Book Review: A Teaspoon and an Open Mind - The Science of Doctor Who by Michael White

How do you build a Tardis? What are the secrets of teleportation? Could Cybermen take over the world? Is telepathy possible - even for an alien? Will extra-terrestrials one day visit planet earth on their travels through the galaxy? Can a robotic dog catch a cold ...?

Take a journey with the Time Lords as Michael White guides us through the real science behind Doctor Who. Here he shows us how one of the world's best-loved science-fiction programmes is actually based on genuine theories - some of which could soon become a reality.

A brief and somewhat outdated book. This was published in 2005, just as the first season was ending. It's a bit of a cheap cash-in - the chapters don't really relate much back to Doctor Who at all. A paragraph at the start and then on to a quick overview of the science.

For a teenager in search of something a little more exciting than GCSE physics, it's basically fine. Fun speculation about how science might develop and what possibilities lie out there. Of course, reality doesn't always match up with predictions, as this excerpt shows:

By extrapolating this progress it is apparent that by about 2020 quantum computers will allow the development of a machine the size of a virus but possessing the computing power of an Apple notebook.

Yeah...

There are some weird diversions into Atlantis and "Psychic" phenomena - which felt slightly out of place. But, other than that, it's a reasonable jumping off point for the young mind.