This books answers some of the basic questions that Trekers have been asking for ages:

Why do the old Klingons look different from the new Klingons? Could an alien really take over and control a human body? Can ageing be sped up, stopped or reversed?

A really good read with just the right amount of depth. Recommended.

I like Star Trek, I just am not a fanatic. As such, I hesitated in buying this book. Why should I care if, for example a Klingon and a Vulcan could or would want to mate? They don't exist! Still, after I read the back and skimmed through the chapters, I decided to buy it. It was great fun!

First, this book is based on real science. The writers are well educated. In fact, they are both doctors and they explain real biology in an interesting way that makes it more interesting and accessible to the public. Teachers take note.

But, this book is much more then a teaching tool. The writers are obvious fans of Star Trek and both have a delightful sense of humor. I found myself laughing outloud and sharing some of the stories with my friends. But it is hard for me to describe their humor, with taking away the hard scient. I think the fairest thing to do, is just tell you the title of some of the chapters.

-What the future May hold, but Probably won't -Parasitic Possession is Nine-tenths of the Law or -Where No One Will Ever Go

These chapters are about the probablities of telepathy, real example of parasites on Earth, (and why they are unlikely in space) and examples of big bloopers in Captain Kirk's Universe. Why and what made the Klingons evolve, for example.

Utimately this book is a tribute to Star Trek's attempts to potray science fiction in an accurate and truthful way. Science often inspires science fiction. It is Star Trek's great glory that a science fiction series has inspired this, and other works of science and scientist. Enjoy the Book.

This book asks many of the strange things about star trek that have puzzled us from the beginning (Is Data alive? Are Changlings possible?). And I think this is the book that said: "The idea that a shapeshifter like Odo would fall in love with a 'solid' like Kira is akin to human falling maddily in love with a turnip." I agree, sorry Odo. And just how did Odo turn into that ball of light when he was with Kira in a recent episode? Matter into energy? KA-BANG!!! Goodbye, DS9! This book also explains that so many "human" aliens is impossible. It also shows why star trek is not my favorite show anymore because of these problems (and repetitive storylines).

The idea of following the adventures of an atom from the Big Bang to far future certainly isn't new. David Darlings "Deep time: The Journey of a Subatomic Particle from the Moment of Creation to the Death of the Universe - and Beyond" (Delacorte, 1989) was there a decade ago. Still, Krauss tells a good yarn and has a chatty, user-friendly style that never lets his reader get too lost in the physics of this cosmic trek. Not perhaps for those who keep well abreast of the latest science, but a painless introduction to cosmology, quantum physics and the evolution of life for the neophyte.

This book is a biographical look at the oxygen ATOM. The book takes the reader from the pre element stage during the matter-antimatter battle that many physicists believe led to the Big Bang through current theories and future speculations. The tome is well done and written for more than just the Ph.D. in physics as it tries to explain complex particle and quantum theories to a wider public. The oxygen atom's story really takes off once the primordial soup spills into the making of the universe.

This is an excellent primer that contains some sections with difficult understanding for the average non-science oriented reader and areas of guess work by Lawrence M. Krauss to fill the knowledge gaps without offering contrary theories. Still, anyone wanting to grasp the cross-discipline nuances between the Big Bang and the Big Crunch will find Mr. Krauss' homage to the life cycle of the oxygen ATOM an overall entertaining and insightfully easy book to read.

Harriet Klausner

This is a monumental new book which should become a science classic. It is ambitious and broad ranging, yet lyrical and accessible at the same time. It a remarkable piece of science writing by a well known scientist. The scale and breadth of the topics covered compares favorably to Sagan's Cosmos, while the cultural references that help add a human touch are reminiscent of Bronowski's books. This is a story that captures our place in the cosmos by focussing on the life history of a single oxygen atom. In so doing, it personalizes a truly cosmic tale that goes well beyond physics, covering much of modern science. It is certainly Krauss' best book to date, even better than The Physics of Star Trek. The reviewer who indicated it is not new is also off base. Comparing it to books written a dozen years ago is silly. Much of the science discussed here was not even speculated about a dozen years ago!

Although the title suggests otherwise, this is not really a book about Star Trek. Lawrence Krauss, a physicist, quotes Star Trek, but his further explanations largely neglect what can be seen in the series and, rather than that, strictly adhere to the laws of real physics. This alone is no criticism. We need popular books about physics (and this is a good one), but the title just doesn't suit it.

A typical chapter begins with examples from the series, but subsequently it becomes like a general analysis of science (and) fiction where one could easily replace "Enterprise" with "Star Destroyer" or anything else. In the chapter on warp propulsion, for instance, Krauss discusses a general theory of FTL travel without even mentioning the term "subspace" which is actually the key Star Trek's warp drive. The same happens in his reflections on the transporter. He assumes that a human being should be reduced to bits, although Star Trek's transporter is supposed to transmit the very matter of an object or person. Agreed, from the viewpoint of actual physics Krauss is right, and I would wish that he gave certain Trek authors a few repetitional lessons in physics. Anyway, I don't understand why he calls a book with rather few Trek-specific content and much more real world physics The Physics of Star Trek and not "The Physics of Science Fiction". I usually don't like to speculate, but maybe because the book sells better with "Star Trek" in the title, or does he intend to disillusion or even convert die-hard Trek fans? Well, I rather go with a positive explanation that Star Trek just covers all facets of fictional science and technology, so it was the obvious choice.

Speaking of disillusions, this book will have several for those fans who firmly believe that it just needs a bit of research until we get warp or only impulse drive or a transporter to work. Krauss makes very clear how much fuel it would take to accelerate a starship to "only" 0.5c and decelerate again (6561 times the ship's mass!), and what a resolution would be required to beam up a person's atoms from a planet surface (that of a lens as wide as the distance to the planet!). As I said, I think the book isn't supposed to spoil our fun of Star Trek, and I hope it won't have this effect on anyone. So if we keep in mind that Krauss is just talking about general concepts and not about how the technology works in Star Trek, this is a very good lecture for all who like Star Trek and all who like to know more about the limits of physics.

It is not often a cultural phenomenon like Star Trek is responsible for a spurt of growth of interest in the hard sciences that serve as a backdrop for the various television shows and movies in its canon. Lawrence Krauss in THE PHYSICS OF STAR TREK attempts to confront the unspoken assumptions that go on in the viewer's mind under the helm's countertop when Captain Kirk orders, 'Warp factor three, Mr. Sulu.' Apparently what goes on in reality is the merging of pseudo-science with some very clever writing that distracts an audience that is not particularly science-literate anyway. Krauss discusses the widespread Star Trek use of holograms, warp travel, matter transportation, phasers, inertial dampers, time travel, and nano-technology. In each case, he points out with some tongue in cheek the present impossibility of actually developing and using such devices. Krauss is a physicist who likes to write,or judging by his lengthy list of published books, he is a writer who likes physics. He has a smooth style of explaining the grotesquely unfamiliar in terms of the beloved familiar world of the Federation. TPST is a book written for those whose knowledge of basic science is gleaned from watching shows like Star Trek. He asks many questions, elaborates many details, but provides precious few answers. In short, he is just like my 10th grade physics teacher. Perhaps that is the inner lesson of this book: to probe beneath the smoke and mirrors of the writer-magician's blanket to see if the immutable laws of reasonability are being obeyed.

For me, this book was like chocolate milk for children. If you have had a child, or had a clever mother, you may have been given chocolate milk in the past. Your mom probably didn't want you to have more sweets, but she also know that it was the best way for you to drink your milk. Same concept here.

Mr. Krauss is a scientist and a teacher who loves physics. He knows, however, that physics aren't loved by many people. So he has hit on a clever idea. He teaches us physics while discussing a popular and fun series, Star Trek. So, beware, you will learn, if you read this book.

You still, however, should have fun. In this book we learn the scientific foundations for some of the more fanciful technologies found in the Star Trek series. Everything from warp engines to phasers to holograms and deflector fields are discussed.

Some of the conclusions of the author, I noticed, have disapointed some of Star Trek's hardcore fans. I don't know why. I watch the series to enjoy myself. I still do. The fact that one person doesn't believe warp power, for example, will ever be practical doesn't detract from the Star Trek's stories. Indeed, the fact the warp power may be possible, but to expensive, was shocking.

Some of the other discussions found in this book were also very surprising. The author, for example, talks about how the computing aspect of transporters may be possible by the 23rd century. He also thinks that more active holograms are possible, but ones that touch or interact with people physically, he believes are unlikely.

Again, by discussing these aspects of science, we learn alot about our current technology. This is a fun, informative read, and a good tool for teachers who want to excite their studies about their studies. For a science book, therefore, I would give it a "5" for fun. Overall, I have given this book a "4", but it is an interesting read.

In The Fifth Essence, Lawrence Krauss provides a thorough retelling of the theories relating to dark matter in the Universe. Each example is explained with carefully chosen analogies that are comprehensible to the average academic. While complex and somewhat technical, this collection is well worth the attention of the passionate amateur or professional.

For a book that says "Krauss explores these and other ideas of popular science fiction, from Star Wars to Independence Day, The X-Files and, of course, Star Trek" on its dust jacket, this book makes very few references to these films and TV shows.

The book starts off great by talking about how the space ships in Independence Day would be quite impractical, but unfortunately it doesn't keep this up. In no time at all we're into probability and quantum mechanics, and very little of this material is related back to the aforementioned films and TV shows.

At one stage the author states that he knows his view of the universe is correct because no evidence has appeared in the last 400 years to disprove the basic laws of physics, but just a few pages further on he explains how scientists were astonished to find that large Jupiter-size planets could exist close to a star, something that scientists previously thought was impossible. Later on the author states that quantum mechanics are the basic under-pinnings of the universe, but that nobody really understands how it all works. If this is the case then how can the author dismiss ideas such as faster than light travel?

It seems an immutable law of SF that sequels don't live up to the original work. Fortunately for Dr. Krauss, Star Trek proved an exception to that rule, and his own sequel borrows some of that magic, succeeding both on its own and in comparison to "The Physics of Star Trek".

That being said, the book's title is significant. This is not a book about Star Trek, or even a book about SF in popular culture, but a book about science. The SF is there, but mainly as a springboard to discuss issues in physics, astronomy, and other sciences. And the issues are fascinating: Dr. Krauss explores the theoretical underpinnings of starship propulsion, ESP, and inter-species mating, all with the same careful, humorous style that characterized his first book. And as a bonus, you get one of the best explanations of the principles of quantum mechanics, translated into layman's terms, that I've ever read.

But above all, believe the title. If you're looking for a catalog of science errors made by the writers of SF TV and movies, pick up one of the 'Nitpicker's Guides' assembled by Phil Farrand. If you want extra background material about the fictional worlds of Star Trek, the X- Files, or what-have-you, just browse through the SF section of your local bookstore (or Amazon)--the words are out there. But if you want a solid, entertaining look at the way things work on the real Planet Earth, then pick up this book.

This book is not a bad read, but unfortunately it will be compared to Krauss's previous book, The Physics of Star Trek, which was a much stronger book. His sequel leaves something of the impression that he used most of his best material in the earlier volume. This book lacks the number of illustrations from the world of sci-fi and instead has more theoretical and technical exposition, much of which may be over the head of the lay reader.

Also, readers (X-Files fans in particular) may be disappointed with the way in which the author seems to dismiss the possibility of such things as ESP and clairvoyance. Krauss goes to great lengths to explain why such phenomena are not probable or plausible, according to the laws of physics. But it is precisely because such things seem to operate outside the realm of physics that they have such interest and appeal.

If anything, this book points to the limitations of physics and empirical science as a whole. Some things may simply lie outside the purview of science. Krauss tries to give scientific explanation to things which may more correctly belong to the field of the metaphysical, the supernatural, or the spiritual. In doing so, he demonstrates that science does not hold all the answers.

If you like science fiction you may enjoy this book. But if you are looking for a good nonfiction book about science/physics, I recommend you look elsewhere. This book is too wordy and too long for what it is attempting to explain. Krauss' other works are much better.

I found this book made me think about the universe in ways I never had before. I will never think of a glass of water the same way again. Recognizing that each atom in my body has had a biography that is not so different from the atom described in this book is remarkable.

I always knew the universe was a wonderful place, but who would have imagined that one atom could hold the energy and weight of the visible universe. Awesome man!

We are billions of years old and we have eternity in the palm of our hands...literally.

This book is a tonic for all those who feel jaded by life or need an injection of the sheer wonder of our universe. After reading this book, I can believe in anything now.

Read it and let your soul sing with the joy of eternity. Thankyou you for opening my eyes to this Lawrence Krauss.

Will the universe expand forever, begin to contract at some time in
the future, or get to a balanced state? The answer depends on the
amount of mass it contains. To explain the behavior of galaxies
unaccountable by the mass of visible matter, the idea of "dark
matter" was proposed in the 1980s.

The title of the book
"Quintessence" means "The Fifth Essence." The
latter was the title of the first edition of this book published in
1989. In ancient philosophy, it meant the heavenly material that was
supposed not only to form stars but also to pervade all things, and is
used here to represent dark matter and vacuum energy in the
universe.

Lawrence Krauss starts the story by an intriguing brief
review of the earliest notions of cosmologies and gives an updated and
much detailed account of the dark matter problem for lay readers. The
account covers both theoretical and experimental studies including
those to be done in the near future. Some chapters might be hard for
bedside reading even for scientists, because the author often lays one
reason upon the other for an explanation. However, thorough reading of
this book would be rewarding if you like to wonder about the mysteries
of the universe and scientists' efforts to resolve them.

The book
contains some irritating misprints. For example, "decrease"
should read "increase" at one place, and "charge"
should read "change" at another.

Krauss takes his title, "Quintessence" from ancient concepts about space, and makes the point that some of our concepts have come full circle (though not in ways envisioned by their first proponents). The subject is the "missing mass" of the universe. The universe, of course, is exactly what it is - so there isn't really any "missing mass." What's meant by that phrase is that we know there is more mass in the universe than what we see, and the question is, what is this hidden material? That might seem like a narrow subject for such a long book, but missing mass, it turns out, has implications for just about everything, from quantum mechanics to the broadest theories of formation of the universe.

For me, the book started off slow. The first chapter is mostly about ancient notions of the universe, with discussions about Aristotle's aether, and things like that. This chapter is basically a very short history of science, from earliest concepts through Einstein's development of the theory of relativity, and the demise of the aether. With the theory of relativity, physics viewed empty space as just that - empty. The idea of a uniform background of invisible stuff (particles, aether, etc.) lay pretty much discarded.

Then we had the beginnings of the modern science of cosmology and the discovery of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), which has been confirmed as the closest-to-theoretical blackbody radiation source ever discovered. The CMB is one of the pillars of evidence for the expanding universe and the Big Bang theory of cosmology, and Krauss does a nice job of following the historical and logical sequence of discoveries in its development. Within the Big Bang theory, the amount of matter in the universe has broad implications for how the universe will continue to evolve, so any "missing mass" is very important. Krauss covers these topics in a relatively brief but nicely done chapter on the Big Bang and large-scale structure in the universe. One of the things I like best about this book is the extra bit of detail Krauss offers that is often over looked in other books. The sort of details that help the reader better understand the specifics and particulars that real science is made of.

The subjects in this book range from the very large (theories of the evolution of the cosmos) to the very small (concepts and ideas in quantum physics). For example, there is an early introduction to the concept of virtual particles and the resolution they bring to many different and important calculations in physics. One of the most important of these is the philosophical problem of action at a distance, which virtual particles solve nicely by providing a mechanism for transferring force from one particle to another.

Chapter three was one of the most interesting for me, and marks the beginning of the real meat of the book. It describes how astronomers weigh the universe. At first, this can seem either trivial or impossible, depending on your expectations. On one hand, it seems that all you need do is count stars (not literally, of course, but by measuring an average density and multiplying by total volume) multiply by some sort of average stellar weight, and there you have it. On the other hand, closer examination begins to show cracks in that method. What about dim stars? Gas? Dust? Planets? How much mass do they contribute? Krauss does an excellent job of pointing out these difficulties, and showing how, one by one, scientists refined their estimates by including more and more candidates for matter in the universe. It was a monumental task, and Krauss does a nice job of illustrating for the informed layman the incredible intricacies that had to be included in the methods and calculations that went into calculating the amount of barionic matter in the universe.

Next, Krauss shows how you can use Newtonian mechanics to predict the amount of mass within a given radius by measuring how fast objects outside the radius orbit the center. He begins with an example showing the average orbital velocity of the planets as a function of the distance from the sun. He uses this example to predict the solar mass, and to also illustrate how much (how little, actually) other material besides the planets there is in the solar system. I find this aspect of science fascinating; how, with some careful observations of lights in the sky, we can infer the amount of mass resulting from countless unseen specs of dust orbiting the sun in an unimaginably large volume of space.

The orbital velocities for planets in the solar system fall off rapidly with increasing distance from the sun. But when we apply these techniques to galaxies, we see something different: the orbital velocities fall off as if there was an invisible halo of mass around them. Taking the best estimates for matter in a typical galaxy, and measuring the velocities of stars orbiting various galaxies, scientists found that the amount of matter they thought was there is a small percentage of the amount that is inferred by the measured orbital velocities. This is the origin of the central problem of Krauss' book: the missing mass of the universe. We know it's there, but what is it? What is it made of? If current estimates are correct, it is the dominant source of mass in the universe.

Most of the rest of the book looks at the central question of what the missing matter - called dark matter - is made of. Along the way Krauss examines possible candidates from neutrinos and WIMPS to vacuum energy. As I said, this is a nicely written book, and one that wraps a whole lot of information on the universe together. If you enjoy amateur cosmology (like I do) I think you'll want to read it.

I was fortunate this autumn to have lots of train journeys round the south of England, and this book was a fascinating and thought provoking companion. Less mathematical than some other recent treatments (Bernstein's Introduction to Cosmology, or Peacock's Cosmological Physics), it nevertheless covers what sems to be a transition in cosmology from a theoretical set of models to a practical observational subject. The reviewer who thinks that scientists in this area simply demonstrate ignorance presumably didn't get past the dust jacket since the book is full of empirical discoveries which still require adequate theoretical coverage. If there is one weakness it is the near absence of treatment of string theories, which are held, in some quarters to provide the only adequate descriptions of quantum gravity - but also seem to 'explain' so much else that their correspondence to our actual universe is still highly moot. (Also the mathematics seems to be so abstruse as to make it intrinsically uncertain!) One final point, I had not read Krauss's earlier work and was worried that I would be reading an update to a 10 year old work which must have been seriously left behind by the discoveries of the 90s, but, impressively, the work reads seamlessly and I could not tell what (if any) came from the original work, and what was new.

I must say that each one of these twelve science fiction stories is truly a winner. I can hardly pick which one I liked best, which is unusual for an anthology; most of the time, for me, only one or two short stories will stand out from the rest. Here, Card and the judges who picked these have collected the best of the best. In particular, I liked "They Go Bump", a story about invisible soldiers (being invisible is not as much of an advantage as one would suppose) and "22 Buttons"--a futuristic tale about social mores and isolation. I read every one work in this book with total amazement at the writing skill. If you want to try your hand at writing science fiction, these wonderful examples can inspire (or discourage) you.

My only complaint is that the book was not what I would consider a good value, even with the excellence of each of the works in this anthology. I expected more than twelve stories--twenty would be more like it. I hope future volumes of this series will be bigger books.

A friend of mine suggested I check out this anthology saying he'd liked almost every story in it. Now that I've read it, wow, was he right! Lots of anthologies I've read will have one or two strong stories plus a lot of filler. This one was all winners. The anthology gets off to a great start with "They Go Bump" by David Barr Kirtley. In this story a squad of soldiers are sent on a mission to test alien equipment that renders them invisible. It's a marvelous study in paranoia as one soldier grows increasingly convinced that his invisible friends are one by one being replaced by aliens. Other highlights: "Great Theme Prisons of the World," one of the freshest ideas I've seen in science fiction in years. In it, people can choose to alter their sentences by choosing their prisons. Choose to serve your time beachfront in the Bahamas and you triple your sentence. Serve your time in a dank medieval dungeun and cut your time in half. "Who Lived in a Shoe" is the funniest story in the book, a tale of a couple househunting on an alien planet. The alien real estate agent is increasingly bewildered by the human's reactions as he shows them houses made of goo, houses underwater, etc. The title story also deserves special mention. It's set in a future Atlantis where people are immortal and to pass the time they hunt each other for sport. It's the most atmospheric and sensual of the stories, but sometimes a little jokey. Many of the stories do remind me of my favorite stories from years ago, but not because they are based on the same ideas. These stories are just told well, with strong beginnings, middles, and satisfying conclusions. The craft of storytelling is alive and well in these pages.

Like many other people I bought this book just because of Orson Scott Card. Even though he didn't write much more than the forward and intro's to every story, I am really glad I got this. I think that anthologies exist to introduce readers to new writers, new ideas, and new ways of telling a story. I had gotten so sick of reading the same sci-fi stories over and over again that "Empire" was a welcome change. Of course I liked some stories more than others, but I thought that they were all well executed and all trying to bring out new ideas. I think that even non-sci-fi readers will like a lot of these, especially "22 Buttons" and "Great Theme Prisions".
I hope that this is just the first of many new anthologies and I look forward to hearing from many of these new authors again.

Krauss provides some great points about physics to the layman that you may not find in other layman-level physics books, but the rest of it is better suited to those who are already familiar with fundamental principles and the meaning of their equations.

Beginners and laymen will appreciate the exceptional explanation for the utility of scientific notation in physics in chapter two. He also points out how the three fundamental dimensional qualities (length, time and mass) can all be reduced to a single quantity via two linking constants (speed of light and Planck's constant) but don't expect to really understand this much

Chapter three (Creative Plagiarism) does a great job explaining the process of how new ideas are tested and accepted.

Beyond that, I strongly recommend layman and beginners switch to other books such as:
1. Basic Physics: A Self Teaching Guide by Karl Kuhn (includes easy formulas that really convey the basic idea)
2. There Are No Electrons by Ken Amdahl (to assist the basic book on electricity and magnetism)
3. Six Easy Pieces by the legendary Richard Feynman (the basics explained again to a physics educated audience, no formulas)
4. Why Things Are The Way They Are by B.S. Chanrasekhar (physics of condensed matter, a few equations and great pictures for laymen to get it).

Krauss is a smart and personable guy. Search for newspaper articles with his name and you'll get some great info on the possible fate of the universe and scientific viewpoints re: sci-fi (Physics of Star Trek, and Beyond Physics of Star Trek) that are much better appreciated after you've read these other basic books.

This is a short work, it doesn't take more than three days to read. Its light-hearted, and it isn't merely another overview of things that are too simplistic to bother with. Krauss (a theoretical physicist) crams a lot of info into the book. He attempts to tie all of the information together as best he can, though. He sometimes goes on tangents, but he always explains the tangents and connects them to what he is discussing. The chapter early in the book on Mathematics is useful to someone who isn't interested in grappling with modern physics mathematical workings.

I have one complaint about the book, however. I think Krauss is very ignorant of philosophy. I was somewhat offended by one of his comments, though I am sure (in light of the rest of the book) he meant the comment in a light-hearted manner. Something to the effect that philosophy is useless.

Nevertheless, Krauss tosses a lot of names into the book and gives the reader some good quotes from those men. The bibliography is small, but the book is not a research paper for a physics journal, either. I would suggest this book and also Gordon Kane's "The Particle Garden" as solid introductions to modern physics. Both are manageable reads for the non-physicist.

Krauss is always engaging, thoughtful, thorough, yet easy to understand. A great introduction to quantum mechanics and theoretical physics.