Publisher's Weekly Review
British science writer Highfield (The Private Lives of Albert Einstein) takes on J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series "to show how many elements of her books can be found in and explained by modern science." The result is an intelligent though odd attempt to straddle the imaginative worlds of science and fiction. Using Harry's magical world to "help illuminate rather than undermine science," Highfield splits the book in two: the first half a "secret scientific study" of everything that goes on at Potter's Hogwarts school, the second half an endeavor to show the origins of the "magical thinking" found in the books, whether expressed in "myth, legend, witchcraft or monsters." This division is an obvious attempt to duplicate the method and the popularity of his Physics of Christmas. Here, however, as intriguing as the concept is, the author isn't quite able to engage or entertain as he explores the ways in which Harry's beloved game of Quidditch resembles the 16th-century Mesoamerican game Nahualtlachti or how, by using Aztec psychotropic mushrooms, Mexican peyote cactus and other types of mind-altering fungi, even Muggles can experience their own magic. While interesting, the book reads more like an obsessive Ph.D. dissertation that fails to satisfy either of its target audiences: the children who read the books or the parents who buy them and often read them themselves. (Oct.) Forecast: Sellers should note: this is not a simple effort to introduce basic science concepts to young Potter fans. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
"Science in the Harry Potter books?" "Yes," Highfield, science editor of London's Daily Telegraph, emphatically answers, approaching the topic in a thoroughly playful manner. He is dead serious, however, about using the Potter corpus as the launching pad for a wonderful foray into genetics, biology, quantum theory, behaviorism, mythology, folklore, and more, bolstered by drawing on and extrapolating from the work of a great variety of scientists and scholars. Magic, like science, he states, affords many insights into the workings of the human brain, which he designates as the greatest wizard of all. Whether dealing with flying broomsticks, Quidditch, or Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Highfield demonstrates how Muggle science has a leg up on many of the phenomena in Harry's world. The book's second half focuses more on the origins of magical thinking. Obviously well versed in the Potter books, Highfield deconstructs and reassembles them to make his points. Fans of such science popularizers as Gould and Asimov will certainly get a kick out of Highfield's utterly fascinating take on the subject. --Sally Estes
Choice Review
You look up in time to see your next-door neighbor leave for work on a flying broom. That's impossible, right? Highfield, science editor for London's Daily Telegraph, explores the possibilities of such things as flying brooms and evinces a real interest in Harry Potter as a unique fictional character. Of course, most Harry Potter fans probably prefer to wrap themselves in the warm glow of willing suspension of belief where magic is real and science need not apply, but Highfield uses the Harry Potter stories as a matrix onto which he very effectively pastes a most interesting discussion of subjects like time travel, cloaks of invisibility, antigravity, hallucinogenic drugs, biology, medicine, and the history of witches. In the second part, he takes a new turn and explores the gullibility of humans and our perceptual limitations. He discusses nuclear physics (the "philosopher's stone?"), research on longevity (the "fountain of youth?"), and the source of and desirability of human beliefs, ending the book on a discussion of the value of pursuing the study of science. A fascinating introduction to science and human perceptions of reality. Very useful glossary. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. General readers; lower-division undergraduates through graduate students; two-year technical program students. P. R. Douville emeritus, Central Connecticut State University
