The Science of Discworld II

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The Science of Discworld II Page 41

by Terry Pratchett


  sentences, hearing 273

  Sephardi 141

  Seton, Alexander 68

  sex

  adultery 142

  in nursery stories 115

  predicting sex of babies 307–8

  sex hormones 287

  Shakespeare, William 89, 298–300, 301, 307, 323, 345

  barbarism and tribalism 86, 99–100, 138

  The Comedy of Errors 334

  Hamlet 271

  Macbeth 343

  memes 333

  A Midsummer Night’s Dream 100, 327, 335–6, 342–4

  modern mind and 265–6

  Shannon, Claude, information theory 182–3, 184, 186, 189, 192

  ‘Shema’ prayer 331*

  Siegfried 158

  sight 288

  colour and 289–90

  perception 266–8, 273–4

  sign language 154

  signals

  compressing 183–4

  information 182–3

  patterns 183–4

  silk moths 116

  Silverberg, Robert 313, 314

  Simmons, James 288

  Sivapithecus 108

  slaves 242

  Slovenia 131

  smell, sense of 284, 286–7

  smiles, babies 153–4

  soap bubbles, shape of 45–6

  social animals, cultural evolution 94–5

  society

  and magic of technology 76

  puberty rituals 134–7

  solar system

  phase space 47, 56, 303

  predictability 304, 305

  sonar 288

  songs

  ‘Happy Birthday to You’ 328, 329

  and time 242

  words of 273

  Sophocles 341

  sounds

  echo-location 287–9

  hearing 268–9, 290

  music 270

  understanding language 283

  South Africa 113, 131

  South America 95

  space travel

  Moon landings 27

  space elevator 88–9

  wormholes 315

  spacetime, theory of relativity 314–15

  Spain 121, 141

  Spanish Inquisition 218, 220, 221–2

  species

  evolution 93

  extinction 133–4

  interbreeding 110, 111

  polyphyletic species 122

  speech, development of 269, 290

  see also language

  Speel, Hans-Cees 332

  spells 74

  sperm count, human 245*

  spheres, volume 46

  Spinoza, Baruch 66, 76–7, 78

  spirituality 70, 208–9, 222

  Stanford, Leland Jr 242

  stars

  astrology 66

  constellations 170

  red giants 28, 29, 30

  states, phase spaces 44–8

  Stenger, Victor 30

  Stone Age 264

  storytelling 23, 26–7, 31–2, 66

  ‘adult’ stories 75

  alternative scenarios 151, 155–6

  archetypal stories 340–1

  barbarians 157–8

  basic plots 173

  causality 74–5

  and child development 74–5, 78–9, 151–2, 326–7, 342

  computer’s inability to understand 53

  and cultural identity 96–8

  emergent dynamics 303

  exploration of alternatives 47

  feminist myths 79

  future possibilities 171, 174

  guessing what other people feel 282–3

  in history 309

  iconic figures 74, 155

  importance of 116–17

  and information 182

  language and 158–9

  learning from failure 78–9

  and meaning 184–5

  myths 344–5

  narrative imperative 24, 324–5, 327, 341

  newspapers 325–6

  power of stories 323–7, 330, 333

  science as 246–7, 248, 326

  teaching children 114–15

  see also fiction

  Stravinsky, Igor 263, 264

  subatomic particles, quantum mechanics 306–7

  submarines 288

  sulphuric acid 66

  supermarkets 76

  supernatural 247

  superstitions 301, 344

  Supply and Demand, Law of 51

  swallows 116

  Swift, Jonathan 222

  swimming 91

  symbiosis, and human evolution 117–18

  Symons, John 142

  syphilis 68

  systems

  phase spaces 44–8

  work cycles 57

  see also dynamical systems

  T

  Tanganyika, Lake 134*

  tarantula wasps 93

  taxi-drivers, economic phase space 51

  teaching 93–4, 291

  technology

  ancient Greeks 70, 237–8, 242, 243

  conflicts with religion 171–2

  as magic 73, 75, 76

  and science 238

  teeth, co-evolution 310

  telepathy 282

  television 344

  advertising 329

  background music 262–3

  watching 273–4

  Teresa, Mother 333

  texture, sense of 288

  theatre 282–3, 340–1

  theories, scientific method 239–41, 248–9

  Theory of Everything 247

  thermodynamics

  entropy 189–90, 192–3, 195

  First Law of Thermodynamics 189, 190

  models of universe 195–6

  phase spaces 48, 54–5, 56

  Second Law of Thermodynamics 55, 57, 189–91, 193, 196

  Third Law of Thermodynamics 189, 190

  and time-reversibility 190–1

  things, personifying 211–12

  thought

  perception and 289

  physical processes 21–2

  thymine 52

  Tibet 107

  time

  ‘arrow of time’ 190, 191, 192, 194, 195

  in music 242–3, 274

  predicting future 303–5

  ‘time-binding’ ability 156, 166, 215

  time-reversibility 190–1, 193–4

  time travel 164, 313–16

  The Time Machine (Wells) 313

  The Times 292

  titanotheres 310

  tomatoes 217*

  tools

  australopithecines 109

  Neanderthals 114

  Tooth Fairy 97–8

  Torah 66

  torture 136, 218, 220, 221–2

  tourism 265

  traditions, cultural identity 98

  tragedy, Greek drama 341

  travel sickness 274

  trees, growth rings 188

  tribalism

  and barbarism 137–41

  commitment strategies 215–16

  cultural identity 95–8

  fatalism 167–8, 171

  music 263, 264–5

  perceptual abilities 276–7

  puberty rituals 134–7

  rules 116, 167

  storytelling 96–8, 158

  triple-alpha process, carbon formation 28–30

  Trobriand Islanders 264

  trotting horses 242, 243–4

  truth 289–93

  tunes 271–3, 274–5

  Turner, J.M.W. 275

  Twin Paradox, wormholes 315

  U

  ultraviolet light 290

  unicorns 247

  United States of America, Amish 142

  universe

  ‘arrow of time’ 191, 192, 195

  Big Bang 193, 194, 239, 247

  carbon formation 27–30

  cold dark matter 20

  complexity 193–5

  entropy 190, 193–6

&
nbsp; fundamental constants 28, 30, 48

  future possibilities 165

  as information 196–8

  laws of nature 19

  ‘many-worlds’ concept 197–8, 313

  need for storytelling 326

  pantheism 77

  parallel universes 311, 313

  phase spaces 48

  predictability 304–5

  and religion 209–12, 213

  role of science 246

  worldviews 248

  unnatural selection 135

  Up the Line (Silverberg) 313

  Ur 210

  The User Illusion (Nørretranders) 187

  V

  Valhalla 157, 206

  vampires 247*, 341

  Vedas 169

  verbal ability, Jews 137

  Verne, Jules 27

  Victoria, Lake 133–4

  viruses

  computer 329

  mutations 52

  vision 288

  colour and 289–90

  perception 266–8, 273–4

  visual cortex, brain 267–8, 288

  vomeronasal organ 287

  W

  waller, Fats 262

  warfare, commitment strategy 215

  Warwickshire, enclosure uprisings 99

  wasps 93, 284

  water

  Archimedean screw 237

  phase space 44–5, 46

  Watergate scandal 304

  Watson, James 185

  weather, predictability 304

  weaver birds 116

  The Well-Tempered Clavier (Bach) 270

  Wells, H.G. 313, 314

  werewolves 247, 341

  West, John 110*

  West of Eden (Harrison) 312–13

  whales 90, 110*

  ‘what if’ questions 155–6, 311

  Wheeler, John Archibald 197

  Whewell, William 236

  White Holes 315

  ‘why’ questions 47

  wild dogs 109

  Wild West 79

  Will of God 326

  Winnie the Pooh 26, 96, 156, 212

  wish-fulfilment 74–5, 76, 77

  witches 66, 343

  wizards 9

  wolves 119, 122, 133

  women, mitochondrial DNA 123–4

  Wonderful Life (Gould) 312–13

  woods-apes 108

  work cycles, autonomous agents 57

  World War I 311

  World War II 311, 312

  worldviews 248

  wormholes 315

  wounds, healing 68

  Y

  Y-chromosome 141, 142–3

  Y2K predictions 173–4

  yeti 113, 341

  Yom Kippur 139

  Yoruba 133

  Z

  Zaire 111

  zebras 149–50, 151

  Zinjanthropus 109

  zodiac 65, 169

  Zulus 132

  This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

  Version 1.0

  Epub ISBN 9781407022611

  www.randomhouse.co.uk

  First published in Great Britain in 2002

  This edition published in 2003

  12

  Text © Terry and Lyn Pratchett, Joat Enterprises, Jack Cohen 2002

  Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen have asserted their right to be identified as the authors of this work under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owners.

  First published by

  Ebury Press

  Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 2SA

  The Random House Group Limited Reg. No. 954009

  www.rbooks.co.uk

  Addresses for companies within The Random House Group can be found at: www.randomhouse.co.uk

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

  ISBN 9780091888053

 

 

 


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