Darwins Watch, Terry Pratchett
Darwins Watch, Terry Pratchett
1 Rating(s)
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Darwin's Watch
The Science of Discworld III: A Novel

Author: Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart, Jack Cohen

Narrator: Michael Fenton Stevens, Stephen Briggs

Unabridged: 11 hr 19 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/09/2015


Synopsis

The wizards discover to their cost that it’s no easy task to change history.

Roundworld is in trouble again, and this time it looks fatal. Having created it in the first place, the wizards of Unseen University feel vaguely responsible for its safety. They know the creatures that lived there escaped the impending Big Freeze by inventing the space elevator — they even intervened to rid the planet of a plague of elves, who attempted to divert humanity onto a different time track. But now it’s all gone wrong — Victorian England has stagnated and the pace of progress would embarrass a limping snail. Unless something drastic is done, there won’t be time for anyone to invent space flight, and the human race will be turned into ice-pops.

Why, though, did history come adrift? Was it Sir Arthur Nightingale’s dismal book about natural selection? Or was it the devastating response by an obscure country vicar called Charles Darwin whose bestselling Theology of Species made it impossible to refute the divine design of living creatures?

Can the God of Evolution come to humanity’s aid and ensure Darwin writes a very different book? And who stopped him writing it in the first place?

About The Author

Terry Pratchett, author of the Discworld series, is one of the most successful authors in Britain today. Ian Stewart is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick and an outstanding contributor to the public understanding of science. Jack Cohen is a biologist and science writer, and long-time collaborator of Ian Stewart’s.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Reenie on July 24, 2009

Possibly the best book you'll ever read about Darwin, the physics and science fiction of time travel, and the invention of the steam engine. Not to mention Wizards (and Wizzards). If that sounds like it jumps all over the place, that would be because it does. And although there is a clear overarchin......more

Goodreads review by Brian on April 18, 2024

One part Discworld, one part science lesson, and one part biography of the unlikely events that allowed Darwin to go on the voyage that he did, Darwin's Watch is funny, educational, and a little bit boring at times. But that should be understandable when one starts a book expecting it to be about fu......more

Goodreads review by Antonio on December 18, 2014

Come spiegare l'evoluzionismo divertendo :)......more

Goodreads review by Chris on February 09, 2008

Again with the Roundworld problems! As much as I love the Discworld, and as much as I enjoy popular science, I think the guys are reaching their limit here. The first book was great - very readable, very accessible to those of us who haven't spent many years immersed in the newest developments in math......more

Goodreads review by Jakub on July 01, 2020

What can I say? I have a soft spot for this mixture of the UU faculty's shenanigans and the scientific ruminations of the co-authors. However, the optimistic message of the book (despite pointing out the stupidity of many) rings a bit hollow in 2020. Still, the more we know.........more


Quotes

“An irreverent but genuinely profound romp through the history and philosophy of science, cunningly disguised as a collection of funny stories about wizards and mobile luggage.” —Frontiers
 
“[Pratchett alters] history with such brilliant effortlessness . . . it all gels into a cohesive and exciting whole — which demands to be both read and enjoyed. For anyone looking for something fresh or even more off the beaten path than Pratchett’s own ‘Discworld’ universe, one would be hard pressed to find a better pick than this.” —ScienceFiction.com