The Science of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

  • Michael Hanlon
Macmillan Science: 2005. 256 pp. £16.99, $24.95 1403945772 | ISBN: 1-403-94577-2
Guided tour: Arthur Dent and Marvin the Paranoid Android hitchhike through the galaxy. Credit: DISNEY ENTERPRISES/SPYGLASS ENTERTAINMENT

Your brief: to explain the science of Life, the Universe and Everything. It's quite a challenge. But Michael Hanlon pulls it off with wit, energy and style.

Timed to coincide with the release of the film adaptation of Douglas Adams' famous book series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Hanlon's guide to the Guide takes the general reader on a grand tour of the outer reaches of modern scientific reality. Alien life, quantum physics and the history of the Universe are just as mind-boggling and weird now as they were to Adams in the 1970s, when he imagined Arthur Dent's escapades. Hanlon even manages to explain the unexplainable, such as the eye-popping shock of the total-perspective vortex.

Hanlon obviously enjoyed writing this book. It's not often that science writers get to rant about the non-existence of God, to explain the sudden appearance of a whale from a quantum fluctuation, or to ponder the genetic modification of animals to produce guilt-free meat. Adopting Adams' witty, punchy style, Hanlon's guide is a fun and vivid read. The science twinkles a little more than usual in such a zany setting.

Although he tackles a wide range of cutting-edge topics with depth and authority, Hanlon has chosen the most obvious Hitchhiker destinations for his own scientific tour. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe prompts a discussion of the fate of the Universe; the babel fish yields a chapter on translation software; and time travel, parallel universes and black holes are well-trodden avenues. But when Hanlon does venture off-piste, he is a reassuring and insightful travelling companion, even if he often leaves the Guide behind. More references to it and amusing quotes could have added to the entertainment.

Readers familiar with the original Hitchhiker's Guide might have enjoyed more subtle tie-ins and a little more background about Adams himself, his peculiar ideas and influences. Hanlon briefly sets the context, but leaves such dialogue to others. The book also lacks comparisons with other contemporary science fiction. Aimed fair and square at the popular-science market, Hanlon's book may not satisfy die-hard science-fiction buffs. But the ghost of Adams is lurking in the pages.

See the film and buy the books. Don your striped jacket, bathrobe or spare head, and keep a towel handy. And above all — Don't Panic. With Hanlon's quirky book you are in safe hands.