Science of Discworld III: Darwin's Watch

Written by Jack Cohen, Terry Pratchett and Ian Stewart

Narrated by Stephen Briggs and Michael Fenton Stevens

Roundworld is in trouble again, and this time it looks fatal. Having created it in the first place, the wizards of Unseen University feel vaguely responsible for its safety. They know the creatures who lived there escaped the impending Big Freeze by inventing the space elevator - they even intervened to rid the planet of a plague of elves, who attempted to divert humanity onto a different time track. But now it's all gone wrong - Victorian England has stagnated and the pace of progress would embarrass a limping snail. Unless something drastic is done, there won't be time for anyone to invent spaceflight and the human race will be turned into ice-pops.

Why, though, did history come adrift? Was it Sir Arthur Nightingale's dismal book about natural selection? Or was it the devastating response by an obscure country vicar called Charles Darwin, whose bestselling Theology of Species made it impossible to refute the divine design of living creatures? Either way, it's no easy task to change history, as the wizards discover to their cost. Can the God of Evolution come to humanity's aid and ensure Darwin writes a very different book? And who stopped him writing it in the first place?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House UK Audio
• Release date: Sep 27, 2012
• ISBN: 9781448124787

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 Science of Discworld III

[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.