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Encyclopedia > The Science of Discworld
Terry Pratchett
The Discworld series

1st science novel
Outline
Characters: Rincewind
Unseen University Staff
Locations: Unseen University
Round World
Motifs: History of the world
Evolution
Publication details
Year of release: 1999
Original publisher:
Hardback ISBN:
Paperback ISBN: ISBN 0091886570
Other details
Awards:
Notes:

The Science of Discworld is a 1999 book written by novelist Terry Pratchett and popular science writers Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen. Two sequels, The Science of Discworld II: The Globe and The Science of Discworld III: Darwin's Watch, have been written by the same authors. Terence David John Pratchett OBE is an English fantasy author (born April 28, 1948, in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England), best known for his Discworld series. ... The Discworld is a series of 35 humorous fantasy novels and a number of shorter works by Terry Pratchett set on the Discworld. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (556x800, 211 KB) Summary Cover of The Science of Discworld Author: Paul Kidby Source: lspace. ... Rincewind is a fictional character appearing in the Discworld novels of Terry Pratchett, several of which feature him as the central character. ... The Coat of Arms of Unseen University. ... The Coat of Arms of Unseen University. ... The history of the world, in popular parlance, is human history, from the first appearance of Homo sapiens to the present. ... A speculatively rooted phylogenetic tree of all living things, based on rRNA gene data, showing the separation of the three domains, bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes, as described initially by Carl Woese. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Terence David John Pratchett OBE is an English fantasy author (born April 28, 1948, in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England), best known for his Discworld series. ... Ian Stewart, FRS (b. ... Jack Cohen is a reproductive biologist at the University of Warwick, England. ... The Science of Discworld II: The Globe (ISBN 0091888050) is a 2002 book written by novelist Terry Pratchett and popular science writers Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen. ...


The book alternates between a typical absurdistic Discworld story and serious scientific exposition. The science centers on the origins of the universe, earth and the beginnings of life, the fiction on the creation of a world (the Earth) in a jar. One of the themes is that most scientific explanations are in reality a good deal more complicated than most of us realize. It is explained that this is because their teachers use Lies-To-Children or, in Ponder Stibbons' case, Lies-To-Wizards. The Discworld is a series of 35 humorous fantasy novels and a number of shorter works by Terry Pratchett set on the Discworld. ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Science For the scientific journal named Science, see Science (journal). ... A lie-to-children is an expression that describes a form of simplification of material. ... In the fictional universe of Terry Pratchetts Discworld series of books, Ponder Stibbons is a wizard in Unseen University. ...


The purpose of the book is both to entertain and educate. In having fictional sections in which observers from a very different world with a very different set of rules look with confused eyes upon the Earth, the authors are able to expand upon things we take for granted, such as planets being round and stars being far away, in a manner which is free of a line of thinking which states "But that's obvious".

The Discworld part of the book begins when a new experimental power source for the Unseen University is commissioned in the university's squash court. The new "reactor" is capable of splitting the thaum (the basic particle of magic), perhaps in homage to another famous experiment in a squash court. However the new reactor produces vastly more magical energy than planned and threatens to explode, destroying the University, the Discworld, and the entire universe. The university's thinking engine, Hex, decides to divert all the magic into creating a space containing nothing - no matter, no energy, no reality, and, importantly, no magic. The Dean sticks his fingers in the space and "twiddles" them, inadvertantly creating the universe. The wizards soon discover that they can move things around in the universe, using Hex. They call it the Roundworld (the Earth), because in it, matter seems to accrete into balls in space (instead of discs on the backs of turtles). The Discworld is the setting for all of Terry Pratchetts Discworld series of novels. ... The Coat of Arms of Unseen University. ... Enrico Fermi in the 1940s. ... Hex is an elaborate, Heath Robinson/Rube Goldberg-esque, magic-powered computer housed at the Unseen University in the Discworld series by author Terry Pratchett. ... The Character of the Dean in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series is an incredibly obese man who is generally found in his study reading a grimoire or in the great hall eating. ... According to the Big Bang theory, the Universe originated in an extremely dense and hot state (bottom). ... Earth is the third planet from the Sun. ...


The wizards create a series of balls of matter in space, and give one of them a Moon (accidentally). This stabilizes the ball enough that, over a score of millennia (the wizards can skip over vast periods of Roundworld time, allowing them to view the history of the universe in less than a month), blobs of life emerge, ready to begin evolving into more complex forms. Crust composition Oxygen 43% Silicon 21% Aluminium 10% Calcium 9% Iron 9% Magnesium 5% Titanium 2% Nickel 0. ...

Terry Pratchett's Discworld
Novels:

The Colour of Magic - The Light Fantastic - Equal Rites - Mort - Sourcery - Wyrd Sisters - Pyramids - Guards! Guards! - Eric - Moving Pictures - Reaper Man - Witches Abroad - Small Gods - Lords and Ladies - Men at Arms - Soul Music - Interesting Times - Maskerade - Feet of Clay - Hogfather - Jingo - The Last Continent - Carpe Jugulum - The Fifth Elephant - The Truth - Thief of Time - Night Watch - Monstrous Regiment - Going Postal - Thud! Terence David John Pratchett OBE is an English fantasy author (born April 28, 1948, in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England), best known for his Discworld series. ... The Discworld is a series of 35 humorous fantasy novels and a number of shorter works by Terry Pratchett set on the Discworld. ... The Colour of Magic is a comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett, the first of the Discworld series which was published in 1983. ... The Light Fantastic is a comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett, the second of the Discworld series. ... Equal Rites is a comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett. ... Mort is a Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett and also the name of its main character. ... Sourcery is the fifth Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, published in 1988. ... This article is about the novel. ... Pyramids is the seventh Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, published in 1989. ... Guards! Guards! is the 8th Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, first published in 1989. ... Faust Eric (commonly abbreviated F^HE – see backspace) is a Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett. ... Moving Pictures is the name of a Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, published in 1990. ... Reaper Man is a Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett. ... Witches Abroad is a Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, originally published in 1991. ... Small Gods is a novel by Terry Pratchett, part of the popular Discworld series. ... Lords and Ladies is a Discworld book by Terry Pratchett. ... Men at Arms is the 15th Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett. ... Soul music is a combination of rhythm and blues and gospel which began in the late 1950s in the United States. ... Interesting Times is a novel in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. ... Maskerade is a novel in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. ... Feet of Clay is a Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett which parodies detective novels. ... Hogfather is the 20th Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett. ... Jingo is a novel by Terry Pratchett, one of his phenomenally popular Discworld series. ... The Last Continent is a Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, first published in 1998, that parodies Australian people and culture, as well as the famous Crocodile Dundee and Mad Max movies. ... Carpe Jugulum is a comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett, the twenty third in the Discworld series. ... The Fifth Elephant is the 24th Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett. ... This article or section should include material from [[{{{1}}}]]. Mr. ... Thief of Time is the 26th Discworld novel written by Terry Pratchett. ... Night Watch is the 27th novel in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series, published in 2002. ... Terry Pratchett is known for his combining of political and social commentary with humor, and for readable, interesting fantasy. ... Memorial of the 1986 post office incident in Edmond, OK. This article is about the violent social phenomenon. ... Thud! is Terry Pratchetts 34th Discworld novel, released in the United States of America and the United Kingdom on September 13, and it may have been released already in other countries, such as Norway [1] and Denmark. ...


Illustrated Novel: The Last Hero Young Adult Novels: The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents - Wee Free Men - A Hat Full of Sky The Last Hero is a short novel of the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. ... The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents is the 28th novel in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series, published in 2001. ... The Wee Free Men is the 30th novel in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series, and the second Discworld book for younger readers. ... A Hat Full of Sky (ISBN 0-385-60736-9) is a novel written by Terry Pratchett set on the Discworld, written with younger readers in mind. ...

Other books:

The Discworld Companion - The Science of Discworld - The Science of Discworld II: The Globe - The Science of Discworld III: Darwin's Watch - The Pratchett Portfolio - The Art of Discworld - The Streets of Ankh-Morpork - The Discworld Mapp - A Tourist Guide to Lancre - Death's Domain - Nanny Ogg's Cookbook - Where's My Cow? The Discworld Companion is an encyclopedia to all things Discworldian, created by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Briggs. ... The Science of Discworld II: The Globe (ISBN 0091888050) is a 2002 book written by novelist Terry Pratchett and popular science writers Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen. ... The Pratchett Portfolio is a small collection of the artistic works of Paul Kidby, illustrating the characters of Terry Pratchetts Discworld. ... The Art of Discworld is a descriptive book of the world of the Discworld as portrayed in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series. ... The first of the Discworld Mapp series, despite the authors original long-held opinion that a fantasy world could not and should not be mapped. ... The Discworld Mapp is an atlas that contains a large, fold out map of the Discworld (sold by CMOT Dibbler) drawn by Stephen Player to the directions of Terry Pratchett and Stephen Briggs. ... A Tourist Guide To Lancre is the third book in the Discworld Mapp series, and the first to be illustrated by Paul Kidby. ... Deaths Domain is a fictional dimension in Terry Pratchetts Discworld novels. ... Nanny Oggs Cookbook is a book of recipes and wisdom of the Discworld character Nanny Ogg by Terry Pratchett, Stephen Briggs and Tina Hannan. ... Wheres My Cow? is a picture book written by Terry Pratchett and illustrated by Melvyn Grant. ...

Games:

The Colour of Magic - Discworld - Discworld 2 - Discworld MUD - Discworld Noir - Thud The Colour of Magic was the first Discworld computer game and so far the only one directly adapted from a Discworld novel. ... Discworld is a graphical adventure game developed by Teeny Weeny Games and Perfect 10 Productions in mid 1995. ... Discworld II: Missing Presumed. ... Discworld MUD is a free Multi-User Dimension set in the Discworld as depicted in the Discworld series of books by Terry Pratchett. ... Discworld Noir is a computer game based on Terry Pratchetts Discworld comic fantasy novels, and unlike the previous Discworld games is both an example and parody of the noir genre. ... Thud is a board game devised by Trevor Truran, inspired by the Discworld novels of Terry Pratchett. ...


  Results from FactBites:
 
The Science of Discworld II: The Globe - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (576 words)
The Science of Discworld II: The Globe (ISBN 0091888050) is a 2002 book written by the novelist Terry Pratchett and the popular science writers Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen.
It is the sequel to the book The Science of Discworld by the same authors.
The science section explains that, apart from the wizards, this is probably how humanity and science developed; the imagination that peopled the night with terrors went on to create a story in which there was a reliable light source, and made that story reality.
The Science of Discworld - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (479 words)
Two sequels, The Science of Discworld II: The Globe and The Science of Discworld III: Darwin's Watch, have been written by the same authors.
The science centers on the origins of the universe, earth and the beginnings of life, the fiction on the creation of a world (the Earth) in a jar.
The Discworld part of the book begins when a new experimental power source for the Unseen University is commissioned in the university's squash court.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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