The Science of Interstellar

Christopher Nolan's 2014 film Interstellar was eagerly awaited by science fiction enthusiasts who, having been sorely disappointed so many times by movies that crossed the line into fantasy by making up entirely implausible things to move the plot along, hoped that this effort would live up to its promise of getting the science (mostly) right and employing scientifically plausible speculation where our present knowledge is incomplete.The author of the present book is one of the most eminent physicists working in the field of general relativity (Einstein's theory of gravitation) and a pioneer in exploring the exotic strong field regime of the theory, including black holes, wormholes, and gravitational radiation, for which he won the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2017. Prof. Thorne was involved in the project which became Interstellar from its inception, and worked closely with the screenwriters, director, and visual effects team to get the science right. Some of the scenes in the movie, such as the visual appearance of orbiting a rotating black hole, have never been rendered accurately before, and are based upon original work by Thorne in computing light paths through spacetime in its vicinity subsequently published as professional papers.Here, the author recounts the often bumpy story of the movie's genesis and progress over the years from his own, Hollywood-outsider, perspective, how the development of the story presented him, as technical advisor (he is credited as an executive producer), with problem after problem in finding a physically plausible solution, sometimes requiring him to do new physics. Then, Thorne provides a popular account of the exotic physics on which the story is based, including gravitational time dilation, black holes, wormholes, and speculative extra dimensions and “brane” scenarios stemming from string theory. Then he “interprets” the events and visual images in the film, explaining (where possible) how they could be produced by known, plausible, or speculative physics. Of course, this isn't always possible—in some cases the needs of story-telling or the requirement not to completely baffle a non-specialist with bewilderingly complicated and obscure images had to take priority over scientific authenticity, and when this is the case Thorne is forthright in admitting so.Sections are labelled with icons identifying them as “truth”: generally accepted by those working in the field and often with experimental evidence, “educated guess”: a plausible inference from accepted physics, but without experimental evidence and assuming existing laws of physics remain valid in circumstances under which we've never tested them, and “speculation”: wild and wooly stuff (for example quantum gravity or the interior structure of a black hole) which violates no known law of physics, but for which we have no complete and consistent theory and no evidence whatsoever.This is a clearly written and gorgeously illustrated book which, for those who enjoyed the movie but weren't entirely clear whence some of the stunning images they saw came, will explain the science behind them. The cover of the book has a “SPOILER ALERT” warning potential readers that the ending and major plot details are given away in the text. I will refrain from discussing them here so as not to make this a spoiler in itself. I read the book before seeing the movie, and when I did I enjoyed it more for having read the book, since I knew what to look for in some of the visuals and was less likely to dismiss some of the apparently outrageous occurrences by knowing that there is a physically plausible (albeit extremely speculative and improbable) explanation for them.There are a few typographical errors and one factual howler: Io is not “Saturn's closest moon”, and Cassini was captured in Saturn orbit by a propulsion burn, not a gravitational slingshot (this does not affect the movie in any way: it's in background material).

This book is amazing! Interstellar is my favorite movie, and this was the perfect book to "nerd out" with and dive deeper into the scientific theories used to develop the film. It is super interesting and very easy to understand. Kip has a way of making even the most complex theories easy to understand through his writing and illustrations .

Excellent science, but technical - may be hard for the average person to grasp.

The media could not be loaded. "The Science of Interstellar" is a great book that serves as an insightful companion to the film. The movie is very entertaining, and it left me curious to find out more about some of the scientific aspects. The movie was marketed as being based on "real science" - after watching the film, it's clear that it is not that simple. Some of the film (particularly the latter part of it) hinges on theories that have not been proven by any means; nor have they been disproven, so in some sense the film may be accurate to what some of our "best guesses" are when it comes to current science.Kip Thorne, whose work on theoretical physics is featured in the film, authors this book. He elaborates on the science seen in the movie, and aims to increase the audience's understanding of the theories within. It's a well-written text that does a good job explaining things to an average reader. He includes a number of charts, diagrams, and illustrations which definitely helped me to understand some of the more difficult concepts.I look forward to seeing the film again now that I have read the book; I think it will certainly allow my appreciation for the movie to grow.Some examples of what is discussed in the book:- The physical laws of our universe- The physics of wormholes and black holes- Gravity & time dilation- Details of the spacecraft Endurance- Blight, food/oxygen shortage on Earth- The equations on the chalkboard- much more, including spoilers.For more reviews of Film & TV related books, visit MovieArtBook(dot)com** Note: If you want to learn more about the making of the movie, I also recommend this book: Interstellar: Beyond Time and Space