- Paperback: 208 pages
- Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; New Ed edition (14 July 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0230008909
- ISBN-13: 978-0230008908
- Product Dimensions: 19.7 x 12.8 x 1.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 458,337 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Review
'Hanlon's book probes the possibilities inside the fiction with wit and scientist humour...not that you have to be a boffin to enjoy these ruminations, merely curious, as the late Adams himself clearly was.' - The Herald
'Adopting Adams' witty, punchy style, Hanlon's guide is a fun and vivid read. The science twinkles a little more than usual in such a zany setting...he tackles a wide range of cutting-edge topics with depth and authority.' - Nature
'Good stuff...It's great the way Hanlon flits from one topic to another, weaving a web of scientific and technological ideas...his light style is ideally fitted to exploring the products of Douglas Adams' mind.' - www.popularscience.co.uk
'FOUR STARS: If you want to find out why the number 42 is so important catch the new movie. For a look at the facts it's based on you won't find many books more entertaining than this.' - Flipside Magazine
'Hanlon is a witty writer, able to lucidly explain the intricacies of quantum physics, theoretical physics and the peculiarities of a 'multiverse' in some depth. He spans astronomy, philosophy and engineering and topics such as growing steaks in test tubes, time travel and the possibility of life on other planets.' - The Engineer
'Hanlon has produced a very good book...readable, concise and easy flowing. If he continues writing in this informed and competent manner, it won't be long before he's as popular as Hawking or Dawkins.' - SFCrowsnest [Europe's most popular science fiction and fantasy site]
'Hanlon has a remarkable ability to simplify complicated concepts and make the vast numbers employed in modern science manageable for the reader. His light touch and ear for metaphor help transform difficult concepts into language that's understandable.' - Chemical & Engineering News
'Enlightening and thought provoking - like having a pint with Einstein, Stephen Hawking and Johnny Ball.' - Daily Mail
'Adopting Adams' witty, punchy style, Hanlon's guide is a fun and vivid read. The science twinkles a little more than usual in such a zany setting...he tackles a wide range of cutting-edge topics with depth and authority.' - Nature
'Good stuff...It's great the way Hanlon flits from one topic to another, weaving a web of scientific and technological ideas...his light style is ideally fitted to exploring the products of Douglas Adams' mind.' - www.popularscience.co.uk
'FOUR STARS: If you want to find out why the number 42 is so important catch the new movie. For a look at the facts it's based on you won't find many books more entertaining than this.' - Flipside Magazine
'Hanlon is a witty writer, able to lucidly explain the intricacies of quantum physics, theoretical physics and the peculiarities of a 'multiverse' in some depth. He spans astronomy, philosophy and engineering and topics such as growing steaks in test tubes, time travel and the possibility of life on other planets.' - The Engineer
'Hanlon has produced a very good book...readable, concise and easy flowing. If he continues writing in this informed and competent manner, it won't be long before he's as popular as Hawking or Dawkins.' - SFCrowsnest [Europe's most popular science fiction and fantasy site]
'Hanlon has a remarkable ability to simplify complicated concepts and make the vast numbers employed in modern science manageable for the reader. His light touch and ear for metaphor help transform difficult concepts into language that's understandable.' - Chemical & Engineering News
'Enlightening and thought provoking - like having a pint with Einstein, Stephen Hawking and Johnny Ball.' - Daily Mail
popularscience.co.uk
It's great the way Hanlon flits from one topic to another...ideally fitted to exploring the products of Adams' mind.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This was like discovering an extra, long-lost Douglas Adams book. It has the same blend of weird science, spot-on humour and philosophy that made the Hitchhikers series such a hit, without being a straight copy or a pastiche. It's also first-rate as a stand-alone popular science book, with something surprising in every chapter no matter how much you think you already know. A superb read.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is well written and easy to read but nevertheless a complete ripoff. It's just the usual compilation of topics (time travel, parallel universes, possibility of extraterrestrial life etc.) that could be written as a "science companion" to almost every other science fiction novel. Hanlon's book is garnished with very few Hitchhiker citations and depends more on other popular science books. The author doesn't seem to have the faintest clue which scientific topics are really relevant concerning the works of Douglas Adams. Furthermore: The first two volumes of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"-"Trilogy" are much more satire and comedy than "hard science fiction". The growing interest of Douglas Adams in science and technology becomes much more manifest in his later books. All in all a missed opportunity!
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Don't get to hung up on the title. The HGtotheG is only referred to in introducing each topic. This is an interesting and thoroughly absorbing book on 'big science'; once you start you'll want to read it all the way through. Highly recommended. (I picked my copy up in the library almost by accident - I wasn't a big fan of the HGtotheG - and was glad I did.)
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