Hollywood Science : Movies, Science, and the End of the World.
Title:
Hollywood Science : Movies, Science, and the End of the World.
Author:
Perkowitz, Sidney.
ISBN:
9780231512398
Personal Author:
Physical Description:
1 online resource (227 pages)
Contents:
Cover -- Half title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Preface: A Personal Note -- Introduction -- Chapter 1: Looking for Science in the Movies? Check Out Science Fiction Films First -- Part I: Dangers from Nature -- Chapter 2: Alien Encounters -- Chapter 3: Devastating Collisions -- Chapter 4: Our Violent Planet -- Part II: Dangers from Ourselves -- Chapter 5: Atoms Unleashed -- Chapter 6: Genes and Germs Gone Bad -- Chapter 7: The Computers Take Over -- Part III: The Good, the Bad, and the Real -- Chapter 8: Scientists as Heroes, Nerds, and Villains -- Chapter 9: Solid Science and Quantum Loopiness: Golden Eagles and Golden Turkeys -- Chapter 10: Hollywood Science vs: Real Science -- Afterword: Finding Real Science in the Movies and Beyond -- Appendix: Alongside Hollywood Science, There's Popcorn Science -- Further Reading and Viewing -- Filmography -- Acknowledgments -- Index.
Abstract:
In this book, a scientist and dedicated film enthusiast discusses the portrayal of science in more than one hundred films, including science fiction, scientific biographies, and documentaries. Beginning with early films like Voyage to the Moon and Metropolis and concluding with more recent offerings like The Matrix, War of the Worlds, A Beautiful Mind, and An Inconvenient Truth, Sidney Perkowitz questions how much faith we can put into Hollywood's depiction of scientists and their work, how accurately these films capture scientific fact and theory, whether cataclysms like our collision with a comet can actually happen, and to what extent these films influence public opinion about science and the future. Bringing together history, scientific theory, and humorous observation, Hollywood Science features dozens of film stills and a list of the all-time best and worst science-fiction movies.
Local Note:
Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2017. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.
Genre:
Electronic Access:
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