To Seek Out New Life: The Biology of Star Trek (Book Review)
admittedly, this is not a difficult state for him to attain." (38) She is a true fan of Star Trek—and it shows.
Despite being a huge fan, she doesn't shy away from being critical. She takes the show to task on a number of issues and agonizes over Trek's failure to seriously address matters such as women's social roles and homosexuality. Also under attack is the Prime Directive, which she sees as being one of the most inconsistently treated elements of the show.
But most importantly she breaks down the biological possibilities of interbreeding between the different humanoid races (and attempted breading between human and machine—or gas cloud—in the case of Kirk), the dangers of bacterial contamination on away missions, Star Trek's treatment of cloning, the biological feasibility of transporter technology (we've already seen the technological feasibility addressed in Lawrence Krauss's The Physics of Star Trek), the possibility of beings like Q or the Borg, and much more.
While she reaches a number of conclusions that go against the show, she always remains pro-Star Trek. She points out that, ultimately, the accuracy of scientific details on Star Trek is irrelevant; it's just not what the show is truly about. It's a forum for discussing social issues. But at the same time she believes that the writers of the show have a duty to be as accurate as possible when portraying science, because to fail to do so misleads millions of people each week as to what is and isn't possible.
When I reached the end I wanted more. I’ll definitely be going back to reread this one a few months down the road. If you're a fan of Star Trek it's an absolute must-read; and even if you don't normally go for books related to the show, do yourself a favor and make an exception in this case. To Seek Out New Life is a fantastic book that is about as close to the spirit of Science Fiction and Society as you can get.
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