Dubeck et al Fantastic Voyages (2004)

     Dubeck et al Fantastic Voyages (2004) This textbook bills itself as teaching science via SF films. It’s aimed at first year non-science majors in US colleges, and has the great merit of being written in mostly clear language. Occasionally, terms are used without explanation; I suppose the instructor will take care of that. Occasionally also, the need to write simply results in statements that are misleading and even false. For example, the authors claim that evolution leads to ever more complex organisms because more complex organisms are more successful, which is patently false. If it were true, the simple bacteria and protists would not have survived for billions of years.
     The discussion of The Andromeda Strain illustrates both the strengths and weaknesses of the authors’ approach. They claim that the Andromeda strain is not life as we know it, which is correct. However, they could have used the movie as an opportunity to consider the problem of definition. Life is defined in two ways. First, life is characterised by its behaviour (e.g., it utilises external energy to grow and reproduce, and reacts to external stimuli as either friendly or hostile to its existence). The second definition describes its content and structure (its chemistry is carbon-based, it consists of a cell whose covering protects it from the external world, it consists of a number of internal structures that carry out the life processes, and it can consist of any number of cells specialised to carry out one of the organism’s life processes). The fact that the Andromeda strain doesn’t have the chemical or physical structure of terrestrial life should raise questions about the sufficiency and meaning of these definitions, and the question of definition or conceptualisation generally.
     There are three sections, the first an overview of several general science topics, each including brief discussions of one or more relevant movies. Section two describes a number of SF movies and adds “literary commentaries”, which provide some background and comparisons to the source text (when there is one.) The last section summarises a number of movies without further commentary. The movies seem to be chosen partly with an eye on what the incoming freshmen have mostly likely seen, or what’s available at the video store, and partly as examples of both correct and incorrect science in SF.
     One of the authors is a professor of English Literature: it looks like she did the actual writing, and the other two contributed the knowledge and the organisation. Since the book is in a 2nd edition, it must have been successful, but I’d be wary of using it. It could have been done better -- the series of books beginning with The Physics of Star Trek are in my opinion better done. They are more precise in their explanations, and just as clear. This book would work as a reference in a Canadian senior high school science course. It could have a more complete listing of SF movies, but I suppose space/cost constraints govern such matters. ** (2005)