The Scientific Secrets of Doctor Who
Page 39
When River Song and her friends die in Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead (2008), the Doctor uploads her into the computer ‘data core’, where she can ‘live’ in a virtual world for ever after.
Upgrade to a Cyberman
In Dark Water / Death in Heaven (2014), the minds of the dead are uploaded to a computer and then downloaded into Cybermen. Led by a Cyber-converted Danny Pink, these Cybermen die to save the Earth – but one, apparently a Cyber-converted Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart – survives.
Become immortal
In The Five Doctors (1983), we’re told that the Time Lord Rassilon 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 shields.
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 – SPACE
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. Space Travel
https://www.zooniverse.org/#space – 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://space.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 space 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 space programme, people with the ‘right stuff’ to take incredible risks to put the first Americans into space
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 Pass 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 Szilárd, 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 Space’, Astronautics (September 1960) – http://web.mit.edu/digitalapollo/Documents/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/p0
2hj624) – 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 Léonard 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
Damien Broderick, The Last Mortal Generation: How Science Will Alter Our Lives in the 21st Century (1999)
Wendy Moore, The Knife Man: Blood, Body-Snatching and the Birth of Modern Surgery (2005) – which covers the life and work of John Hunter
Christopher Thomas Scott, Stem Cell Now: A Brief Introduction to the Coming Medical Revolution (2006)
INDEX
Note: page numbers in bold refer to illustrations
The page references in this index correspond to the printed edition from which this ebook was created. To find a specific word or phrase from the index, please use the search feature of your ebook reader.
accretion disks 102
Ace (Doctor Who character) 181, 191–2, 205, 319–30, 336
Adam (Doctor Who character) 181
Adams, Douglas 28
Adeola (Doctor Who character) 285
Adric (Doctor Who character) 181, 365–9, 371–3, 377
ageing 360–3, 385, 390–1
agriculture 23–4
Agyeman, Freema 285
Aldrin, Buzz 51
Alexandrova, Valeriya (Doctor Who character) 5
alternate worlds 78–82, 138, 160
altruism 286, 363
Alvarez, Luis 132
Alvarez, Walter 132
amnesia 214
amygdala 203, 206
ancient Egyptians 22–4
ancient Greeks 19, 20, 21–2, 25, 231
Anders, William 130
Androzani Minor, bats of 390–1
‘annihilation’ 109
antimatter 81, 102, 108–9
apes 285–6, 384–5
Apollo programme 48
Apollo 8 130
Apollo 11 51, 130
Apollo 13 49, 51, 181, 183
Apollo 17 203
Archimedes 231
Aristarchus 25
Aristotle 315
ark ships 42–6, 54
Armstrong, Neil 47, 49, 51
Arthur, King 78–9, 83
artificial intelligence 317, 320–30, 331–42
asteroid belt 30, 95
asteroid impacts 132, 137
astrology 24–5
Astronautics magazine 307
astronauts 179–80
astronomy 25
‘atmospheric sifters’ 13–15
atomic weapons 76–7, 232–5, 285
Attah, Rick (Doctor Who character) 5, 7–18
attention 204
aurora 98
Automatic Computing Engine (ACE) 337
Avery, Captain (Doctor Who character) 55
Bach, Johann Sebastian 245
Baker, Colin 388
Baker, Tom 337–8
Bartlett, Frederic 204
Batey, Mavis 336
BBC see British Broadcasting Corporation
BBC One 48
Beagle 2 52
Benervan, Malatan (Doctor Who character) 223–4, 227
Benton, Sergeant 297, 300–4
Big Bang 107, 166
birds 288
bisexual characters 260
black holes 81, 99–109, 101, 165
and antimatter 109
gravity 156
supermassive 103
Bodiam Castle 258–9
Bolton, Charles Thomas 102
Boneless 81, 82
Borman, Frank 130
brain 203–6, 208–11, 214–15, 214, 310–11
amygdala 203, 206
damage 205
hippocampus 203, 205, 206, 386
limbic system 203, 206
regeneration 385, 386
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) 129, 257, 317
see also BBC One
British Museum, Room 55 25
British Telecom 337–8
Bronowski, Jacob 317
Brooke, Adelaide (Doctor Who character) 7, 160
Brown, Derren 205
Brown, Miss Perpugilliam (Peri) (Doctor Who character) 181, 241–52, 387
Bruno, Giordano 26
Burnell, Jocelyn Bell 97, 98
‘butterfly effect’ 158
Caecilius (Doctor Who character) 388–9
Calment, Jeanne 361
Capaldi, Peter 388
carbon 31
carbon-14 (radioactive isotope) 385–6
carbon dioxide 133, 134–5
cardiomyocyte cells 385
Carson, Rachel, Silent Spring 131–2
Cassandra (Doctor Who character) 288, 355, 390
Cassius 34
CCTV 331–2
cells
differentiation 382
division 361
manipulation 390
and regeneration 385–6
senescence 361
stem cells 382–4, 386
cerebral shunts 310
Ceres 30
Cernan, Eugene 48
Challenger 49
chaos theory 159
Chaucer, Geoffrey 343–54
Chelyabinsk 137
Chesterton, Ian (Doctor Who character) 157, 181, 182, 257
chimpanzees 285
Churchill, Winston 287
circadian clocks 210–12, 362
climate change 133–5
clones 277–80, 282–4, 286, 287
Clynes, Manfred E. 307, 308, 311
codebreaking 231, 333–7
cognitive reserve 210
Cold War 234–5
Colossus (computer) 231, 333, 335, 337
Columbia 49
Comfort, Dr Alex 309
companions of the doctor, selection 181–3, 191
competition 286–7, 363
computers 231, 333, 335, 337–40
conformity studies 312–13
Cook, Captain James 380
Cooper, Gwen (Torchwood character) 84
Copernicus, Nicholas 25–6
cortisol 211
Council for Abolishing War 234
cousins 285
cowpox 381
crabs 383
Crayford, Guy (Doctor Who character) 33
crystal spheres 19, 22, 25
Cullen, Lieutenant Devika (Doctor Who character) 5–18
cuneiform script 25
Curiosity rover 133
Cyber rats 294–6, 299–300, 304
Cyber worms 296–7, 300–4
Cybermen 2, 30, 34, 139, 182, 183, 298–300, 304, 308, 309–11, 313–16, 340, 391
cybernetics 308, 309
cyborgs 117–18, 124–5, 308–11
see also Cybermen
Cygnus X-1 102, 107
Daleks 1, 30, 53, 73, 83, 138, 140, 147, 159, 162, 182, 205, 216, 218, 220, 229, 231, 235–8, 260, 287, 330
dark energy 107–8
dark matter 107–8
Darwin, Charles 279–80, 282, 285–7, 315–16
Davies, Russell T 237
Davis, Gerry 309, 314
; Davros 140, 235–6, 237–8
death 355–64
deindividuation 313–14
dementia 214, 361–2
dental health 263, 380
Dill, Morton (Doctor Who character) 83
dinosaurs 131, 137, 139, 140, 189, 288, 381
diseases 283
age-related 361–2
DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) 284–6, 361–2, 384
Dratho (L3 robot) 331
Driscoll, Captain Tino (Doctor Who character) 268, 271–2, 274, 276
drones 42–3
octopoid 144–5, 147, 149, 151, 153
Dubhe (star) 184
DVD players 77
dwarf planets 30
‘dwarf star alloy’ 99
E-Space 80–1, 82
Eagleman, David 209
Earth 33, 47, 55, 97, 103, 162, 189, 316
atmosphere 31
axis of the 20–1, 22, 98, 132
climate 134–5
destruction 135–40
future 129–40
gravity 48
history 253–64
life on 31, 32
magnetic field 31, 98
orbit around the Sun 25–6, 31
rotation 98–9
Earth Day 131
Earth-like planets 31
‘Earthrise’ 130–1, 132
eclipses 23
Eighth Doctor 161, 355
Einstein, Albert 29–30, 77, 81, 100, 155–6, 208, 232–4
electrons 76, 108
Eleventh Doctor 48, 80, 97, 105, 166, 190, 212, 236, 341–2, 362, 379, 386–7
embryos 382–3
emotion 210, 216, 307, 311
endometrium 384–5
energephagic transdimensional chameleoform 349
energy 387–8
Enigma 333–7
entropy 355–64
environmentalism 131–2
Equator 184, 185
Eris 30
Estram, Sir Gilles (Doctor Who character) 158
eugenics 287
European Space Agency 179–80, 189
event horizon 100, 102, 104
Everett, Hugh, III 78
evidence 27
evolution 277–88, 363–4
Ewing, Ann E. 99