The Scientific Secrets Of Doctor Who Part 42

In The Five Doctors (1983), we're told that the Time Lord Ra.s.silon can never die and will share his immortality with those who want it. Unfortunately, that means they become part of the stone decorations on his tomb.

FURTHER READING.

We've endeavoured with this book not to cover the same ground as Paul Parsons' The Science of Doctor Who (Icon Books: 2006), in which you can find out among other exciting things about real sonic screwdrivers and deflector s.h.i.+elds.

Lawrence M. Krauss's The Physics of Star Trek (1995) was the first of these books to explore the science behind a fictional series. But our mix of new stories followed by chapters on the real science owes most to the series The Science of Discworld by Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen four volumes of which have been published since 1999.

What follows are some recommendations for further exploring topics discussed in this book. It's by no means a definitive list, and we've aimed to suggest books for general readers.

PART 1 s.p.a.cE.

1. Alien Life and Other Worlds.

http://www.planethunters.org/ where you can help search for planets Jacob Bronowski, The Ascent of Man (1973) a TV series detailing the history of science, available as a DVD and book Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything (2003) Ben Goldacre, Bad Science (2009) Lewis Wolpert, The Unnatural Nature of Science (2000)

2. s.p.a.ce Travel

https://www.zooniverse.org/#s.p.a.ce explore the Moon and Mars, and explore the stars and galaxies Andrew Smith, Moondust (2009) In the Shadow of the Moon (www.channel4.com/programmes/in-the-shadow-of-the-moon/on-demand) it includes President Nixon's untransmitted TV broadcast in the event of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin being stranded on the Moon BBC Archive collections: Moon Landings (www.bbc.co.uk/archive/moonlandings/) an archive of BBC programmes relating to the Apollo missions

3. The Multiverse

Brian Greene, The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory (1999) Michio Kaku, Parallel Worlds: The Science of Alternative Universes and Our Future in the Cosmos (2006) http://s.p.a.ce.mit.edu/home/tegmark/crazy.html Max Tegmark's website, with links to articles on his idea of a multiverse of different levels BBC Archive collections: Richard Feynman Fun to Imagine (www.bbc.co.uk/archive/feynman/) a series of six short films in which the Novel Prize-winning physicist discusses the mysterious forces that make ordinary things happen.

4. The Power of the TARDIS

The Life Scientific: Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell (www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b016812j) Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes (1989) Stephen Hawking with Leonard Mlodinow, A Briefer History of Time (2005)

5. The Future of Earth

Take part in climate science (www.zooniverse.org/#climate) Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (1962) Panorama: The Impact on Earth (20 July 1969), including Julian Pettifer's report on the benefits of the s.p.a.ce programme to that date (www.bbc.co.uk/archive/moonlandings/7606.shtml) Robert Poole, Earthrise: How Man First Saw the Earth (2008) with a sample chapter at the author's website (www.earthrise.org.uk/sample%20chapter.htm) Martin Rees, 'Is This Our Final Century?' (www.ted.com/talks/martin_rees_asks_is_this_our_final_century?language=en) Learn more about 'killer' asteroids at www.killerasteroids.org/

PART 2 TIME

6. The Laws of Time

Pedro Ferreira, 'Instant Expert: General Relativity' (www.newscientist.com/special/instant-expert-general-relativity) James Gleick, Chaos: Making a New Science (1988) J. Richard Gott, Time Travel in Einstein's Universe: The Physical Possibilities of Travel through Time (2002)

7. The Practicalities of Time Travel

Conn and Hal Iggulden, The Dangerous Book for Boys (2006) is full of practical tips that would help a would-be Doctor Who companion whether you're a girl or a boy Dava Sobel, Longitude (1995) Tom Wolfe, The Right Stuff (1979) Wolfe interviewed the test pilots and astronauts from the early days of the s.p.a.ce programme, people with the 'right stuff' to take incredible risks to put the first Americans into s.p.a.ce

8. Time and Memory

Susan Corkin, Permanent Present Tense: The Unforgettable Life of the Amnesiac Patient, HM (2013) David Eagleman, 'Brain Time' (2009) (https://edge.org/conversation/brain-time) David Eagleman, Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain (2011) Steve Taylor, Making Time: Why Time Seems to Pa.s.s at Different Speeds and How to Control It (2007) The Infinite Monkey Cage #9.2 'The Doors of Perception' (www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03j9lvb)

9. What is a Time War?

Jacob Brownoski, 'Knowledge or Certainty', in The Ascent of Man (1973) Graham Farmelo, Churchill's Bomb: A Hidden History of Britain's First Nuclear Weapons Programme (2013) Andew Hodges, Alan Turing: The Enigma (updated edition 2014) the author's website also contains much information on Turing (www.turing.org.uk/) William Lanouette, Genius in the Shadows: A Biography of Leo Szilrd, the Man behind the Bomb (1992) Jim Ottaviani and Leland Myrick, Feynman (2011)

10. The History of Earth

William of Newburgh, The History of English Affairs (1861 translation by Joseph Stevenson, http://legacy.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/williamofnewburgh-one.asp) Greg Jenner, A Million Years in a Day: A Curious History of Everyday Life (2015) Ian Mortimer, The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century (2008) Ian Mortimer, The Time Traveller's Guide to Elizabethan England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Sixteenth Century (2012) J.M. Roberts and Odd Arne Westad, The Penguin History of the World (sixth edition, 2013) An Age of Kings (1960), released on DVD by Illuminations in 2013 Retronaut the photographic time machine (www.retronaut.com)

PART 3 HUMANITY

11. Evolution

Dorothy L. Cheney and Robert M. Seyfarth, Baboon Metaphysics: The Evolution of a Social Mind (2007) a study of wild baboons that seems to shed light on human behaviour!

Richard Dawkins, The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Life (2004) Steve Jones, Almost Like a Whale: The Origin of Species Updated (1999) Take part in evolutionary science experiments at www.wormwatchlab.org/

12. Man and Machine

Manfred E. Clynes and Nathan S. Kline, 'Cyborgs and s.p.a.ce', Astronautics (September 1960) http://web.mit.edu/digitalapollo/Doc.u.ments/Chapter1/cyborgs.pdf Nick Harkaway, The Blind Giant: Being Human in a Digital World (2012) Stanley Milgram, Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View (1974, republished 2010) Jon Ronson, So You've Been Publicly Shamed (2015) which explores how people are attacked for 'transgressions' on social media David Rorvik, As Man Becomes Machine (1971) A History of Ideas: Rewiring the Brain (www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02hj624) part of a series of short animations exploring big questions about how we live today

13. Artificial Intelligence

Nick Bostrom, Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies (2014) N.J. Mackintosh, IQ and Human Intelligence (1998) Alan Turing, 'Computing Machinery and Intelligence', Mind (1950) http://loebner.net/Prizef/TuringArticle.html Bletchley Park Podcast Extra E28: Mavis Batey (https://audioboom.com/boos/1736751-bletchley-park-podcast-extra-e28-mavis-batey).

14. Death.

Nicolas Leonard Sadi Carnot, Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire (1824) English translation from 1897 at http://archive.org/stream/reflectionsonmot00carnrich#page/n7/mode/2up Atul Gawande, Being Mortal: Illness, Medicine and What Matters in the End (2014) Henry Marsh, Do No Harm (2014) Sam Parnia, Erasing Death: The Science that is Rewriting the Boundaries Between Life and Death (2014) Eric D. Schneider and Dorothy Sagain, Into the Cool: Energy Flow, Thermodynamics, and Life (2005).

15. Regeneration.