11th June 2002: "The Science of Discworld"

Somewhere in another corner of reality, on the Discworld (flat as the proverbial pancake), some wizards are arguing. The senior wizards of Unseen University canÕt agree about Roundworld, their model universe in which (bizarrely) planets are spherical, light moves faster than sound, and magic does not exist.

From this starting point scientists Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen joined forces with best-selling fantasy author Terry Pratchett, to explain how our universe works, and how it might have come into being. If you donÕt know PratchettÕs Discworld series, do not worry. The imaginary world is merely a starting point for the trio to explore concepts like Deep Time, and Lies to Children, ways of explaining how science and the universe work.

Mathematician and science writer, Ian Stewart has also published "Does God Play Dice?" and over sixty other books for general and specialist audiences. He holds a doctorate from Unseen University and lectures at the University of Warwick.

Titles by this author:

• The Science of Discworld (with Terry Pratchett and Jack Cohen)
• The Science of Discworld II: The Globe (with Terry Pratchett and Jack Cohen)
• Nature's Numbers: Discovering Order and Pattern in the Universe
• The Magical Maze
• Does God Play Dice?: The New Mathematics of Chaos
• Flatterland
• Evolving the Alien (with Jack Cohen)
• What Shape is a Snowflake?
• Wheelers
• The Collapse of Chaos (with Jack Cohen)