Science of Interstellar Paperback – Illustrated, 7 Nov. 2014

I think it is a sign of s great scientific mind that they can impart their work to others less able than themselves, a fundemental Tenet of teaching. Such scientists include Richard Feynman, Stephen Hawking and I would add to these Kip Thorne.As a sci-fi fan from childhood I was always interested in physics, astrophysics and astronomy, but lacked the mathematcical ability to pursuse these subjects very far in academia. Howver, I have aways maintained my interest and have a large selection fo 'popular science' books in the field, to which I have now added this volume.As a fan of everything Christopher Nolan has done (spot the reference ealrier in this review?), I enjoyed Interstellar, but was only recently reminded (buy Sheldon, Howard and the gang) of Kip Thorne's central role in bringing cosomology to the big screen.A couple of clicks later and I bought this excellent book, which I read (and yes understood) in a single sitting over the weekend. Though my maths isn't up to the challenge of higher calculus, my interlect does allow me to comprehend and appreciate the concepts involved. If anything these are even more mind blowing than can be captured in film.When I first read A Brief History of Time I was astonished that work colleagues far better qualified than I, could not get through the text. I did and understood it, which has lead to a lifetime of reading on quantum mechanics, cosmology, unified field theory (what we used to call the G.U.T.) and now gravitational waves. I'm crap at Sudoku so my intellectual challenge is to try and understand amazing facts and theories from great books like this by Kip Thorne.Whether you buy it or borrow it from a library, I do recommend you read this book and when you have watch Interstellar again with more informed eyes. I guarantee you'll enjoy the film on a whole new level, and if you like have a Chirstopher Nolan film night and amaze your friends with your dazzling insight.Extraordinay work made accesible by a Nobel Laureat, thank you Professor Thorne for allowing me to stand on your shoulders and see further.This is a superb book, highly recommended. BTG

I'll preface this by saying you really don't need to be a genius to get a lot out of this book, but a decent understanding of physics helps to make this an easier read - I only have a basic education and I loved and understood it all.This book is the perfect combination of story-telling and science; Kip Thorn does an incredible job of breaking up the technical talk with real-life events to do with the movie. He explains things so simply and in an easy-to-read format.The content itself genuinely has the potential to change how you understand the world around you - I loved every page of this book and would jump at any opportunity to talk about it!

Extremely interesting read. A lot of the detail is high level theoretical and astro-physics so to get the most out of it, it'll probably be more helpful if you are at least strongly inquisitive within these topics. I myself have no "academic" background in these areas so found a lot of it confusing but still an excellent read and something to really get your claws into if, like me, the film left you wanting more.It explains the background of the movie, chapter by chapter - and what was going through the mid of Kip during his work on interstellar. It is also exquisitely illustrated. with both photographs and diagrams to explain the theories being explored. It includes explanations of many of the complicated theories behind the movie and how they used science to make it as accurate as possible. There's also a bit of talk at the end about the whole "bookecase tesseract" scene which is actually extremely interesting - bridging the gap between what we do and do not know.In summary, a really good read for anyone left wanting more after the movie.

Really enjoyed reading this book. Not too complex and has good explanations throughout.Would recommend for those who have watched interstellar.I'm looking forward to watching the move again now I've finished this book.

Very intriguing

As the title suggests this is a must read for anyone that has been to the cinema to see the movie 'Interstellar'. The movie itself is great as you probably know, however it does leave you thinking 'yeah yeah that is a little far fetched in places'. Well this is where this book comes to the rescue; written excellently by Kip Thorne it guides you through the scientific elements of the movie smoothly and efficiently.I'm somewhat scientifically minded but can get easily lost when reading anything too nerdy. I'm glad to say that this book pitched the subject matter at the perfect level. i.e. it wasn't dumbed down too much but it also didn't blow your mind entirely within the first 10 pages.As a nice bonus it provides a lot of insight into how Kip came to work on the movie and gives some indication of how the movie business really works. A worth while read.

If you liked the film and are remotely interested in current understandings in astronomy, physics and relativity, this book is for you. Kip Thorne originated the screen play of the film and he also happens to be a university professor with many scientific books to his name. So the whole film was intended to be realistic science fact not far fetched science fiction. This book explains why and how.It's immensely readable, explaining all the bits in the film you couldn't figure out - such as why did Gargantua (the immense black hole) have a very bright halo round it and what happened right at the end inside that weird tesseract thing.Read this and save buying yourself about a dozen lengthy and boring text books!! Beware though, if you're like me you'll find yourself rereading a few of the tougher paragraphs again and again until you get it. Then it makes sense. Thoroughly recommended.