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Claiming inspiration from Lawrence Krauss's The Physics of Star Trek, the Jenkinses focus on the biological logic (or illogic) behind the alien ecologies in Star Trek--the original TV series and all of its sequels and movie spinoffs. The best parts are the biological bloopers, even though only a fan will truly appreciate them. For instance, how did the Klingons evolve forehead ridges between the original and the new series ... and why do all the planets look like California?
The science in the book helps the authors hypothesize about how humanoid life might have evolved throughout the universe (panspermia revisited). They offer simple evolutionary theories to explain the various head shapes and behaviors of fictional alien species. An entertaining read for a Star Trek science nerd. --Therese Littleton
From Publishers Weekly
Books with this subtitle may soon be more numerous than tribbles. Following Athena Andreadis's To Seek Out New Life (Forecasts, Mar. 16), and in the manner of Krauss's The Physics of Star Trek, the husband-and-wife JenkinsesAhe a molecular geneticist, she a psychiatristAset out on a simple mission: "to entertain, to teach, and to share some favorite Star Trek moments." Their compact but informative book succeeds in all three tasks. Each of the nine chapters takes on a related set of biological issues raised by the Star Trek TV series and films, explaining how the world created by the Star Trek writers meshes with that of our own. A discussion of the differences in mating habits among Vulcans, Klingons, Ferengi and Trills, as well as a host of other aliens, leads to an interesting discourse on complications arising from human sexuality, with distinctions made among genetic sex, phenotypic sex, core gender identity and sexual roles. Similarly, an examination of the "puppet-master parasites" (parasites that appear in a number of episodes and that have the disconcerting ability to take control of their hosts' minds) segues into a review of how the human brain functions. Other topics covered include aging, telepathy, genetic engineering, human evolution and the possibility of noncarbon-based life forms. A final chapter on biological bloopers incorporated into the shows is most entertaining. While the book will delight die-hard Trekkies, it is less philosophical and wonderstruck than the Andreadis book, and its lack of depth on any given topic is likely to leave those searching for serious science a little disappointed. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Jenkins and Jenkins have produced a solid and readable Star Trek spinoff, if not as good a one on its subject as Andreadis' To Seek Out New Life , which is as quirky and surprising as the ST series themselves. Yet the Jenkinses offer something Andreadis missed--a good selection of biological miscues from the many series. Why, they ask, does Jean-Luc Picard stay bald, when throughout the series everyone else who loses his hair regains it? What about ST's lack of botanical diversity, whereby even the Delta Quadrant has the vegetation of Southern California? And--best question of all--how the heck did the Klingons acquire ridged foreheads in between the original series and The Next Generation? Because evolution as a consequence of budget increases has not been detected previously, the Jenkinses posit that a nerdling Klingon, infected with recombinant genes by his science fair project, is to blame for the bumps. It is scientific conjecture such as that that makes this a good prospective addition to your library. Patricia Monaghan
From Kirkus Reviews
Here's another--probably not the last--in the recent batch of books explaining modern science by referring to popular sci-fi shows. After a foreword by Lawrence M. Krauss, author of The Physics of Star Trek, the authors begin by examining a point evident to the most casual viewer of Star Trek: the presence in the cast of large numbers of ``alien'' creatures. Yet most of these creatures are basically human in form--a fact explained in the universe of Star Trek by a variant of the panspermia hypothesis, which postulates that life on Earth was seeded (accidentally or deliberately) from some other world where it began. The authors (both M.D.s; he is affiliated with the Mayo Clinic) then examine the factors that determine evolutionary divergence of similar organisms, focusing on a human embryo's development of facial features. Research on chimpanzees and other apes sheds light on the limited range of facial expressions in Vulcans, or the total lack of expression of the android Data. Facial morphology also affects our judgment of an alien race's character--as a rule, the closer to the human norm its members' faces, the more likely a race is to be ``good guys'' in the Trek universe. They suggest variants that the show's writers might profitably explore--sense organs that detect infrared light (common among snakes) or magnetic fields (used by birds for navigation). All these points are made by reference to specific episodes and characters, showing a detailed familiarity with the show. The authors go on to examine the factors influencing life aboard a spaceship (including the manufacture of food by a replicator), exotic life forms discovered by the Enterprise (rocklike intelligences), cloning, life extension, and other biological issues. All this is done clearly and good-naturedly (the authors are obviously fans), and, most importantly, without dumbing down the subject. Entertaining and informative, worth reading even by non-Trekkies. (For another look at Star Trek, see Jeff Greenwald, Future Perfect, p. 712.) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Reviews
"[The book] is done clearly and good-naturedly (the authors are obviously fans), and, most importantly, without dumbing down the subject. Entertaining and informative, worth reading even by non-Trekkies."
Book Description
It's a routine mission. The Enterprise-D is in synchronous orbit over a Class-M planet to be surveyed for possible colonization. Commander Riker calls the life science team to its station, then Captain Picard orders a "search for life signs." As the principal investigator on this mission, you're up.What do you do now? With Life Signs: The Biology of Star Trek, you'll know exactly what to do. In this vastly entertaining and informative volume, a research geneticist at a world-renowned medical center and a noted psychiatrist investigate the myriad questions Star Trek raises about "new life and new civilizations." They draw surprising conclusions about everything from the likelihood that any humanoid could be blue in color to the climate on the Vulcan homeworld to what caused the dramatic physiological changes in the Klingon race between the twenty-third and twenty-fourth centuries (something even Klingons themselves avoid discussing).Life Signs: The Biology of Star Trek pays special attention to the Federation's astonishing technological advances, probing the accuracy and effects of these developments. How might the food replicators work? (And how would replicated food taste?) Is there any scientific basis for all that hyper-high-tech equipment in sickbay? Will it ever be possible to genetically enhance intelligence (the way Dr. Bashir's wits were sharpened when he was a boy)? The Jenkinses also chart the remarkable parallels between the Star Trek universe and our own. They find earthly analogues to the Pon farr that puts Vulcans in heat every seven years. They hunt down common creatures reminiscent of the "crystalline entity" and the silicon-based Horta. They even introduce us to the billions of life-forms residing in our own bodies and induce us to wonder whether Jadzia Dax's Trill symbiont is really such a far-fetched notion after all. Throughout, this engaging and authoritative book bristles with insights on the cutting edge of contemporary biology. Discover how close we are to cloning humans. Examine implants and prosthetics that might make the Borg proud. Watch NASA wrestle with the perils of extended space travel as it plans for a three-year-long manned mission to Mars. And learn where no one has gone before or ever will go as the Jenkinses highlight some of Star Trek's more notable biological bloopers.Whether you run your own genetics lab or you ran screaming from high-school biology class, Life Signs: The Biology of Star Trek will heighten your appreciation for the mind-expanding magic of Star Trek.
About the Author
Susan Jenkins, M.D., is a psychiatrist and Medical Director of Associates 2000, P.A., a Neurodevelopmental clinic. Robert Jenkins, M.D., Ph.D. runs a research laboratory investigating cancer genetics and is codirector of the clinical cytogenetics and molecular genetics laboratories at the Mayo Clinic. Together they study biology and watch Star Trek with their children in Rochester, Minnesota.
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