The Science of Discworld IV: Judgement Day

Written by Jack Cohen, Terry Pratchett and Ian Stewart

Narrated by Stephen Briggs and Michael Fenton Stevens

The fourth book in the Science of Discworld series, and this time around dealing with THE REALLY BIG QUESTIONS, Terry Pratchett's brilliant new Discworld story Judgement Day is annotated with very big footnotes (the interleaving chapters) by mathematician Ian Stewart and biologist Jack Cohen, to bring you a mind-mangling combination of fiction, cutting-edge science and philosophy.

Marjorie Daw is a librarian, and takes her job - and indeed the truth of words - very seriously. She doesn't know it, but her world and ours - Roundworld - is in big trouble. On Discworld, a colossal row is brewing…

The Wizards of Unseen University feel responsible for Roundworld (as one would for a pet gerbil). After all, they brought it into existence by bungling an experiment in Quantum ThaumoDynamics. But legal action is being brought against them by Omnians, who say that the Wizards' god-like actions make a mockery of their noble religion.

As the finest legal brains in Discworld (a zombie and a priest) gird their loins to do battle - and when the Great Big Thing in the High Energy Magic Laboratory is switched on - Marjorie Daw finds herself thrown across the multiverse and right in the middle of the whole explosive affair.

As God, the Universe and, frankly, Everything Else is investigated by the trio, you can expect world-bearing elephants, quantum gravity in the Escher-verse, evolutionary design, eternal inflation, dark matter, disbelief systems - and an in-depth study of how to invent a better mousetrap.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House UK Audio
• Release date: Apr 11, 2013
• ISBN: 9781448160235

Jack Cohen

Jack Cohen graduated Pepperdine University with a degree in Engineering Management, and Lindenwood College with a master’s degree in business. He taught troubleshooting of complex electronic systems to Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corp technicians making complex systems easy to understand. He taught classes throughout the United States, and in Japan, the Philippines, and Vietnam. The Marines in Vietnam made him an honorary Marine. In 1986, he became one of the founders of a synagogue in St. Peters, Missouri where he volunteered as a teacher for years. He thoroughly enjoyed that experience... Not only teaching, but also learning as he prepared his weekly curriculums. He has now published books because of those curriculums and that preparation. Love Is In The Air is a short story that parents will enjoy reading to their children ages 5 and up. Teenagers and adults will love this story and they will pass it on to their loved ones and friends.

Reviews for The Science of Discworld IV

[petwoe · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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. :-)

[stevepugh_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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.