"Putting the Fact in Fantasy: Expert Advice to Bring Authenticity to your Fantasy Writing" Edited by Dan Koboldt

 

Publisher: Writers' Digest Books

Copyright: 2022

ISBN: 9780593331996

"Putting the Fact in Fantasy" is a companion volume to Dan Koboldt's previous book "Putting the Science and Fiction", which I reviewed back on December 6, 2021.

Like its predecessor this book is chock-full of valuable information for any writer, but not necessarily those writing fantasy as it also deals with real world issues that might have bearing in his fantasy story but also do in a contemporary one.

The book contains 51 individual essays by authors, who are also experts in their field. These individual essays are divine into six broad categories: history as inspiration, languages and culture, world building, weapons and warfare, horses, and going on an adventure.

The topics within a given category are all related (as you would expect). In the history one for example we deal with the Spanish Inquisition, the American old west, female professions in mediaeval Europe, Feudal Nobility, African and Asian cultures and exchange, religious fundamentalism, and real-world magic to name but a few.

While a writer will not use all these things in a particular story the details within these short essays should for the most part be extremely helpful for anyone who is a writer, and especially those who are looking to get into writing. 

All of these topics could for the most part fall under the auspecies of world building, but this is something that is crucial to any well crafted story.

Highly recommended, especially for new writers and those who need inspiration.

"Paleofantasy: what evolution really tells us about sex, diet, and how we live" by Marlene Zuk

 

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Copyright: 2013

ISBN: 9780393081374

Paleofantasy is a very interesting book that goes into the great detail debunking the Paleo diet and other such pseudo scientific silliness. Dr. Zuk is a professor of ecology evolution and behaviour at the University of Minnesota, and she has researched this topic extremely well.

She uses the disciplines of anthropology, physiology, psychology, medicine and history to explain why the Paleo diet is not what proponents believe it is or promote it as i.e., a cure-all for societies ills, weight loss, etc.

In this book she examines the lifestyles that proponents of the Paleo lifestyle follow, and examines how actual science debunks this system of nutrition, and living. She gives a good overview on evolution, and how it works and then examines other concepts of the Paleo lifestyle such as exercising, love, sickness and health and much more.

Dr. Zuk's writing is clear and comprehensive, and the examples she uses are easily understandable by anyone. Or at least anyone who wants to understand them, as I am sure there are many paleo-fans out there who will dispute her findings as they have little or no scientific training.

Highly recommended

"Welcome to the Universe: An Astrophysical Tour" by Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michael A. Strauss, and J. Richard Gott

 

Publisher:  Princeton University Press

Copyright:  2016

ISBN: 9780691157245

This was an amazing book that gives the reader an in depth look into the science of astrophysics. The three authors have written their sections in a clear and concise way that explain the concepts very well, and easily gets the message across.

In the first part  Dr. Tyson takes the reader on a study of the stars, planets and life in ten chapters that deal with a number of important concepts including explanations of the size and scale of the universe, Newton's Laws,  The lives and deaths of star, the classification of solar objects (e.g., Pluto) and the search for life.  Dr. Strauss then takes over and takes about galaxies in six chapters which include the Milky Way itself, our place in the universe, quasars, black holes, etc. Then Dr. Gott adds eight chapters in the third section that talk about both the general and special theories of relativity, black holes, string theory, the big bang, etc.

This was an extremely interesting  book to read, and even though it is a few years old at this time the information is still very relevant and should be of great value to anybody interested in astronomy or astrophysics. In addition, it is easily readable, and I believe would be a great addition to all school libraries, and would also make an excellent introductory text for first year university students.

"The Life-Changing Science of Detecting Bullshit" by John V. Petrocelli

 

Publisher:  St. Martin's Press

Copyright:  2021

ISBN:  9781250271624

This book was quite informative, and well worth having to wait to get my hands on. The examples, and explanations for how people are fooled, and react when presented with even subtle forms of bullshit was very well done. I've always thought that I was pretty good at detecting false claims, and other misdirections, but this book opened my eyes to a number of things that I had never even considered.

Mr. Petrocelli dives the book into a  number of different sections such as the "Costs of Bullshit" in which he discusses price markups, wine tasting, and psychological testing.  "Why People Bullshit"  in which he discusses how you can detect their lies. He then gives the reader some examples of some rather famous Bullshit Artists such as Douglas Biklen, Donald Trump, and Deepak Chopra. Following this he takes on various common examples of bullshit such as TED Talks (some of which are quite valuable, but others which are ripe examples of bullshit), and more.

Throughout this book I was presented with lots of information that was very valuable, and I would seriously recommend this title to anybody who is interested in getting to the truth.

"Putting the Science in Fiction: Expert Advice for Writing With Authenticity in Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Other Genres" by Dan Koboldt

 

Publisher: Writer's Dugest Books

Copyright: 2018

ISBN: 9781440353383

This is an excellent book that if properly consulted by authors will go a long way towards correcting the numerous errors present in fictional work, which are primarily due to either the authors reluctance to do basic research, or their belief that the crap that comes out of Hollywood is even close to kindergarten school science.

The various contributors, all of whom are specialists in their field, give great examples of what is typically done wrong, and then explain why it's wrong, and how to correct it.

The materials in this book are applicable to authors writing in pretty much all genres, even those without a major science component as humans have lived in complex cultures since we started walking on two legs (and likely even before this) and science has a tendency to crop up when least expected, even if it is not recognized as science.

A book such as this should be expanded on, and could even be taken to the lengths of dedicating volumes to specific areas of science.

Highly recommended.

"How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need" by Bill Gates

Publisher:
Copyright:
ISBN:

This book is well written, easy to understand, and laid out in a format that should make it easily accessible to all readers. I found this to be an extremely interesting book to read, and Mr. Gates has definitely done a lot of research to support his proposed solutions.

A lot of his facts and figures are drawn from the United States, but Mr. Gates has used a number of other countries as examples of what the United States and other rich countries can and should do to alleviate the climate problems the world is currently facing.

It was nice to see that the opinions and actions of climate change deniers we're ignored, as not only was thus outside the scope of the book, but it would simply have derailed a very important discussion.

An excellent book, highly recommended.

"What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions" by Randall Munroe

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Copyright: 2014
ISBN: 9780544272996

    This book was an absolute delight to read, however I'm still having issues even after finishing it three days ago with regard to some of the weird questions people will ask.

    Randall Monroe is the creator of the xkcd web comic, and its associated what if blog. The questions range from the relatively normal to some that are so far out in left field that it's hard to believe people would actually think of things like this. However Mr. Munro does a wonderful job i'm explaining how things work in the real world.

    Some of the topics covered are global wind storms, the risks of swimming in a nuclear  spent fuel pond, using machine guns as a jet pack, how a submarine would fair in orbit, the effects of hitting a speed bump at ridiculous speeds, building a bridge from London to New York with Lego, printing out Wikipedia, the odds of guessing all question right on the SAT exams, and many more.

    Some these questions may sound a little odd and off the wall (and some are really odd and there are no walls anywhere near), all are answered honestly but with a good deal of humour.

    There are hints in the book that additional volumes might be coming out, and if so I will definitely be looking for them. I'll also be signing onto xkcd.com and checking this out. After all I've got some weird questions too.

Highly recommended.

"Earth: The Operators' Manual" by Richard B. Alley

Publisher:New York : W.W. Norton & Co., [2011]
Edition:First edition.
Copyright Date:©2011
ISBN: 9780393081091
Characteristics: x, 479 pages :,illustrations ;,25 cm

This is a companion book to the PBS television series, unfortunately I have not been able to get my hands on a copy of the video to compare the two, but in any case while the video would undoubtedly enhance the book, I'm fairly sure it wouldn't detract as this book is very well researched and written.

The amount of detail in this book is amasing, and the information should be indispensible to anyone doing research on the effects of climate change both historically and in modern times. The book takes the reader a journey via a series of stories that does delve into the scientific end of things, but it is kept to a basic level so it should be understandable to readers of a Junior High School level or higher.

Dr. Alley, a professor at Pennsylvania State University, takes on topics such as how did we get fossil fuels to begin with, the establishment of the American National Academy of Science, glaciation and the ice ages. He then delves into how humans can help be looking at solutions based on human waste, the wind, geothermal energy, nuclear, and solar energy.

Highly recommended to anybody who is interested in the future (or the past for that matter) of this rock we live on.

"Science Past - Science Future" by Isaac Asimov (1920-1992)

Publisher:  Doubleday, Garden City, NY
Copyright: 1975
ISBN: 0385099231

This book is a compilation of 39 essays by Dr. Asimov written over his long career. The majority are from various magazines, but but a few were never published, and the stories that he relates regarding the rejections are rather curious to read. 

The past section covers topics such as technology, the physical sciences, the life sciences. While the future section talks about parts of society, then society as a whole. Between these two sections are two short essays that are rather personal in nature but they fit in well with the rest of the book.

Because this book was written in the 1970s, A number of the science future essays are more prediction than fact, but are still interesting to read. It is surprising how close Dr. Asimov came to predicting the actual Earth's population in the year 2000 considering he was writing so long ago. Some of the technology he talks about, such as the newly developed transistor, are explained very well, but as the integrated circuit that--everybody is familiar with nowadays--didn't exist at this point he was unable to scratch that topic. I do believe he touches on the subject in one of his other books, but seeing that he died in 1988 even this information would be relatively basic compared to what we now know.

One of the reoccurring themes or topics, that comes up in the future section is the high population of the earth. Dr. Asimov has some pretty strong opinions about that, but for the most part they are justified. His solutions however may not be to everyone's liking.

I'd recommend this book to anybody who's looking for a very good overview of the history of science, and inventions that have shape the world as we know it today.

"Solar Science Projects" by D. S. Halacy Jr. (1919-2002)

Publisher: Scholastic Book Services
Copyright: 1971
Pages: 96

This is a book I've had in my collection for quite a few decades, and really enjoyed making these when I was young. It was originally published under the title "Fun With the Sun". The projects in it are quite suitable for students of any age, but some might be best if they were attempted by those in the higher grades as working with tools in necessary in some cases.

The book gives a general overview of why we should consider using solar energy, and then goes on to give plans and directions for seven projects:

• A Reflector Cooker: Suitable for any grade, but the younger ones may need assistance even though it is made with cardboard. A handy junior of high school student could easily adapt the plans to use other more durable materials.
• A Solar Still: Which can be used to purify water. This project would likely be best suited for someone in junior high or high school as it involves working with wood, metal, and glass.
• A Solar Furnace: This is another project that would be suitable for the higher grades as it involves wood work, and when completed could be dangerous to use by a young person as the unit uses a fresnel lens to focus the suns rays on a target. 
• A Solar Oven: This project is definitely more geared towards high school aged students as it involves sheet metal work. The end product is a functioning oven that could easily be used to bake with.
• A Solar Water Heater: This could be a project for junior high school students and higher, and the end product would be a very useful addition to any camping expedition. It wouldn't be able to be carried in a backpack without redesign, but if you are travelling vehicle then hot showers might be the result.
• Solar Motors: While it is possible to simply buy a kit to construct a solar motor at most large hobby shops, this project gives you the ability to make one from basic components. It would be more suitable for a high school project as depending on your source of materials soldering may be required.
• A Sun-Powered Radio: This project is definitely more suited to high school as it takes the builder from the basics to the end product. Construction involves use of power tools such as a drill, soldering connections etc.

Have fun building these projects.