Bad Astronomy: The Science of ‘Star Trek’
If you haven’t seen Star Trek yet then you probably won’t want to read this because despite the introduction promising otherwise there are plenty of spoilers. However if you have seen Star Trek then you might find this article interesting.
Philip Plait, an author and astronomer who runs the Bad Astronomy Blog, has compiled a list of scenes from Star Trek and applied his own knowledge of science to discuss whether or not the scene was depicted realistically – or not.
It’s incredibly long, and quite detailed, and honestly we can’t understand why anyone would bother. But he has so it’s only fair we bother to post about it. Here’s his introduction, after which you’ll find a link to his detailed assessment.
OK, here’s the deal: I’m a big Trek fan. I watched the original series as a kid and saw the reruns a bazillion times. I loved the movies, and was thrilled when TNG was on the air. And while I lost it for a while with DS9 and Voyager (and with the exception of the finale, the last season of Enterprise was pretty good, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise), I am still a fan.
I was ready to be disappointed with this revision of Trek. But I wasn’t. I loved it. I was very unsure if this would resemble the Star Trek I grew up with, and incredibly, J. J. Abrams, without being a fan, was able to take what made the show Trek — it’s heart, if you will — and bring it up-to-date.
But I am here to review the science of the movie. I won’t worry about warp drive, transporter tech, or time travel; I’ll concentrate on the real stuff. And never fear: I am not going to reveal the overall plot here. I avoided as many spoilers as I could before watching it, and I’m glad I did. It really made the movie more exciting and fun to watch.
But I do have to do what I do, so do it I will. While I won’t reveal the plot, I have to reveal some details to write a review.
Visit Bad Astronomy to read it in full and out of interest, be sure to read all the follow up comments – they are just as ‘insightful’ as the review itself.
