The Science of Discworld II: The Globe (Discworld) author: Terry Pratchett Ian Stewart Jack Cohen rating: asin: 0091888050 binding: Paperback list price: $8.70 USD amazon price: $21.16 USD

This is the second in a trilogy of books by Pratchett, Stewart and Cohen. I'd link to the first, but it appears to be out of print in the US. (UK bookstores online probably still stock it; there is also Abebooks.com.)

Unlike other "the science of" books, these books do not attempt to paste scientific explanations onto an existing fantasy world (ie., how would Harry Potter's broom work in real life?). Instead, this series intersperses a short, standalone story by Pratchett with Stewart and Cohen's thoughts on science.

The original Science of Discworld centered around a story about the wizards of Discworld, wherein they accidentally witness the creation and evolution of our universe. Cohen & Stewart non-fiction discuss Big Science.

In The Globe, the the themes are history, the origins of language, archaeology, anthropology, and evolutionary psychology.

The authors make a compelling case for "the importance of Story" as being one of the fundamental traits that separates men (and women) from beasts. They argue that our penchant for being able to imagine things that aren't (yet) real, tell stories, and to suspend disbelief for the sake of narrative, are what have allowed us to advance our understanding of our universe. As an example, we would not have made it to the moon if we had not told stories for generations about how we would visit it - even though travelling there was an impossibility until the late 1960s.

Cohen and Stewart are refreshingly irreverent about some of science's sacred cows; their writing style is a good match for Pratchett's work.

Meanwhile, you don't have to be familiar with Pratchett or his band of wizards to enjoy this work, although you'll get more of the jokes if you are. You may find the Science of Discworld series a great starting point for exploring other works of all three authors.

The only thing I disliked about the series is the fact that I found the individual sections too brief - just as I was getting into the madness of the wizards, the book would change gears and we'd be back on Earth. Then just as I was getting into the arguments presented, off we'd go to Discworld. Mind you, this approach kept me reading, as I was curious as to what the next section would say.