The Science of Middle-earth

By Henry Gee and henry-gee

Revised 2nd edition!This page-turning, fun and accessible book by Henry Gee, a senior editor at Nature, gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at the science behind the magic in J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy classics THE HOBBIT and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Learn how dragons breathe fire, the hidden high-tech of the elves, how orcs reproduce, why seeing-stones work, whether balrogs have wings, and much much more about the magic found throughout Middle Earth. Gee's writing style is accessible and delightful, and he makes a great case that "Tolkien's own worldview was closer to the true spirit of science than that held by many who propose to promote the public understanding of science."Review from Scientific American:How did Frodo's mithril coat ward off the fatal blow of an orc? How was Legolas able to count the number of riders crossing the plains of Rohan from five leagues away? Could Balrogs fly? Gee, a senior editor at Nature (who says he read The Lord of the Rings about once a year between the ages of 10 and 25), elucidates and expands on the scientific aspects of J.R.R. Tolkien's world in this fascinating book. Many commentators have noted Tolkien's use of philology and cultural history to create believable languages for his elves and orcs. Now Gee shows how scientific precepts can make the wonders of Middle-earth even richer.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1495434443
• ISBN13: 9781495434440
• Release Date: February 2014
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 294 Pages
• Weight: 1.12 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.7" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

CAN BALROGS FLY?

Only hard-core Tolkien fans will enjoy this book in its entirety, but it nevertheless offers useful insights into Tolkien's writing and the factors that influenced it. Gee, a senior editor of Nature, rejects the notion that Tolkien was a Luddite. He says Tolkien distinguished between benign science and science put to perverse uses, i.e. to achieve power over others. In his view, Tolkien's academic discipline, philology,was as rigorous as the sciences. Gee demonstrates that Tolkien was conversant with contemporary scientific thought and was a reader of early science fiction writers like H G Wells and John Wyndham. Gee devotes most of the book to looking at possible scientific explanations for phenomena like the source of a dragon's fire, the composition of mithril, the propagation of orcs, etc. This may be an entertaining parlor game for the initiates, but it is heavy going for the casual reader of Tolkien. I think Gee's most valuable contribution to our understanding of Tolkien is a literary observation he offers, almost as an afterthought, near the end of the book. He writes about the over-arching "sense of loss" that pervades all of Tolkien's fiction, even in its most triumphal moments. For Tolkien there was no "final" victory, just a series of rearguard struggles that exact a cost on the winners as well as the losers. It is this melancholy leitmotif that elevates Lord of the Rings out of the sword and sorcery genre into the realm of literature.