Science of Discworld
4 primary works
Book 1
The fantastic first book in the Sunday Times bestselling Science of Discworld series
When a wizardly experiment goes adrift, the wizards of Unseen University find themselves with a pocket universe on their hands: Roundworld, where neither magic nor common sense seems to stand a chance against logic.
The Universe, of course, is our own. And Roundworld is Earth. As the wizards watch their accidental creation grow, we follow the story of our universe from the primal singularity of the Big Bang to the internet and beyond.
Through this original Terry Pratchett story (with intervening chapters from Cohen and Stewart) we discover how puny and insignificant individual lives are against a cosmic backdrop of creation and disaster. Yet, paradoxically, we see how the richness of a universe based on rules, has led to a complex world and at least one species that tried to get a grip of what was going on.
Terry Pratchett is the acclaimed creator of the global bestselling Discworld series, the first of which, The Colour of Magic, was published in 1983. Raising Steam is his fortieth Discworld novel. His books have been widely adapted for stage and screen, and he is the winner of multiple prizes, including the Carnegie Medal, as well as being awarded a knighthood for services to literature. After falling out with his keyboard he now talks to his computer. Occasionally, these days, it answers back.
www.terrypratchett.co.uk
@terryandrob
Professor Ian Stewart is the author of many popular science books. He is the mathematics consultant for New Scientist and a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick. He was awarded the Michael Faraday Prize for furthering the public understanding of science, and in 2001 became a Fellow of the Royal Society.
Dr Jack Cohen is an internationally-known reproductive biologist, and lives in Newent, Gloucestershire. Jack has a laboratory in his kitchen, helps couples get pregnant by referring them to colleagues, invents biologically realistic aliens for science fiction writers and, in his spare time, throws boomerangs. Jack, who has more letters to his name than can be repeated here, writes, lectures, talks and campaigns to promote public awareness of science, particularly biology. He is mostly retired.
Book 2
When the wizards of Unseen University first created Roundworld, they were so concerned with discovering the rules of this new universe that they overlooked its inhabitants entirely. Now, they have noticed humanity. And humanity has company. Arriving in Roundworld, the wizards find the situation is even worse than they’d expected. Under the elves’ influence, humans are superstitious, fearful, and fruitlessly trying to work magic in a world ruled by logic. Ridcully, Rincewind, Ponder Stibbons, and the orangutan Librarian must travel through time to get humanity back on track and out of the dark ages.
The Globe goes beyond science to explore the development of the human mind. Terry Pratchett and his acclaimed co-authors Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen combine the tale of the wizards rewriting human history with discussions of the origins and evolution of culture, language, art, and science, offering a fascinating and brilliantly original view of the world we live in.
Book 3
Darwin's Watch
by Sir Terence David John Pratchett, Ian Stewart, and Jack Cohen
Ever since a wizardly experiment inadvertently brought about the creation of Roundworld, the wizard scholars of Unseen University have done their best to put things on the right course. In Darwin's Watch they may face their greatest challenge yet: A man called Darwin has written a bestselling book called The Theology of the Species, and his theory of scientific design has been witlessly embraced by Victorian society. As a result, scientific progress has slowed to a crawl, and the wizards must find a way to change history back to the way it should have been.
DARWIN'S WATCH EXPLORES THE REVERBERATIONS of major scientific advances on our planet and our culture, the dangers of obscurantism, and the theory of evolution as you have never seen it before. This brilliant addition to Pratchett's beloved Discworld series illustrates with great wit and wisdom how the laws of our universe truly are stranger than fiction.
Book 4
The Omnians fervently believe that the world is round, not flat, and view the discovery of Roundworld as a vindication of their faith. To leave this artifact in the hands of the wizards would be unacceptable. Not only do the academics hold that Discworld is flat, but by creating the Roundworld universe, they have elevated themselves to the level of gods. Ankh-Morpork’s venerable tyrant Lord Vetinari agrees to a tribunal, where the wizards Ridcully, Rincewind, and Ponder Stibbons can present their case—with key assistance from a Roundworld librarian named Marjorie Daw.
JUDGMENT DAY weaves together explorations of such Earthly topics as big science, creation, subatomic particles, the existence of dark matter, and the psychology of belief--a treat for Discworld fans and readers of popular science alike.