The Science of The Big Bang Theory: What America's Favorite Sitcom Can Teach You about Physics, Flags, and the Idiosyncrasies of Scientists

wonderful book full of useful information but in a humorous way. Using parts of The Big Bang Theory and explaining how the stories were filled with useful yet mostly unknown facts. Fun reading and great memories of w terrific program/

The good news is that this book is full of fascinating tidbits from the history of science, the history of science fiction, and the pop culture phenomena that is the television show, “The Big Bang Theory.” The bad news is that it may not at all be the book that you are expecting if you take the title literally. That it’s not the book it seems like it would be could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on what your interests and science background are.Let me explain. Say you are a super-fan of the show with an education in physics and you want to know something like: which Dutch researchers Sheldon thinks Leonard is ripping off and how, or: what the monopoles are that the four male leads go to the North Pole in search of [and why,] you won’t learn anything about those things in this book. You won’t have any more insight about what the scientists on the show – be it Raj Koothrappali to Leslie Winkle -- are working on, or what those vaguely referenced scientific terms and discussions mean. You won’t learn about what any of the equations on those dry erase boards mean, and whether it’s gibberish or real science. As I mentioned, this may be a good thing because the topics that are mentioned off-hand on the show are often complex and difficult, e.g. Bose-Einstein Condensates, and most readers would be lost in such discussions. That said, if you are looking for such discussions and clarifications, you absolutely won’t find them in this book.This book is aimed more at a reader with a high school science education, an interest in science fiction, and who would like to learn some quirky facts about science and science fiction while they are regaled and reminded of fun moments from their favorite episodes of the show. Truth be told, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to learn that this was a collection of essays written long ago, and then the author said something like, “Hey, I have this essay about volcanoes, in episode ___, _____ makes a random comment about volcanoes. I could put some dialogue from that episode at the front of the chapter, sprinkle in a few references to the show in the text of the chapter, and recycle a whole box of columns, putting together a science-pop culture crossover book.”The 31 chapters are organized into four parts entitled, “Space,” “Time,” “Machine,” and “Monsters,” respectively. That said, organization isn’t the strong-suit of the book. The eight chapters in the “Time” section seem to have more to do with chemistry than time, per se. The “Machine” section does better, but discusses concepts like fire and volcano that are no more connected to that theme than to any of the others. It’s really a disparate collection of essays on various science and science fiction related topics.I may sound like I’m panning this book, but I enjoyed it, overall. Now, if I’d have shelled out the cover price thinking I was getting the book that the title suggests, I’d be royally cheesed off. So, know what you’re getting and decide accordingly. If you have an interest in the history of science and science fiction, you’ll probably find the book intriguing and worth reading. If you have a high-level understanding of physics and want to learn about the physics they mention in “The Big Bang Theory” television series, you will be sorely disappointed.

The Science of The Big Bang Theory, which states on the cover that it looks at what the show can teach about science, science fiction (and the history of both), as well as some of the author's musings on these topics and more.The book is broadly divided into four sections: space, time, machine, and monster. Each of these broader parts contains smaller sections based around a particular episode. The smaller sections first start with a snippet or two of dialogue from the episode (and sometimes a related episode) and a quote or two from scientific literature, science fiction, history, or governmental sources. These quoted sections are followed by the author’s discourse on the science mentioned in the particular episode, often looking at the history of it or its background in science fiction literature (like HG Wells). We learn a little bit about current scientific thought on subjects as diverse as Indian mathematics, chemical gasses, particle physics, and the potential for alien life.The author stretches the definition of science, which enables him to include information about Sheldon's fascination for flags. Occasionally, the author goes off on what I would call a tangential arc, like in the first section where he describes an idea he wants had for a somewhat rude scientific line of t-shirts but also emphasized profanity.If you're a fan of The Big Bang Theory show--and especially if you consider yourself a bit of a science geek--you will most likely enjoy this quirky look into some of the science and science fiction that form the backbone of the show.I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.

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