.- The Path to Nerdvana.- Hollywood Scientists: Reel and Imaginary.- Matter Matters.- Pure Energy.- Radiation: An All-time Glow.- A Quantum of Weirdness.- My God, It’s Full of Stars: The Universe.- Shortcuts Through Time and Space.- Moving in Stereo: Parallel Universes.- Braver Newer Worlds.- Appendices: List of Films and TV Programms.- Further Reading.

Kevin R. Grazier, Ph.D. was a research scientist for fifteen years at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory on the Cassini/Huygens Mission to Saturn and Titan. Still an active researcher, he performs large-scale computer simulations of early Solar System evolution. Grazier served as the science advisor for the film Gravity, and on the television series Eureka, Defiance, Ascension and the Peabody-Award-winning Battlestar Galactica.

Stephen Cass is an Irish science and technology journalist based in New York City. He has been an editor at Discover magazine and MIT Technology Review and has written for outlets such as Popular Science and Nautilus. He has also edited several science fiction anthologies. He is currently geeking it to the max as a senior editor at IEEE Spectrum.

An entertaining and informative tour of how the movies transport hot topics in science to the public

Includes extracts from interviews with a dozen and more well known writers, producers and directors

With a foreword by Jaime Paglia, Eureka co-creator and executive producer

Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras