This book wasn't quite what I was expecting it to be. Rather than trying to connect or draw a path from our current level of science and technology to that depicted in Star Trek, this book features a series of unrelated sections which relate current scientific or social aspects to different episodes, species, or other situations within the Star Trek Universe. While it was interesting to read, I would have liked more science and technology and less sociology and history from a book title The Science of Star Trek.

* I received a review copy from the publisher through NetGalley

The Science of Star Trek is broken down into four parts: Space, Time, Machine, and Monster. I found some areas more interesting than others, some kind of dragged a bit for me. But with the different topics, I feel any Star Trek fan can find a deep dive into their favorite topics of the show. The setup of the book makes it so you can skip around to the different topics that interest you, or you could of course read straight through. I enjoyed this style of formatting for when there was specific topics I just could not get into I was able to move onto the next topic.

"The Science of Star Trek" is an entertaining collection of short standalone discussions of the intersection of Star Trek and many different fields of science. This book is likely to appear to Star Trek fans that enjoy reading and thinking about science. Offhand, I would assume that the set of Star Trek fans that are not interested in science to be vanishingly small.

Some of the the science themes include predictable topics like astronomy, physics, cosmology, & SETI, and quickly branch out into areas like biology, linguistics, history, and morality in government and politics. Each section is very approachable and written in terms of the Star Trek universe. After reading this book, there are a number of episodes that I look forward to rewatching with a new appreciation and understanding.

I recommend this book to anyone that likes Star Trek. I also thank Mark Brake and Skyhorse Publishing for kindly providing a temporary electronic review copy of this book.

The Science of Star Trek by Mark Brake does exactly as it claims on the cover and looks at how the real life science stacks up to the aliens , ships and other technology of one of the most successful science fiction series of all time. Fans of the series in all its iterations, from the original episodes of the 1960s to the latest episodes of Picard will enjoy call backs to famous episodes such as " City on the Edge of Tomorrow " "Measure of a Man" and "Darmok" and will particularly get a kick from seeing how the series not only ran with the science of the day, but also influenced the science of the future.
The writing style is good, often almost conversational in tone, and the author does an excellent job of distilling down some quite complex scientific ideas into an easy to understand format , helped by the references to specific Star Trek episodes which the reader is likely to be familiar with.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

A nonfiction book, The Science of Star Trek by Mark Brake examines the scientific application of the space franchise to our actual scientific knowledge. This is not an analysis of the science underpinning the technology in Star Trek, but a big picture contextualisation. There are four major sections in the book, titled space, time, machine and monster with each particular aspect examined over several chapters. One example is the contrast between the Star Trek galaxy and the actual size of spatial reality. So potential readers be warned, this is a study of understanding knowledge through the lens of Star Trek. It uses various scientific concepts, theorems, history and numerous Star Trek episodes to reference an analysis of knowledge. It also uses other cultural references, for example Pumbaa, to highlight political, philosophical, and educational cognizance. Ultimately, it is an ode to the importance of science and the values of Star Trek, with a four-and-a-half-star rating. With thanks to Skyhorse Publishing and the author, for an uncorrected advanced copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own and freely given.

To be good, The Science of Star Trek would need to get its Star Trek facts right and its science facts right. As a life-long, die-hard Trekkie that’s seen everything Star Trek (except Discovery, that one doesn’t really count) numerous times, I can attest that it got multiple Trek facts wrong. I’m pretty picky about getting all the Trek facts right, so this is a dealbreaker for me. As a scientist, I also noticed some science facts that weren’t really described quite right (mostly in a fairly minor way).

Otherwise, it was very well written. The writing style is good. It has a good voice. It’s interesting, with good flow cover to cover. It wasn’t boring at any point. It has a lot of really good, interesting, thought-provoking discussions of things from Trek and how they relate to real-world science theories, history, and philosophy. It would be very accessible and informative to a layman without a scientific background.

If you’re a really serious Trekkie and a few minor inaccuracies in the Trek facts (which honestly never really interfere with the point being made about each Trek to science comparison) are going to drive you absolutely crazy, then this isn’t the book for you. If not, you’ll probably enjoy this book quite a bit.

I received a free eARC of this book via NetGalley. I am writing this review completely voluntarily and honestly.