A better text on theory of science than most academic books. ( )

My reaction to the second Science of Discworld book is similar to my reaction to the first. As before, the book alternates between short, fictional chapters that tell a Discworld story and longer chapters that discuss real-world (mostly) science.

I enjoyed the fictional chapters. The story was pretty entertaining, but it made up the smaller portion of the book. The science parts, as with the first book, focus heavily on theory and origin topics whereas I would have preferred a heavier emphasis on more practical topics. No doubt other people prefer it exactly the way it is. There were definitely parts that interested me, and parts that made me chuckle, but there were also a lot of parts that induced yawns.

I also found it rather repetitive. At least a couple things were repeated from the first book, and there were some themes that the authors went on about over and over. Religion seems to be a particularly favorite topic. Even though I agree with most of their points about religion, they really overdid it, especially when considering it was also discussed quite a bit in the first book. To totally misuse a metaphor, I wanted them to stop preaching to the choir and spend more time on actual science. And, for people who don’t belong to this particular choir, I can imagine they would be even more annoyed. Trust me, repeating something over and over isn’t influential; it’s just irritating.

Skimming through some reviews over on Goodreads, I don’t see many people who had a similar reaction, so maybe it just boils down to me being the wrong audience for this set of books. In any case, I plan to skip the last two science books. ( )

This book alternates between a storyline on Roundworld, with Discworld characters, and chapters discussing quantum physics, evolution, psychology, religion, time, multiverses, culture, and philosophy. Since I haven't read any of the other books about Discworld, this was probably not the smartest place start. Nor did I think the storyline was developed enough. I would just get into it when we would switch back to the science behind the world. Of course, I love science so that was the best part of the book for me. Okay, and the footnotes--they were hilarious! Cohen and Stewart wrote the science sections, while Sir Terry Pratchett carried out the storyline. I will have to give Discworld one more chance and find one of the first books... ( )

The wizards are at it again. Will Roundworld ever be free of Discworldian influence? Probably not. This book has the same pop science alternating with story as the first Science of Discworld book. And it was still enjoyable. Sometimes I thought the real science parts kinda dragged on because some of the facts were, not outdated, but no longer mind blowing since they have been a part of the science-minded crowd's knowledge base for so long. Also, I may have found Rincewind annoying in The Colour of Magic, but he's growing on me. He was a pretty good character in this story, and seemed actually competent compared to some of his fellow wizards.
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I just reread this (because the fourth science of Discworld book should be released in the U.S. next month). While I found this second book a bit more of a slog than the first, it is an insightful commentary on how fiction can help create an environment where science can take hold. ( )