One thought on “The Scientific Secrets of Doctor Who”

1. Reviewed for Science Fiction Book Club.Reprinted with permission of Bookspan LLC The Scientific Secrets of Doctor Who is an interesting combination of science lecture interspersed with short fiction from some of today s best known science fiction authors Science fiction author Simon Guerrier and astronomer Dr Marek Kukula have collaborated on a collection of science fiction and science fact to give a decades spanning overview on how space, time travel, and our own understanding of these principa [...]

   Reply

---

2. Short review because I m completely wiped out by squeeing and fangirling over the brand new as of the moment of writing this review Doctor Who Series 9 trailer, but anyway, I finished this earlier today and, as the rating shows, really liked it.I admit I was quite hesitant when I first heard about this book it s been a long time really since I ve read nonfiction, and also, I m not very sure of the entire concept of actual science in combination with Doctor Who thinks Kill the Moon and Into the F [...]

   Reply

---

3. I really liked it 4 stars An interesting and entertaining reading that tries to explain and comment the scientific issues that can be found in the TV series Doctor Who The structure of the book intersperses short stories with studies about the scientific questions that these short stories offer, also referring to various episodes of the TV series I really like it.

   Reply

---

4. Wow This was a wonderful book The book is divided into two sections Storys and Informational I found most of my interest in the informational It had chapters about time travel, the multiverse, evolution, and many topics I learned a lot from reading this book, stuff like Schr dinger s cat, quantum mechanics, multi dimensions and For any science nerd, I would recommend this book to you

   Reply

---

5. Never apply logic to Who says the common fandom adage With over 50 years of TV episodes that contradict each other almost constantly, and an approach to physics that involves the words it goes ding when there s stuff, Doctor Who largely defies being scientifically explained Not to be deterred, this book nevertheless has a go at it It takes every tiny bit of technobabble in the show at face value, matching Who lore with our current real world understanding of time and space Oddly, it limits itsel [...]

   Reply

---

6. An absolutely delightful hybrid of non fiction science lessons and short stories The science chapters are accessible but uses language that doesn t talk down to the reader Meanwhile, the collection of short stories ranges from the solid to the sublime A wonderful reading experience all around.

   Reply

---

7. From its inception Doctor Who was intended as an educational show and have put educators, science teacher Ian Chesterton and history teacher Barbara Wright at its centre However, while there was some science thrown in here and there, it often felt as if history was the main interest of Doctor Who creators and science was mostly neglected With time it seems that the show moved away from science and and towards magic with problems from recent years stories solved by storytelling, singing, love a [...]

   Reply

---

8. This was a decent book with a nice format Fiction stories, each dealing with a different doctor, alternate with scientific discussions aimed at laypeople about cool things that are Doctor Who related The stories were hit or miss for me, as were the scientific chapters Overall, I liked the book maybe it just didn t hit me like it might hit other people.

   Reply

---

9. Not a bad book, just not that meaty Nice to see the things DW got right, as well as those it got wrong.

   Reply

---

10. A very good books I learned things I dus not know.

    Reply

---

11. There have been a number of books on the science of the long running family science fiction TV show Doctor Who, notably the unimaginatively titled The Science of Doctor Who, and it might be imagined that The Scientific Secrets of Doctor Who is of the same But we are firmly told that The Scientific Secrets of Doctor Who isn t that kind of book in the introduction.The biggest difficulty following this is to say just what this book is, and who it is aimed at The format consists of alternating shor [...]

    Reply

---

12. I find it quite hard to rate anthologies does one go story by story and figure out an average Or does one get to the end and go for an over arching feel I ve gone with the latter, in this case.This most recent of BBC Doctor Who anthologies has gone with a new and exciting method of publishing short stories and, as well as going along with a theme of, well, science , it has managed to marry each short story with a wholely academic per se chapter For every short story, there is another chapter tha [...]

    Reply

---

13. A very interesting book Provides a lot of interesting scientific theories and explanations for the numerous wacko things that go on in Doctor Who One thing that made this book stand out from all the others was that there were shorts stories within the chapters I can t name each of them but they were all VERY VERY good and a nice break from all the information flowing in from the other pages There was one short in particular SPOILER ALERT Okay you have been warnedThe short was from the POV point [...]

    Reply

---

14. This would have been my favorite ever book when I was nine or ten How would it have been to have received this book for my birthday instead of Doctor Who Journey Through Time Not that I didn t love Journey Through Time, though I m not sure I actually ever read all of it I loved it most as a sort of talismanic object.I think this book is the only time I ve come across any Doctor Who fiction that doesn t identify which Doctor will be in the story before you start reading There are usually enough c [...]

    Reply

---

15. Have you ever wondered how much real science is in Doctor Who Well wonder no as Simon Guerrier has written such a book He, along with other noted Doctor Who authors, combine to make an interesting book that brings new Doctor stories along with lay explanations of many scientific concepts touched on in the stories.Many of the stories are nuWho oriented as all four have at least one story, but 2, 4, 5 and 7 are covered along with an illusion to 1 I say illusion because it s left up to you to deci [...]

    Reply

---

16. A wonderful read It s a book perfectly formatted for someone like me, who loves Doctor Who and has some interest in science even if science isn t their strong suit It s a brilliant combination of short stories and chapters on the actual science not to mention stories are a great way to learn and remember things I enjoyed it thoroughly, but it s hard for me to rate, what with all the different stories from different people and the varying topics of discussion in each chapter Some stories and some [...]

    Reply

---

17. This is an anthology of short stories featuring the Doctor all 13 plus Companions interspersed with scientific explanations of various concepts occurring in the story and or the tv series I read the first 111 pages in early January but put it aside until early December for no reason other than getting distracted by other reading As an anthology it is something that can be set aside without harm As a Whovian I found it very enjoyable, and I think a non Whovian would also find it entertaining as w [...]

    Reply

---

18. An entertaining and informative mix of science essays pitched at the layman and short stories to illustrate the scientific principles discussed in their accompanying chapter Story quality in general is excellent, and while IMO the chapters sometimes veer a little too far into the realm of Doctor Who minutiae, it s in the service of connecting the show s events to the real life scientific theories The science itself is lucidly discussed and feels like it would be easily accessible to science novi [...]

    Reply

---

19. I have mixed feelings about this book While I really enjoyed the stories, the science part was a let down I know, it was supposed to be approachable for an average reader, but I still found the science lacking and very watered down for example there was a science chapter that told us about 3 different ways in which stories about Robin Hood were told on the show really I learned nothing new from the book which is a shame.Next time, science up

    Reply

---

20. I am a Whovian who was thrilled to start reading this book However, the stories themselves are great but the science parts are severely lacking It took me forever to read this book If it was just a book of Doctor Who short stories, I would have rated it higher, but for a book entitled The Scientific Secrets of Doctor Who it could have been a lot better The science was boring and I love science and it was of a history book than a science book.

    Reply

---

21. This was really interesting It mixed Doctor Who stories with the science behind the story and all of the Doctor Who episodes For someone who isn t super science savvy, this book gave a lot of interesting information without going over my head The only reason this took so long to read was that I had taken a break from my kindle to read some physical books.

    Reply

---

22. What a fascinating book It s part short story collection, part history of Doctor Who and part scientific discussion about space and time travel, artificial intelligence and even death and regeneration I m so glad I randomly found it at the bookstore.

    Reply

---

23. I love how this book talks about science in a way that liberal arts people like me can understand I also like the short, interesting and original Doctor Who stories at the beginning of every section What a fun read

    Reply

---

24. The stories are a mixed bag but generally fun and a few are quite excellent I particularly enjoyed Chaucer, and the multi Doctor story at the end The science is not always cutting edge but generally intriguing at least, and the further reading suggestions at the back are good too.

    Reply

---

25. Pairs short stories set in the Whoverse and featuring several different Doctors by various authors with essays on various scientific principles sometimes very loosely related to the stories.

    Reply

---

26. Very interesting for Whovians I d have given this 3 1 2 Stars if it were an option.

    Reply

---

27. This anthology of stories sprinkled with updated scientific theories was entertaining both for an engineer and a Whovian An enjoyable read.

    Reply

---

28. I thought when I bought this it was just going to be short stories I don t like science.Sorry wallet

    Reply

---

29. A bit simplistic on the science but definitely a fun mix of science and science fiction.

    Reply

---

30. Very good at explaining concepts from their simple components up, and did provide some compelling new thoughts as well.

    Reply

---