Ten years had passed since the frosty blue eyes of the White Walkers first lit up, werewolves jumped around as the pups ran through the woods near Winterfell and secret hero Hodor pushed future King Bran Stark on his shoulders. “Game of Thrones” was a recurring event in the 2000s series that sparked discussions both at parties and on feature pages.
What remains of the epic adventure?
After the somewhat sloppy season eight, which ended the saga in 2019, the hype has faded surprisingly quickly. Many fans are somewhat skeptical about a previously announced series, and quite a few have given up waiting for another volume in the “Das Lied von Eis und Feuer” book series, on which the series is based, due to its advanced age. Creator, George RR Martin. But what’s left of Westeros apart from plenty of (dead) main characters and the phrase “winter is coming”, which has turned into a running fall gag?
Rebecca C. Thompson offers an amusing answer to this: Why not simply investigate the mysteries of the wonderful world for their own sake – and thus explain the Earth’s natural scientific phenomena? This is exactly what she did in her book Science Meets Game of Thrones. The American physicist is an expert in communicating science in an easily understandable way, having been responsible for public relations for the American Physical Society for more than ten years.
She masters the challenge of experiencing phenomena in a fantasy world, where magic plays a small role, for her realism in a very entertaining and demanding way. She finds creative but understandable explanations for supernatural manifestations and reveals surprising things.
She explores the question of why winter in Westeros is a long and above all extraordinarily unpredictable event. To do so, it first explains in general terms what the seasons actually are, what causes them and what influences them on the front of the Earth’s axis. Then Thompson meticulously gathered all the relevant information from Martin’s books and the series, and finally came up with a plausible explanation: The countless chapters go back to the chaotic inclination of the planet on which Westeros is located, possibly due to the loss of the Moon and its associated moon. Effect on the front axis of the celestial body.
Similarly, the author explains how Jon Snow survived the cold behind the wall, approaches the neuroscience and biology of zombies, and shows how to kill white walkers. In addition to the cast of characters and the many storylines of “Game of Thrones”, the basis for interpretations has always been everyday questions that also apply to our world, for example: How do planes fly? How are steel made? How do genes work? So, even those unfamiliar with dragons and Dothraki can read the volume at a profit – however, admittedly it’s probably more fun if you’ve watched the series or read the books.
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