The Science of Discworld III: Darwin's Watch
by Terry Pratchett, Jack Cohen, Ian Stewart
The Science of Discworld (book 3), Discworld (Science of Discworld — Science III)
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When Charles Darwin writes the wrong book and reverses the progress of science, Unseen University’s wizards must once again save Roundworld (Earth, that is) from an apocalyptic end.Ever since a wizardly experiment inadvertently brought about the creation of Roundworld, the wizard scholars of Unseen University have done their best to put things on the right course. In Darwin's Watch they may face their greatest challenge yet: A man called Darwin has written a bestselling book called The show more Theology of the Species, and his theory of scientific design has been witlessly embraced by Victorian society. As a result, scientific progress has slowed to a crawl, and the wizards must find a way to change history back to the way it should have been.
DARWIN'S WATCH EXPLORES THE REVERBERATIONS of major scientific advances on our planet and our culture, the dangers of obscurantism, and the theory of evolution as you have never seen it before. This brilliant addition to Pratchett's beloved Discworld series illustrates with great wit and wisdom how the laws of our universe truly are stranger than fiction. Historical Fiction. Science Fiction. Fantasy. Fiction. show less
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A better text on the philosophy of science than anything I read in university. Paley's watchmaker isn't dismissed or treated with derision but rather an essential ingredient for understanding any theoretical breakthrough: context (with jokes!).
Accidentally nicked this book from a friend after I started reading it at a party. That's right, I like to party hard.
This is the first Science of the Discworld I have read, but it doesn't seem to have mattered much. It was nice to catch up with Rincewind in his university role after his retirement from being chased all over the Discworld.
It was also fun to catch up with my old friend Darwin, whose [b:Voyage of the Beagle|183645|Voyage of the Beagle|Charles Darwin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1549710314l/183645._SY75_.jpg|177481] I'd read for my post where I roleplayed him on a New Zealand beach.
I enjoyed the mix of science, science history, time travel and narrative. I'm afraid I didn't show more understand a few of the more advanced concepts, but I did appreciate the way they were presented in an attempt to be accessible to the lay reader. show less
This is the first Science of the Discworld I have read, but it doesn't seem to have mattered much. It was nice to catch up with Rincewind in his university role after his retirement from being chased all over the Discworld.
It was also fun to catch up with my old friend Darwin, whose [b:Voyage of the Beagle|183645|Voyage of the Beagle|Charles Darwin|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1549710314l/183645._SY75_.jpg|177481] I'd read for my post where I roleplayed him on a New Zealand beach.
I enjoyed the mix of science, science history, time travel and narrative. I'm afraid I didn't show more understand a few of the more advanced concepts, but I did appreciate the way they were presented in an attempt to be accessible to the lay reader. show less
Not so long ago a past Prime Minister of ours declared that History teaching in schools should be more about learning dates and less about interpretation and analysis. Or something like that. I wasn't listening after the first bit about dates - I was curled up in a foetal position, fingers in ears, chanting "Make it Stop" "Make it Stop".
Much like most of my, thankfully short, school years.
THE SCIENCE OF DISCWORLD, might be fictional wrapped up with some science commentary, but to be frank - there were some explanations of scientific theory in this book - that a lot of years later, suddenly made some of the stuff they banged on about at school make sense.
Made me realise if they had given learning some narrative, actually chucked in a bit show more of fun, gave things some context and some interest ... I might have spent a lot less time fighting unconsciousness and a little more time actually learning something.
PS - himself who is a science nerd of the first order read the book at the same time as me and was equally impressed. They took some very complex scientific concepts and made them very accessible. (I think that's what he said... I've got my fingers in my ears chanting....)
http://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/science-discworld-iii-darwins-watch-terry... show less
Much like most of my, thankfully short, school years.
THE SCIENCE OF DISCWORLD, might be fictional wrapped up with some science commentary, but to be frank - there were some explanations of scientific theory in this book - that a lot of years later, suddenly made some of the stuff they banged on about at school make sense.
Made me realise if they had given learning some narrative, actually chucked in a bit show more of fun, gave things some context and some interest ... I might have spent a lot less time fighting unconsciousness and a little more time actually learning something.
PS - himself who is a science nerd of the first order read the book at the same time as me and was equally impressed. They took some very complex scientific concepts and made them very accessible. (I think that's what he said... I've got my fingers in my ears chanting....)
http://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/science-discworld-iii-darwins-watch-terry... show less
I finished rereading this yesterday. I can't say I enjoyed it as much as the first Science of Discworld book, but the overview of evolution and tidbits about Darwin are good, and the story of how the wizards of Unseen University intervene in the affairs of their little Round World project is entertaining.
Despite the title the science covered here ranges far beyond evolution. Much space is given over to discussions of time travel, parallel universes and cosmology, including one of the best summaries for the layman of string theory - not just what it is, but why it seems to work better than other theories.
At the heart of the book is Charles Darwin and in revolution in thinking that he sparked. The book ends with an examination of Victorian society and concludes that Darwin's great insight was an almost inevitable part of an ongoing process.
The alternating chapters written by Pratchett and Stewart and Cohen are equally wonderful. The humour is funny and the science engaging.
At the heart of the book is Charles Darwin and in revolution in thinking that he sparked. The book ends with an examination of Victorian society and concludes that Darwin's great insight was an almost inevitable part of an ongoing process.
The alternating chapters written by Pratchett and Stewart and Cohen are equally wonderful. The humour is funny and the science engaging.
Subtle humour, some interesting insights into evolution, cosmology, science in general, even timetravel.
What I did not like was the chapter about how great Victorian England was. I do not doubt, that what the authors explain there is right, it is just boring to read about three pages worth of information on over ten, especially, if the information is not really relevant.
I like the "intelligent design" bashing, though. :-)
What I did not like was the chapter about how great Victorian England was. I do not doubt, that what the authors explain there is right, it is just boring to read about three pages worth of information on over ten, especially, if the information is not really relevant.
I like the "intelligent design" bashing, though. :-)
Bugrit..!.....I came to write my review and find that austcrimefiction (below) has written exactly what I wanted to say about the book already (except for her last para' , of course).
A brilliant read that needs reading twice to take in some of the science.
A brilliant read that needs reading twice to take in some of the science.
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Author Information
425+ Works 579,799 Members
Terry Pratchett was on born April 28, 1948 in Beaconsfield, United Kingdom. He left school at the age of 17 to work on his local paper, the Bucks Free Press. While with the Press, he took the National Council for the Training of Journalists proficiency class. He also worked for the Western Daily Press and the Bath Chronicle. He produced a series show more of cartoons for the monthly journal, Psychic Researcher, describing the goings-on at the government's fictional paranormal research establishment, Warlock Hall. In 1980, he was appointed publicity officer for the Central Electricity Generating Board with responsibility for three nuclear power stations. His first novel, The Carpet People, was published in 1971. His first Discworld novel, The Colour of Magic, was published in 1983. He became a full-time author in 1987. He wrote more than 70 books during his lifetime including The Dark Side of the Sun, Strata, The Light Fantastic, Equal Rites, Mort, Sourcery, Truckers, Diggers, Wings, Dodger, Raising Steam, Dragons at Crumbling Castle: And Other Tales, and The Shephard's Crown. He was diagnosis with early onset Alzheimer's disease in 2007. He was knighted for services to literature in 2009 and received the World Fantasy award for life achievement in 2010. He died on March 12, 2015 at the age of 66. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
13+ Works 8,751 Members
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Ian Stewart is a professor emeritus of mathematics at the University of Warwick. The author of numerous books on math, he has written for New Scientist, Discover, and Scientific American, among other publications in the United Kingdom and the United States. He lives in Coventry, England.
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Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2005-05
- People/Characters
- The Dean; Hex; The Lecturer in Recent Runes; The Librarian of Unseen University; Mustrum Ridcully; Rincewind (show all 16); Ponder Stibbons; Edward Blyth; Charles Darwin [Charles Robert: 1809-1882]; Robert Waring Darwin; Joseph Dalton Hooker; Thomas Henry Huxley; Charles Lyell; William Paley; Alfred Russel Wallace; Josiah Wedgwood II
- Important places
- Ankh-Morpork, Discworld; University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK; Cambridgeshire, England, UK; England, UK; Galápagos Islands, Ecuador; Unseen University, Ankh-Morpork, Discworld
- Important events
- Voyage of the HMS Beagle (1831 | 1836)
- Epigraph
- In crossing a path, suppose I...found a watch on the ground...The inference, we think, is inevitable; that the watch must have had a maker.
- William Paley, Natural Theology
Divine Design, the conscious process of creation, which Paley discovered, and which we now know is the explanation for the existence and purposeful form of all life, always has purpose in mind. If the Deity can be said to pla... (show all)y the role of Watchmaker in nature, He is an all-seeing Watchmaker.
- the Rev. Charles Darwin, Theology of Species
There is grandeur in this view of life...and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are be... (show all)ing, evolved.
- the Rev. Richard Dawkins, The Origin of Species
There is grandeur in this view of life...and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are be... (show all)ing, evolved.
- Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species
Natural selection, the blind, unconscious automatic process which Darwin discovered, and which we now know is the explanation for the existence and apparently purposeless form of all life, has no purpose in mind. If it can be... (show all) said to play the role of watchmaker in nature, it is the blind watchmaker.
- Richard Dawkins, The Blind Watchmaker
In crossing a path, suppose I...found a watch on the ground. The inference, I think, is inevitable. Some careless chronometric surveyor must have dropped it.
- Preserved J. Nightingale, Watches Abroad - First words
- Discworld is real. ("Concerning Roundworld")
It was raining. This would, of course, be good for the worms. - Quotations
- It is always useful for a university to have a Very Big Thing. It occupies the younger members, to the relief of their elders (especially if the VBT is based at some distance from the seat of learning itself) and it uses up a... (show all) lot of money which would otherwise only lie around causing trouble or be spent by the sociology department or, probably, both.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)But then he sat up, feeling unaccountably exhilarated, and looked around at the tangled, busy bank, with its birds and flitting insects, and thought: Yes. That's right. That's how it is.
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