3 Hollywood Scientists

Science and Fiction Editorial Board Mark Alpert Philip Ball Gregory Benford Michael Brotherton Victor Callaghan Amnon H Eden Nick Kanas Geoffrey Landis Rudi Rucker Dirk Schulze-Makuch Rüdiger Vaas Ulrich Walter Stephen Webb Science and Fiction—A Springer Series This collection of entertaining and thought-provoking books will appeal equally to science buffs, scientists and science-fiction fans. It was born out of the recognition that scientific discovery and the creation of plausible fictional scenarios are often two sides of the same coin. Each relies on an understanding of the way the world works, coupled with the imaginative ability to invent new or alternative explanations—and even other worlds. Authored by practicing scientists as well as writers of hard science fiction, these books explore and exploit the borderlands between accepted science and its fictional counterpart. Uncovering mutual influences, promoting fruitful interaction, narrating and analyzing fictional scenarios, together they serve as a reaction vessel for inspired new ideas in science, technology, and beyond. Whether fiction, fact, or forever undecidable: the Springer Series “Science and Fiction” intends to go where no one has gone before! Its largely non-technical books take several different approaches. Journey with their authors as they • Indulge in science speculation—describing intriguing, plausible yet unproven ideas; • Exploit science fiction for educational purposes and as a means of promoting critical thinking; • Explore the interplay of science and science fiction—throughout the history of the genre and looking ahead; • Delve into related topics including, but not limited to: science as a creative process, the limits of science, interplay of literature and knowledge; • Tell fictional short stories built around well-defined scientific ideas, with a supple- ment summarizing the science underlying the plot. Readers can look forward to a broad range of topics, as intriguing as they are important. Here just a few by way of illustration: • Time travel, superluminal travel, wormholes, teleportation • Extraterrestrial intelligence and alien civilizations • Artificial intelligence, planetary brains, the universe as a computer, simulated worlds • Non-anthropocentric viewpoints • Synthetic biology, genetic engineering, developing nanotechnologies • Eco/infrastructure/meteorite-impact disaster scenarios • Future scenarios, transhumanism, posthumanism, intelligence explosion • Virtual worlds, cyberspace dramas • Consciousness and mind manipulation For further volumes: http://www.springer.com/series/11657 Kevin R. Grazier Stephen Cass Hollyweird Science From Quantum Quirks to the Multiverse 2123 Kevin R. Grazier Stephen Cass Sylmar, California Boston, Massachusetts USA USA ISSN 2197-1188 ISSN 2197-1196 (electronic) Science and Fiction ISBN 978-3-319-15071-0 ISBN 978-3-319-15072-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-15072-7 Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London Library of Congress Control Number: 2015930016 © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. Exempted from this legal reservation are brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis or material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the Copyright Law of the Publisher’s location, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Permissions for use may be obtained through RightsLink at the Copyright Clearance Center. Violations are liable to prosecution under the respective Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein. Cover image: © by Eric Chu, Paranoid Delusions, Inc. Vancouver, BC, Canada Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com) KRG To Dad. Couldn’t have done it without your support. SAC To Annie Foreword Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology… Oscar Goldman, The Six Million Dollar Man I was 6-years-old the first time I heard Oscar Goldman declare in the opening credits of The Six Million Dollar Man that Steve Austin would be the world’s first bionic man. “Better than he was before. Better. Stron- ger. Faster.” And I believed him. It was 1974, and the television landscape was dominated by landmark shows like M*A*S*H*, Little House on the Prairie, All in the Family, and Happy Days. There was Columbo and Kojak; Maude and The Odd Couple. Fantastic programs all. But for 6-year-old me, the world stopped weekly at the count- down to the horrific crash that would forever change the life of astronaut Steve Austin, and spawn millions of kids running in slow-motion with the trademark bionic, “Nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh!” With the exception of The Planet of the Apes and Star Trek re-runs, there wasn’t much science fiction on television at the time, particularly Earth-based sci fi that was grounded in real science. Looking back, I don’t think I even re- alized I was watching science fiction. The title sequence presented a near-perfect introduction to the concept of the show, complete with archival NASA launch video, high-tech medical graphics of cyborgian surgeries, and the dul- cet tones of Oscar Goldman’s voice-over assuring us, “We can rebuild him. We have the technology.” Fiction or not, I bought into the concept hook, line and bionic sinker. As the child of a scientist who had come thisclose to being selected by NASA to be one of the first scientist astronauts in space, I was the perfect audience. I spent summers messing with beakers in my dad’s lab at UCLA; building model Estes rockets in our back yard; obsessively watching Stanley Kubrick’s 2001, and reading Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles. I was certain by the dawn of the twenty-first Century we’d all have bionic parts and be flying rocket cars to work. Or Mars. Or both. VIII Hollyweird Science Boy, was I wrong. Flash forward three decades to 2004. I did not have bionic legs. I did not have a flying car. But I did have my own sci fi TV show. It was called Eureka, and, like The Six Million Dollar Man, the concept of the series was grounded in theoretical scientific possibility. The show was set in the fictional town of Eureka, Oregon, a secret government think-tank formed by Albert Einstein and Harry Truman to house the greatest minds in science and technology. These eccentric geniuses were brought together to live and create technologies that were decades ahead of the rest of the world. Unfortunately, they would sometimes create things that threatened to destroy the world as often as save it. Enter everyman U.S. Marshal Jack Carter who stumbles onto the town during one such crisis, and his keen investigative in- stincts help him save the day. The reward for his effort is being reassigned by the Department of Defense to be the new town sheriff. Much to his chagrin. In developing a show about a town of scientific geniuses, we quickly real- ized one very important thing: we were not scientific geniuses. This proved challenging. We knew the science had to be grounded if the audience was going to buy into the concept of the series (not unlike a certain show I had loved as a kid). We wanted the sci-fi element of the show to be a catalyst for the character drama, not the drama itself. The Sci Fi (now Syfy) Channel executives asked us to create a series bible covering the dos and don’ts of the show. This was our mission statement: We want to create a show that is first and foremost tethered by compelling, believable characters whose problems, passions and frailties mirror our own. These people just happen to have extraordinary talents which make their ev- eryday dramas that much more interesting to watch… Our science, like our town, should always feel plausible. While we are mindful that “fiction” is a huge element of science fiction, the theories and devices created here need to be, on a fundamental level, based in real possibility… . It was clear that achieving our goals would require the assistance of a real live genius. With our network’s blessing (and, frankly, insistence), we hired a bona fide JPL rocket scientist to keep us honest. His task was to make sure that the science in our science fiction was as accurate as possible without compromising story. Did involving a scientist in the creative process limit our imaginations because of scientific limitations? No. Did we, on occasion, push the boundaries of scientific plausibility?Yes. But we made our best collective effort to be true to the science as well as the characters, and the stories we told were that much stronger for it. Foreword IX This led to an invitation to do a panel at San Diego Comic Con hosted by Discover Magazine and The Science & Entertainment Exchange discussing, “Does Good Science Make Good Science Fiction?” Our moderator was science journalist Stephen Cass, and my co-panelist was Eureka’s own intrepid science advisor, Kevin Grazier, the esteemed authors of this very book.

Load more