Science of Discworld
- Thread starter DaveC
- Start date
Well, I finished it on Friday. It was heavy going but enjoyable, seemed to finish rather suddenly but the rest of the science carries on in the next to books I am sure.
Story was good but not gripping. The science was enlightening and exciting.
Don't know how re-readable it is, though. Still curious to know what the extra chapters and stuff of revised edition add.
Look forward to reading II and III when I get to them.
Story was good but not gripping. The science was enlightening and exciting.
Don't know how re-readable it is, though. Still curious to know what the extra chapters and stuff of revised edition add.
Look forward to reading II and III when I get to them.
The Science books CAN be heavy going and I read all of them in different ways. Sometimes the Discworld story skipping the real science then back to read the science, and sometimes in order.
Strange how things come into our life at strange times though...... At the same time that my little one was diagnosed with a neurological condition (she was two and a half and it was devastating!) I was on the net for hours and hours researching (as most parents do when they are confronted by this) and since I don't trust just any site I was reading papers written by neurologists as scientific papers (now THAT was heavy!). I started dating a genetic scientist (purely by co-incidence; I had NO idea when we started dating) and the new Science of the Discworld came out.
Pretty amazing huh? I tell you when I finally got to talk to the panel of therapists and with the obligitory neurologist thrown in who were there to give their final judgement on my daughters condition, I had a few questions that made them sit up VERY straight and treat me a little differently during that interview. I took the Discworld Science, strained it through the genetic scientist, and threw it to the neurologists.
Look I know I sound like a Terry Pratchett freak; but if that book hadn't come along at the exact time it did, so I could use it like a "translator" for the mind numbing load of information I was being fed at a time when ALL I wanted to do was sit in a nice dark cave and cry for my daughter...
Strange how things come into our life at strange times though...... At the same time that my little one was diagnosed with a neurological condition (she was two and a half and it was devastating!) I was on the net for hours and hours researching (as most parents do when they are confronted by this) and since I don't trust just any site I was reading papers written by neurologists as scientific papers (now THAT was heavy!). I started dating a genetic scientist (purely by co-incidence; I had NO idea when we started dating) and the new Science of the Discworld came out.
Pretty amazing huh? I tell you when I finally got to talk to the panel of therapists and with the obligitory neurologist thrown in who were there to give their final judgement on my daughters condition, I had a few questions that made them sit up VERY straight and treat me a little differently during that interview. I took the Discworld Science, strained it through the genetic scientist, and threw it to the neurologists. Look I know I sound like a Terry Pratchett freak; but if that book hadn't come along at the exact time it did, so I could use it like a "translator" for the mind numbing load of information I was being fed at a time when ALL I wanted to do was sit in a nice dark cave and cry for my daughter...
Pip I got all teary writing about those days. I'm calmer and more non-chalant about her prognosise these days. It will be what it will be and she's a lovely child. The therapy is one thing but I would say one of the most important things we taught her was how to deal with idiots who say things in front of her as if she if DEAF too... adults mainly.
She turned 11 yesterday
They said she may not ever put two sounds together and now she talks so much we are constantly telling her to please please be quiet. (I reserve ONE day a year to have a really good cry for her, and what won't be) but it hasn't all been doom and gloom. At age 7 she put her first two sounds together (she used to visit her *UGH* dad on weekends) When I heard it I rang him to tell him (so excited! REALLY I was 
) and he was horrified! "You can't tell the therapists THAT!!!!!" "But its TWO sounds! Its TWO sounds!" Yes her first word, thanks to her dad, was F-AAAAAR! (The therapist was excited too... after all it WAS two sounds). Then at age 8 as I put the girls to bed one night I always said "Love you!" and turned off the lights, there was a pregnant pause and this little voice in the dark said "u-u-u-u-uv oo" 
The house exploded as the older girls jumped out of bed, and lights went on, and dancing was begun. We had a party until midnight (noone was going to sleep). You have to listen carefully, but she can talk now and talk she does. Non-stop.
She turned 11 yesterday
They said she may not ever put two sounds together and now she talks so much we are constantly telling her to please please be quiet. (I reserve ONE day a year to have a really good cry for her, and what won't be) but it hasn't all been doom and gloom. At age 7 she put her first two sounds together (she used to visit her *UGH* dad on weekends) When I heard it I rang him to tell him (so excited! REALLY I was ) and he was horrified! "You can't tell the therapists THAT!!!!!" "But its TWO sounds! Its TWO sounds!" Yes her first word, thanks to her dad, was F-AAAAAR! (The therapist was excited too... after all it WAS two sounds). Then at age 8 as I put the girls to bed one night I always said "Love you!" and turned off the lights, there was a pregnant pause and this little voice in the dark said "u-u-u-u-uv oo" The house exploded as the older girls jumped out of bed, and lights went on, and dancing was begun. We had a party until midnight (noone was going to sleep). You have to listen carefully, but she can talk now and talk she does. Non-stop.
deldaisy said:
Pip I got all teary writing about those days. I'm calmer and more non-chalant about her prognosise these days. It will be what it will be and she's a lovely child. The therapy is one thing but I would say one of the most important things we taught her was how to deal with idiots who say things in front of her as if she if DEAF too... adults mainly.
She turned 11 yesterday They said she may not ever put two sounds together and now she talks so much we are constantly telling her to please please be quiet. (I reserve ONE day a year to have a really good cry for her, and what won't be) but it hasn't all been doom and gloom. At age 7 she put her first two sounds together (she used to visit her *UGH* dad on weekends) When I heard it I rang him to tell him (so excited! REALLY I was ) and he was horrified! "You can't tell the therapists THAT!!!!!" "But its TWO sounds! Its TWO sounds!" Yes her first word, thanks to her dad, was F-AAAAAR! (The therapist was excited too... after all it WAS two sounds). Then at age 8 as I put the girls to bed one night I always said "Love you!" and turned off the lights, there was a pregnant pause and this little voice in the dark said "u-u-u-u-uv oo" The house exploded as the older girls jumped out of bed, and lights went on, and dancing was begun. We had a party until midnight (noone was going to sleep). You have to listen carefully, but she can talk now and talk she does. Non-stop.
She turned 11 yesterday
They said she may not ever put two sounds together and now she talks so much we are constantly telling her to please please be quiet. (I reserve ONE day a year to have a really good cry for her, and what won't be) but it hasn't all been doom and gloom. At age 7 she put her first two sounds together (she used to visit her *UGH* dad on weekends) When I heard it I rang him to tell him (so excited! REALLY I was ) and he was horrified! "You can't tell the therapists THAT!!!!!" "But its TWO sounds! Its TWO sounds!" Yes her first word, thanks to her dad, was F-AAAAAR! (The therapist was excited too... after all it WAS two sounds). Then at age 8 as I put the girls to bed one night I always said "Love you!" and turned off the lights, there was a pregnant pause and this little voice in the dark said "u-u-u-u-uv oo" The house exploded as the older girls jumped out of bed, and lights went on, and dancing was begun. We had a party until midnight (noone was going to sleep). You have to listen carefully, but she can talk now and talk she does. Non-stop.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful story. Despite having a headcold and two of the bosses chasing me for work not even due yet I now have a big grin and Know i'll have a good day after hearing it.
You'll never tire of listening to her.
Deldaisy (Bouncy called you DD so that's your name from now)
My youngest daughter never uttered a syllable until she was three and a half. Twice a month my wife took her to a special clinic in Tokyo. She started a pre-kindergarten class as soon as she turned 3 and either the class, or the clinic did the trick. One month ago (aged four and a half), the clinic said she no longer needed to go.
If it makes you feel any better, did you know that Einstein couldn't speak until he was 8? 8)
My youngest daughter never uttered a syllable until she was three and a half. Twice a month my wife took her to a special clinic in Tokyo. She started a pre-kindergarten class as soon as she turned 3 and either the class, or the clinic did the trick. One month ago (aged four and a half), the clinic said she no longer needed to go.
If it makes you feel any better, did you know that Einstein couldn't speak until he was 8? 8)
Does anyone reckon that due to The Science books, Terry's later novels get a lot more scientific?
For instance, today I was reading the finale of Hat Full of Sky and Tiffany talks a lot about the evolution and such...
Is this just her character? The evolution of Discworld in general? Or is it Terry's nuclear, sciencey background finally coming through.
For instance, today I was reading the finale of Hat Full of Sky and Tiffany talks a lot about the evolution and such...
Is this just her character? The evolution of Discworld in general? Or is it Terry's nuclear, sciencey background finally coming through.
