Death Rays, Jet Packs, Stunts, and Supercars: The Fantastic Physics of Film's Most Celebrated Secret Agent
by Barry Parker
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Book Summary Information
Author: Barry ParkerEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-10-18
ISBN: 0801882486
Number of pages: 248
Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press
Book Reviews of Death Rays, Jet Packs, Stunts, and Supercars: The Fantastic Physics of Film's Most Celebrated Secret Agent
Book Review: Exciting Descriptions and Simple Formulas
Summary: 4 Stars
When I bought this book, I was expecting some brief descriptions of the various stunts, gadgets and weapons used in the James Bond movies, along with a brief scientific critique of how realistic they are (or could be) in real life. Although the book's content wasn't quite like that, I did thoroughly enjoy it. The author, who clearly appears to be an avid James Bond fan, has written a book that seems to have a double focus: (i) to describe several scenes from all the James Bond movies along with a summary of each of the plots, and (ii) to describe some of the physics involved regarding some of the stunts, gadgets, weapons and technology portrayed in these movies. The scene descriptions that are presented are very exciting and well detailed (in some cases, too detailed), but most are without commentary on the reality of the physics involved; some of these descriptions are repeated in the book. The physics that is described, complete with simple formulas, is quite entertaining, although there are several misprints and a few errors, e.g., use of "increase" when "decrease" should have been used - something that more careful editing would have easily fixed. In some cases, the author does comment on physical possibility of some of the technology used in these movies. The writing style is very engaging and the book is difficult to put down. Overall, I found this book quite entertaining. I recommend it to James Bond fans, old and new, as well as to those interested in seeing simple formulas used to describe how certain aspects of the world work.
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