The Science of James Bond: The Super-Villains, Tech, and Spy-Craft Behind the Film and Fiction

Written by Mark Brake

Narrated by Alex Wyndham

From Sean Connery to Daniel Craig, James Bond is the highest-grossing movie franchise of all time. Out-grossing Star Wars, Harry Potter, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the world’s most iconic and international secret agent has a shelf life of almost six decades, from Dr. No to Spectre. As nuclear missile threats are replaced by a series of subtler threats in a globalized and digital world, Bond is with us still.



In The Science of James Bond, we recognize the Bond franchise as a unique genre: spy-fi. A genre of film and fiction that fuses spy fiction with science fiction. We look at Bond's obsessions with super-villains, the future, and world domination or destruction. And we take a peek under the hood of trends in science and tech, often in the form of gadgets and spy devices in chapters such as:



● Goldfinger: Man Has Achieved Miracles in All Fields but Crime!



● You Only Live Twice: The Race to Conquer Space



● Live and Let Die: Full Throttle: Bond and the Car



● Skyfall: The Science of Cyberterrorism



● And more!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Dec 28, 2021
• ISBN: 9781666129144

Mark Brake

Mark Brake developed the world’s first science and science fiction degree in 1999 and launched the world’s first astrobiology degree in 2005. He’s communicated science through film, television, print, and radio on five continents, including for NASA, Seattle’s Science Fiction Museum, the BBC, the Royal Institution, and Sky Cinema. Mark also tours Europe with Science of Doctor Who, Science of Star Wars, and Science of Superheroes road shows.

Reviews for The Science of James Bond

[3d-doctor · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Long time bond fan and happy to expand my background information so this became a pleasant surprise as it moves outside bond to take on actual events items albeit with a bit of a left of center bias - will be listening again and taking notes next time

[gothamajp · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

In the introduction author Mark Brake sets out his stall by saying “the point of this book is not to take the Bond tales scientifically literally..” Unfortunately I think that is exactly what I wanted from this book. I wanted to know how the absurd gadgets, machines, secret bases etc. could, or couldn’t, work. I wanted the science of Bond’s hyper-realistic world explained. Don’t get me wrong, what science there is here is often fascinating and thoughtful, but there just isn’t enough of it and it tends to be broad in scope.

Unfortunately the book has two other flaws that made it a slog for me to get through.

It is organized as a chapter per film, yet often the narrative takes major diversions away from the movie under discussion to explore either trends across the movie series as a whole, or cultural or scientific background that jumps around in historical context. Each of these are fine essays, but they should have been interstitial pieces rather than tied to a particular movie.

Secondly most of the movie entries contain minor factual errors as if they are being written about from recent memory rather than a close study. None of the mistakes is egregious on its own, but for me they had a cumulative effect causing a degree of frustration with the text.

There’s a good book in here, but it’s hampered by the framework it’s delivered in, and the expectation set by its title.