Rating: 
Summary: Discussions of scientific and historical issues
Review: The Harry Potter books are used here as an interesting and attention engaging foundation for sound and informative discussions of scientific and historical issues ranging from connections between hallucinogens and flying sensations to the science of ethnobotany. Readers of Harry Potter will find within the pages of The Science Of Harry Potter a set of lively scientific insights which go far from Harry's fictional fantasy realm to the world of real science.
Rating:
Summary: A set of lively scientific insights
Review: The immensely popular Harry Potter fantasy books are used as source material in The Science Of Harry Potter as a foundation for discussions of scientific and historical issues ranging from connections between hallucinogens and flying sensations to the science of ethnobotany. Readers of Harry Potter will find here a set of lively scientific insights which go far from Harry's world and into the world of real science.
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Summary: Scientific explanations for all things Harry Potter
Review: The initial quote from Clarke's Law, that the highest form of technology is indistinguishable from magic sets the basis for this book. And in reading the Harry Potter books and watching the movies, one can't help but wonder, how does that work in the world of Hogwarts? The bottom line is that the world of Hogwarts has got a technology that far surpasses 21st century technology, so to us, it does appear like magic. Think of what the Aztecs thought when Cortes and his men fired their guns. Surely they thought the guns were magic, as that was alien to their civilization.The Science Of Harry Potter is the name of this book. What science, you might ask? Well, how about alchemy, astronomy, biology, genetics, physiology, quantum physics, time travel, And there's some more, like history and mythology, on where creatures like Fluffy the three-headed dog guarding the Sorcerer's Stone and games like Quidditch were based on. He also incorporates work from Einstein, Rutherford, Hawking, B.F. Skinner, John Nash (A Beautiful Mind) and Kip Thorne from the Muggle side. The Sorting Hat, which sent the first-year Hogwarts students into their respective houses, might have had some interface that interpreted brain waves from the students, but there's also the concept of recognizing personalities a la Jung or Keirsey, so I wonder if the Hat's technology can correlate the brain's wiring with that of a Guardian, Rational, Idealist, or Artisan, to use Keirsey's classifications, and then say "Gryffindor" or "Slytherin." The theory of time travel in the Muggle world is that one can't go back in time before the machine was built, and also to prevent a mistaken killing of one's ancestors, because then one would be erased from existence. Hogwarts technicians must've overcome that glitch. Hey, if it's possible in Dr. Who, why not in Harry Potter? However, the fact that Nicolas Flamel is based on a real life 14th century alchemist and that Queen Elizabeth I's conjurer John Dee was the inspiration for Albus Dumbledore will jerk some eyes open. As for an example of a psychological aspect of Harry Potter, Highfield uses bereavement syndrome to explain the Mirror of Erised, with the mirror as an output device that's receptive to the brain's trauma-ridden visions. Apart from using J.K. Rowling's first four books, Roger Highfield exhaustively used respected biology, psychology, physics, and medical journals, and history books as his sources. If one is of a highly fantastical and romantic nature, not wanting to spoil the magic of Harry Potter by possible scientific explanations, go elsewhere. Those who are able to accept Clarke's Law and assimilate these theories into the Harry Potter universe without it spoiling the magic, this book's for you. Well, time to put on my silvery cross-connected fiber-optic cape that records images from the background over me. See ya.
Rating:
Summary: Scientific explanations for all things Harry Potter
Review: The initial quote from Clarke's Law, that the highest form of technology is indistinguishable from magic sets the basis for this book. And in reading the Harry Potter books and watching the movies, one can't help but wonder, how does that work in the world of Hogwarts? The bottom line is that the world of Hogwarts has got a technology that far surpasses 21st century technology, so to us, it does appear like magic. Think of what the Aztecs thought when Cortes and his men fired their guns. Surely they thought the guns were magic, as that was alien to their civilization. The Science Of Harry Potter is the name of this book. What science, you might ask? Well, how about alchemy, astronomy, biology, genetics, physiology, quantum physics, time travel, And there's some more, like history and mythology, on where creatures like Fluffy the three-headed dog guarding the Sorcerer's Stone and games like Quidditch were based on. He also incorporates work from Einstein, Rutherford, Hawking, B.F. Skinner, John Nash (A Beautiful Mind) and Kip Thorne from the Muggle side. The Sorting Hat, which sent the first-year Hogwarts students into their respective houses, might have had some interface that interpreted brain waves from the students, but there's also the concept of recognizing personalities a la Jung or Keirsey, so I wonder if the Hat's technology can correlate the brain's wiring with that of a Guardian, Rational, Idealist, or Artisan, to use Keirsey's classifications, and then say "Gryffindor" or "Slytherin." The theory of time travel in the Muggle world is that one can't go back in time before the machine was built, and also to prevent a mistaken killing of one's ancestors, because then one would be erased from existence. Hogwarts technicians must've overcome that glitch. Hey, if it's possible in Dr. Who, why not in Harry Potter? However, the fact that Nicolas Flamel is based on a real life 14th century alchemist and that Queen Elizabeth I's conjurer John Dee was the inspiration for Albus Dumbledore will jerk some eyes open. As for an example of a psychological aspect of Harry Potter, Highfield uses bereavement syndrome to explain the Mirror of Erised, with the mirror as an output device that's receptive to the brain's trauma-ridden visions. Apart from using J.K. Rowling's first four books, Roger Highfield exhaustively used respected biology, psychology, physics, and medical journals, and history books as his sources. If one is of a highly fantastical and romantic nature, not wanting to spoil the magic of Harry Potter by possible scientific explanations, go elsewhere. Those who are able to accept Clarke's Law and assimilate these theories into the Harry Potter universe without it spoiling the magic, this book's for you. Well, time to put on my silvery cross-connected fiber-optic cape that records images from the background over me. See ya.
Rating: 
Summary: Mild Diversion If You're Waiting for Book V
Review: The Science of Harry Potter is a fairly interesting study both of how all the magic at Hogwarts can be "explained" by science and how science has diverged from the magic explored in Rowling's wizarding world. Some of Highfield's observations are entertaining, popularised discussions of quantum physics or genetic engineering, using references to the Potter books as examples (sometimes quite tangentially). Don't expect much insight into the Potter books, however: it's clear that Highfield has read and obviously enjoys them, but he doesn't explore the books in any great detail; they are mainly a starting point for him to discuss various scientific topics. The effect, however, is tremendously reductive: broomstick flying is seen in terms of drug-induced hallucinations, the magical creatures can be "explained" in terms of genetic engineering, and so on. None of this either endorses Rowling's prodigious imagination or helps one understand anything that happens in Harry's world. More seriously, Highfield seems not to understand the complex relationship between Rowling's magical and Muggle worlds: much of the first part of the book tiresomely demonstrates how all of the magical devices used in the books have some parallel in the "real" world through recent technology (such as invisibility cloaks that could employ fibreoptics). But who cares? All Highfield proves is that Western science has finally caught up with what Rowling's witches and wizards have been doing for centuries; he misses the point that the wizarding world doesn't need Western science in order to function, and that, in fact, Muggle science is a radically different way of understanding nature which has eradicated what has traditionally been called magic from the Western (Muggle) mind. As a result, he reiterates hoary old notions that "primitive" people--those who believed in magic--had a greater degree of "superstition" which, of course, can be explained away by modern neuropsychology, again missing the point of the Potter books (and demonstrating an appalling anthropological naivite as well). If you're interested in popular science books, this one's OK; if you want something Potter-related that readable and entertaining while you're waiting for June 21, then by all means pick it up. There is a very good study of Harry Potter, magic, and science that remains to be written; this one barely fills that bill in the meantime.
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Summary: Ignore the writing style and enjoy the information
Review: This book does an amazing job introducing the "magical" world of science. I am amazed at the author`s research and discussion of emerging scientific fields--such as levitation and teleportation--in layman`s terms. Anyone with science or Harry Potter in his/her heart will love this book. Sit back and relax and enjoy the tid bits of information the author offers. However, if you expect the author to stay on topic, totally relate to the Harry Potter books, or draw any comprehensible conclusions...you will only frustrate yourself. Ignore the writing style and enjoy the wealth of information.
Rating:
Summary: Ignore the writing style and enjoy the information
Review: This book does an amazing job introducing the "magical" world of science. I am amazed at the author`s research and discussion of emerging scientific fields--such as levitation and teleportation--in layman`s terms. Anyone with science or Harry Potter in his/her heart will love this book. Sit back and relax and enjoy the tid bits of information the author offers. However, if you expect the author to stay on topic, totally relate to the Harry Potter books, or draw any comprehensible conclusions...you will only frustrate yourself. Ignore the writing style and enjoy the wealth of information.
Rating:
Summary: A good book to think on
Review: This book is for people who enjoy reading about what people have tried/done in the past and what people will be trying and doing in the future This book is not really directed towards children more to someone who enjoys reading about science. From start to finish a lot of names, ideas, experiments, and questions are given. A great read for anyone who likes to wonder. This book provokes hundreds of what if questions and the reader is left to just wonder how the world would be with these things. The thoughts and ideas in this book are LOOSELY based on the 'magic' in Harry Potter. The ideas in the Harry Potter books are expanded and talked about at great length with not only what if questions but how scientists in the past and present are (without first seeing it in Harry Potter) trying to achieve real life 'magic'
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Summary: Review of The Science of Harry Potter
Review: Woah- This book was obviously very well researched and thought out. Whats-his-name went to a lot of effort to write this book. Though, as an obsessive 15 year old harry potter fan, it didn't make me happy! It took all the magic out of the books. it explained how every bit of magic the book had could be really happening, but with out magic! He took the all the fun out of it! When i bought it i thought it would tell me how the magic worked, not how it wasn't real. i was highly offended.
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