{"product_id":"trope-ing-the-light-fantastic-book-edward-m-lerner-9781612423654","title":"Trope-ing the Light Fantastic","description":"\u003cp\u003eMen have walked on the Moon. Siri and Alexa manage--at least often enough to be helpful--to make sense of the things we say. Biologists have decoded DNA, and doctors have begun to tailor treatments to suit our individual genetic make-ups. In short: science and tech happen.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut faster-than-light travel? Time travel? Telepathy? A six million dollar--as adjusted, of course, for inflation--man? Starfaring aliens? Super-intelligent computers? Those, surely, are mere fodder for storytelling. Or wild extrapolations. Just so many sci fi tropes.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSometimes, yes. But not necessarily.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eTrope-ing the Light Fantastic\u003c\/em\u003e, physicist, computer engineer, science popularizer, and award-winning science-fiction author Edward M. Lerner entertainingly examines these and many other SF tropes. The science behind the fiction.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEach chapter, along with its eminently accessible scientific discussion, surveys science-fiction--foundational and modern, in short and long written form, on TV and the big screen--that illustrates a particular trope. The good, the bad, and occasionally the cringe-worthy. All imparted with wit (and ample references to learn more).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSo forget what the Wizard of Oz advised. Let's pull back the curtain. \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50395407057169,"sku":"CIN1612423655G","price":14.15,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1612423655.jpg?v=1750895497","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/products\/trope-ing-the-light-fantastic-book-edward-m-lerner-9781612423654","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}