To Seek Out New Life: The Biology of Star Trek

by Athena Andreadis

Book Overview

How likely are silicon-based life forms such as the Horta? ??Can the Holodoc really wield a laser scalpel? Is a universal translator possible? For thirty years, the Star Trek series, movies, and books have speculated as much about the nature and meaning of life as they have about inorganic concepts such as warp speed, time travel, and black holes. In fact, the original mission of the starship Enterprise was to seek out new life and new civilizations...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0609603299
• ISBN13: 9780609603291
• Release Date: March 1998
• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.9" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

good for Trekkies, Trekkers, and Trek-dabblers

I read this because of a biology project I was doing for school--a fun project. My professor recommended this book, and I think he's the best because this book really dealt with all that I was looking for.Now, don't get scared by the title--you really don't need to have watched every Star Trek episode and series spin-off in order to have an understanding of what the author is talking about. However, being an avid trekker myself, I enjoyed her side-comments and Trek references immensely, because it just showed all the much more how much she enjoyed the subject amtter herself.This book investigates the Star Trek universe. I've heard that THE PHYSICS OF STAR TREK started this "debunk the Trek" era, but I haven't yet read it, so I couldn't say. Anyway, Dr. Andreadis does a nice job of explaining the Trek reality, then explaining our scientific reality. She uses small words, and explains the big ones. Learn about interspecies reproduction, evolution--you name it, she's covered it.This book was done not long ago, so it covers the happenings up until Voyager and Star Trek: First Contact. Not too bad, considering Enterprise should be covering all "old" organisms, anyway.This was really a nice read, and I would have picked it up even had I not had to do a seminar on the biological aspects of Star Trek.

Buy this book!

Buy this book and then buy it again and then again! Give it to every Trekker, Trekkie, or Star Trek fan you know. Give it to anyone who has ever enjoyed even one episode or one movie. Once you've exhausted this group, give the book to everyone who would like to be on the cutting edge of biology, who would like to know enough to discuss cloning, next generation computer controlled prosthetics, neurophysiology, or home-grown organs intelligently, but who probably had a lousy science teacher in high school and is too easily intimidated by scientific jargon. All these people will sing your praises forever.Gene Roddenberry gave us the magic and the fascination that was Star Trek, and Athena Andreadis, Ph.D., answers all "zone" of the next dimension of imagination, and how much is prediction, a brief, tantalizing glimpse into what science of the future will accomplish? Can a Scotty of the future beam me up? Will a universal translator make immediate communication with any and all ET's possible? Is translation even going to be necessary once we get proficient at mind melds? Will passengers on Spaceship Earth be able to procreate with the alien visitors, enriching the universe with another Spock or Deanna Troi or B'Elanna Torres? What life forms are possible in our universe, the touchingly maternal silicon-based Horta, the chemically dependent Jem'Hadar, Odo's shapeshifters? How well will the holodeck in my house work? When can we staff our hospitals with holo-doctors?Reading "To Seek Out New Life", you want to get out the videos and watch all the shows and movies again. This isn't necessary to check up on Dr. Andreadis; her attention to detail in the Star Trek universe is as meticulous as her attention to the details of science she discusses so brilliantly. Yet the book is about all aspects of life, not just biology. Dr. Andreadis analyzes different societies from Vulkan to Klingon; she inspects the challenges of universal translators and the linguistic improbabilities she sees with the portrayed Klingon language. She looks at the social implications of the Federation and the predicted development of planet Earth by the 24th century. Her analysis of the inconsistent implementation of the prime directive in the Star Trek cosmos is unsurpassed!Dr. Andreadis takes the Star Trek universe seriously and treats it affectionately; her conclusions about what is science and what is fiction are kind; she bends over backwards to give every life form and every phenomenon a chance. As a scientist, she can explain what works in our universe; as a Star Trek fan her admiration and gratitude for the show permeate every sentence. This is one magnificent book! Star Trek gave us the idea of seeking out new life; Dr. Andreadis gives the opportunity to let our thoughts go where no one has been before, to explore all the possibilities of life in the universe. Where we would be lost in big bang of information exploding around us, she orga

An inspiring romp through the genre of science fiction/fact

There is little I can offer here that has not been said already. I am an avid Star Trek fan and a science voyeur and this project of Dr. Andreadis was well worth the read. As mentioned in other posts, her enthusiasm and wealth of knowledge inspires you to pursue the topics she broaches further. Virtually impossible to put down, it was a delightful romp through the subject on the wings of cultural, scientific, and historical topics. Reminiscent of only to top few popular science writers, I would put this on top of your reading list. I look forward to seeing more from this author...

Popular science evolves!

This book has everything and it has it in abundance. I often "recycle" my books by taking them to the local used book store so that others will enjoy them. Selfishness prohibits me from doing the same in this case. Dr. Andreadis has written a book that the layperson will choose to keep around as a guidebook to all things human. It's that good! If you are a "trekker", you will appreciate all of the wonderful examples that Dr. Andreadis uses to illustrate her incredible knowledge of her field of neurology. If Star Trek tie-in's usually annoy you, read it anyway - you will come away with a beautiful, holistic understanding of a subject that can only interest each and every one of us. There is very little extraneous material, often causing the reader to long for more detail - in my opinion, the mark of an excellent popular science book. The subjects just whiz by. Her enthusiasm for her subject mirrors that of the best of the science popularizers: Stephen Jay Gould and the late Carl Sagan. As a musician, I particularly enjoyed all of the parallels drawn between art and science. This is not a "stuffy" science book by any possible stretch of the imagination.

Superb...a Tour de Force

I guess I'm a little late to the scene, given that there are currently some 23 reviews posted. I find myself disappointed with most of them. Very few of the 23 reviewers really evinced an understanding of this fabulous book. Some missed the mark completely, apparently thinking it was a book about Star Trek. Some were apparently academically threatened and tried to nit pick at her accuracy (several of their claims can be legitimately challenged). Some whined about "digressions" and complained that Andreadis ventured into areas where she has little "expertise" or where she revealed a political or "feminist" position. I read a few of those reviews before reading the book and I kept waiting for the "feminist diatribe"...it never came. I found myself in complete agreement with every insightful revelation about our hidden, deeply embedded cultural prejudices with respect to both men AND women. She was right on the mark. (And I'm a white male with a traditional family...you know...of the class that is normally characterized as bigoted or chauvinist.) This book, To Seek Out New Life, is a masterpiece. It is brilliant. It should be required reading in every 9th grade science class. It is not about Star Trek, although Andreadis clearly knows her Star Trek and is a genuine fan. Indeed, I learned some things about Star Trek in reading the book, and I've watched it for years. I wouldn't miss a Star Trek movie. It is not about biology, although Dr. Andreadis is clearly a preeminent biologist and neurologist. Well, if it's not about that stuff, what IS it about?It is, quite simply, a marvelous book about science; real, exciting and imaginative science, made accessible to the lay person through the vehicle and framework of a vastly popular series of TV shows and movies. Dr. Andreadis does a masterful job of sprinkling a multitude of insights across a breathtaking array of scientific subjects. Few people would even attempt it. The subjects she addresses include artificial intelligence, downloading, origins, pre and post-cellular evolution, founder populations, viruses and retro-viruses, carbon vs silicon life, requisites for successful speciation, aging, neurophysiology, brain chemistry and the nature of thought, sense and perception, psychology, socio-evolution and the implications of tribal ethos in a modern society, the critical role of emotion, heredity vs environment, gene manipulation and genetic engineering, telepathy and empathy, philosophy (metaphysics [the nature of reality] and epistemology [the foundations of knowledge], entertainingly discussed in the 'Trek framework'), the phenomenon and evolution of language, extra-terrestrial intelligence and the problems in deciphering an alien message, hidden prejudices and cultural biases among both men and women, political biases in science and Star Trek, biological warfare, determinants for peaceful interaction among societies, the implications of a right-handed apple,