Fringe has always been more than the sum of its parts–but its parts, too, are worth a closer look. The show combines a surfeit of mad science, some old-school sci-fi flair, and a dash of strawberry-milkshake whimsy to create the challenging, fascinating Pattern that keeps us coming back season after season and universe after universe.
Now, in Fringe Science, cutting-edge scientists, science writers, and science fiction authors and historians provide a smart, savvy, and accessible look at the world(s) of Fringe.
- MIT physics professor Max Tegmark illuminates the real-life possibilities of parallel universes
- Stephen Cass, founding editor of Discover‘s Science Not Fiction blog and a Senior Editor with Technology Review, unravels Fringe‘s use of time travel
- Award-winning science fiction historian Amy H. Sturgis walks us through the show’s literary and television ancestors, from the 1800s on
- Television Without Pity staff writer Jacob Clifton looks at the role of the scientist, and scientific redemption, through the ever-shifting role of Massive Dynamic
- Garth Sundem, bestselling author of Brain Candy, explores the mysterious way that memory works, from why Walter forgets to how Olivia remembers
- Paul Levinson, award-winning author of The Silk Code, shows how Fringe re-invents themes from golden-age 1950s science fiction
And more, from lab cow Gene’s scientific résumé to why the Observers should be wearing white lab coats.
About the Editor
Kevin R. Grazier, Ph.D., is a planetary scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., where he holds the dual titles of Investigation Scientist and Science Planning Engineer for the Cassini/Huygens Mission to Saturn and Titan. There he has won numerous JPL- and NASA-wide awards for technical accomplishment. Dr. Grazier holds undergraduate degrees in computer science and geology from Purdue University, and another in physics from Oakland University. He holds an M.S. degree in physics from, again, Purdue, and he did his doctoral work at UCLA. His Ph.D. research involved long-term, large-scale computer simulations of Solar System evolution, dynamics and chaos—research which he continues to this day. Kevin is also currently the science adviser for the PBS animated series “The Zula Patrol” and for the Sci-Fi Channel series “Eureka,” as well as the Peabody AwardÐwinning “Battlestar Galactica.” Commited to astronomical education, Dr. Grazier teaches classes in stellar astronomy, planetary science, cosmology and the search for extraterrestrial life at UCLA, Cal State LA and Santa Monica College. He has served on several NASA educational product review panels, and is also a planetarium lecturer at LA’s landmark Griffith Observatory. He lives in Sylmar, Calif.—and occasionally Mesa, Az.—with a flock of cockatiels and a precocious parrot.
Publication Details
Title: Fringe Science
Subtitle: Parallel Universes, White Tulips, and Mad Scientists
editor: Kevin R. Grazier, PhD
Publication Date: August 30, 2011
Publisher: Smart Pop, an imprint of BenBella Books, Inc.
Price: $19.95 US
Format: Paperback
Page Count: 272
ISBN: 9781935618683