New books & media
DOI: 10.1063/PT.3.4884
Foundation
Foundation, David S. Goyer and Josh Friedman, Apple TV+, 2021
Isaac Asimov’s Foundation trilogy is one of the seminal sci-fi series of the 1940s and 1950s, but it contains little action and suspense. To modernize the story for television, Apple TV+’s well-acted new series foregrounds action only hinted at in the book series and enhances it with superb technology and costume design. Researchers may be intrigued by the incredible sky elevator. They may also appreciate how Foundation addresses the continuing debate on scientific reason versus religious faith and engagingly depicts a character calculating their position in space without the help of a navigation computer. After a shaky start, the series gently pulls you into its world and asks: How much free will do individuals actually have? —
Frequently Asked Questions About the Universe
Frequently Asked Questions About the Universe, Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson, Riverhead Books, 2021, $28.00
Why can’t I travel back in time? What happens if I get sucked into a black hole? Where did the universe come from? Those are just a few of the questions addressed by engineer-turned-cartoonist Jorge Cham and physicist Daniel Whiteson in their new book, Frequently Asked Questions About the Universe. Inspired by listeners of their podcast, Daniel and Jorge Explain the Universe, Cham and Whiteson use nontechnical language and humor to discuss the most up-to-date theories about the cosmos and humans’ place in it. Illustrated with Cham’s science-themed cartoons, the book is both educational and entertaining. —
Among the Stars
Among the Stars, Ben Turner, Disney+, 2021
Within the first 10 minutes of the documentary series Among the Stars, viewers see firsthand how any spacewalk can quickly go wrong. While he was working on the exterior of the International Space Station in July 2013, astronaut Luca Parmitano began to feel water pooling in his helmet. At risk of drowning in his suit, he had to rush back to the station in utter darkness. Footage from the helmet cameras and mission control bring home the agonizing few minutes before Parmitano made it back. But that harrowing tale is just a prelude to the documentary’s main story: the mission to repair the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer. We follow Parmitano and fellow astronaut Andrew Morgan as they train to fix the instrument, which they ultimately did over four spacewalks between November 2019 and January 2020. The six-part series brings home the meticulous preparation behind every minute in space. —
More about the Authors
Paul Guinnessy. pguinnes@aip.org
