Trope-ing the Light Fantastic

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Men have walked on the Moon. Siri and Alexa manage-at least often enough to be helpful-to make sense of the things we say. Biologists have decoded DNA, and doctors have begun to tailor treatments to suit our individual genetic make-ups. In short: science and tech happen.But faster-than-light travel? Time travel? Telepathy? A six million dollar-as adjusted, of course, for inflation-man? Starfaring aliens? Super-intelligent computers? Those, surely, are mere fodder for storytelling. Or wild extrapolations. Just so many "sci fi" tropes.Sometimes, yes. But not necessarily.In Trope-ing the Light Fantastic, physicist, computer engineer, science popularizer, and award-winning science-fiction author Edward M. Lerner entertainingly examines these and many other SF tropes. The science behind the fiction.Each chapter, along with its eminently accessible scientific discussion, surveys science-fiction-foundational and modern, in short and long written form, on TV and the big screen-that illustrates a particular trope. The good, the bad, and occasionally the cringe-worthy. All imparted with wit (and ample references to learn more).So forget what the Wizard of Oz advised. Let's pull back the curtain…