THE SCIENCE OF MIDDLE EARTH Explaining The Science Behind The Greatest Fantasy Epic Ever Told edition by Henry Gee Literature Fiction eBooks
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This page-turning, fun and accessible book by Henry Gee, a senior editor at Nature, gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at the science behind the magic in J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy classics THE HOBBIT and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Learn how dragons breathe fire, the hidden high-tech of the elves, how orcs reproduce, why seeing-stones work, whether balrogs have wings, and much much more about the magic found throughout Middle Earth. Gee's writing style is accessible and delightful, and he makes a great case that "Tolkien's own worldview was closer to the true spirit of science than that held by many who propose to promote the public understanding of science."
THE SCIENCE OF MIDDLE EARTH Explaining The Science Behind The Greatest Fantasy Epic Ever Told edition by Henry Gee Literature Fiction eBooks
I found this to be a fun read, and not a very difficult one for somebody who is not a science wonk. However, in addition to the various bloopers pointed out by other reviewers, another one popped up that I found especially egregious. Gee spends a whole chapter on the question of whether or not Balrogs could fly, and seems rather proud of his mathematical proof that their wing size to weight ratio would have to be so great to render them airborne that the Balrog could never have fitted into Moria. But according to Tolkien's own writings, Balrogs were in fact Maiar (minor angels) who had been turned to evil. In other words, they were not made of "normal matter as we know it," any more than H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu, another beast who could apparently fly in spite of having small wings on a grossly corpulent body (although, admittedly, we never hear of him actually doing so). When one is assuming a being created of abnormal matter ("fire and shadow", according to Tolkien) all bets are off in terms of scientific theory. How then was Gandulf (himself a Maiar, but one who had voluntarily bound himself in a fana, or physical body) able to kill the Balrog, since chopping away with a sword at a being of alien matter might not be too useful an exercise? Presumably Gandulf killed the Balrog by using magic, the Flame of Anor he mentions possessing, using his sword as a kind of wand, rather than by wounding it with the edge of the sword, in the process taking wounds to his own (physical) body that killed it but not his spirit, which came back in a new and upgraded version (Gandulf 2.0, so to speak).Product details
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THE SCIENCE OF MIDDLE EARTH Explaining The Science Behind The Greatest Fantasy Epic Ever Told edition by Henry Gee Literature Fiction eBooks Reviews
Henry Gee's "The Science of Middle Earth" is an excellent attempt by a zoologist to explain science in terms of J. R. R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings," as well as the other way around. Some of his explanations seem to me improbable (for instance, how Goladriel's star-glass works) but for the most part he achieves his aims of explaining magic in scientific terms and of presenting science to a modern audience in a non-threatening and non-boring way. The final essay, "Science and Fantasy," is worth the price of the book by itself.
The author lost me a number of times and I never finished the book.
Terrific book for anyone who is both a Tolkien and science nerd. Even non-science-y types will be able to follow his often detailed descriptions. Written with a lot of humor and whimsy and thoughtfulness as well as serious science. Love this.
The above is from J.R.R Tolkien's "On Fairy Stories", and nowhere is his point better proven than in this book. I purchased this book and ate it up -- Science is a beautiful, beautiful vessel of creativity and discovery within the circles of the world. I actually stopped reading a few times to just announce to the world how much I loved what I was reading.
I liked it because all of his theories and facts made sense, but he did not say 'This is what Tolkien was talking about'. Gee discusses real science and scientific possibility, and the nature of science itself. The final essay does not address any specific issue [the nature of dragonfire, the creation of palantiri] but the entire issue the mingling of fantasy and science and how they are not fundamentally at odds with each other whatsoever.
The formatting of it means that [however difficult] it IS possible to put it down between chapters, so I would easily recommend it to anyone interested in either science or the Lord of the Rings, regardless of how much or little time they had to read it.
Well worth it. Would buy again, will with certainty read again.
In Henry Gee's book, contemporary science and Tolkien's fictional (or, as Tolkien preferred it, sub-creational) writings mix and mingle with both being used to inform the other. The result clearly shows Gee's loving enthusiasm for both topics, and it never bogs down in unnecessary details on either. From discussion of Tolkien's view on science and Tolkien's own role as a scientist of language, the book takes the reader on a journey through Middle-earth where contemporary science is allowed to light the way. I do not agree with Henry Gee in every aspect, but the resulting desire to investigate, to argue and to expend my own creativity in explaining the inexplicable is precisely a part of Henry Gee's most important point that science is fundamentally creative in nature, and asking such questions as "what if" is what drives science forward.
I've read the principle Tolkien works but am not a devotee. So, I found the chapters in Gee's book entertaining and informative. However, I was surprised and enlightened by his trenchant argument in the final chapter Science and Fantasy that Dawkins (The Selfish Gene, The God Delusion, etc) and other popularizers of science have taken exactly the wrong approach in characterizing Science as a collection of facts and received wisdom. I am myself already a believer in the view that the scientific method is far and away the most trustworthy way of evaluating empirical assertions but Gee is writing here of an effective way to present that conviction to those who are not yet believers and I found his argument persuasive.
I read this book through and I have to say, I have no complaints at all. Thank you, Mr. Gee! You did a superb job of showing how the fantasy world of LOTR could be explained to a large extent scientifically. My favorite topic, ofcourse, centered around the scientific/engineering explanations of Mithril and the use of the material called beta carbon nitride, which most people know nothing about. Beta Carbon Nitride is a diamondoid structure and is even harder than diamond, and, once nanomachine assemblers get going, there will be abundant tons of the stuff. Eventually technology will become so advanced that its outward manifestations appear magical, like our tech would appear to less advanced people.
I love this book and I recommend people purchasing several copies for friends and others.
I found this to be a fun read, and not a very difficult one for somebody who is not a science wonk. However, in addition to the various bloopers pointed out by other reviewers, another one popped up that I found especially egregious. Gee spends a whole chapter on the question of whether or not Balrogs could fly, and seems rather proud of his mathematical proof that their wing size to weight ratio would have to be so great to render them airborne that the Balrog could never have fitted into Moria. But according to Tolkien's own writings, Balrogs were in fact Maiar (minor angels) who had been turned to evil. In other words, they were not made of "normal matter as we know it," any more than H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu, another beast who could apparently fly in spite of having small wings on a grossly corpulent body (although, admittedly, we never hear of him actually doing so). When one is assuming a being created of abnormal matter ("fire and shadow", according to Tolkien) all bets are off in terms of scientific theory. How then was Gandulf (himself a Maiar, but one who had voluntarily bound himself in a fana, or physical body) able to kill the Balrog, since chopping away with a sword at a being of alien matter might not be too useful an exercise? Presumably Gandulf killed the Balrog by using magic, the Flame of Anor he mentions possessing, using his sword as a kind of wand, rather than by wounding it with the edge of the sword, in the process taking wounds to his own (physical) body that killed it but not his spirit, which came back in a new and upgraded version (Gandulf 2.0, so to speak).
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