Product Description

CAN REINDEER FLY? WHY IS SANTA CLAUS FAT? COULD SCIENTISTS CLONE THE PERFECT CHRISTMAS TREE? WAS THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM REALLY A COMET? WHY IS RUDOLPH'S NOSE RED? HOW DOES SANTA MANAGE TO DELIVER PRESENTS TO AN ESTIMATED 842 MILLION HOUSEHOLDS IN A SINGLE NIGHT? WHAT COULD WE DO TO GUARANTEE A WHITE CHRISTMAS EVERY YEAR? These are among the questions explored in an irresistibly witty book that illuminates the cherished rituals, legends, and icons of Christmas from a unique and fascinating perspective: science.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #299442 in Books
• Published on: 1999-11-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

From Amazon.com
Roger Highfield loves science, and he loves Christmas, too. Combining the two in The Physics of Christmas is his attempt to refute the notion that "the materialist insights of science destroy our capacity to wonder, leaving the world a more boring and predictable place." To that end, Highfield presents an amusing, eclectic, and trivia-filled collection of scientific observations about one of the Western world's most beloved holidays.

Contrary to the title, Highfield doesn't limit himself to physics. His anthropological observations include tracing the origins of Santa Claus--an especially amusing and enlightening chapter entitled "Santa: The Hallucinogenic Connection" examines the possibilities of the psychoactive mushroom Amanita muscaria's red-and-white cap being the inspiration for Santa's robes. In a tip of the stocking cap to biology, Highfield hints at a parasitic infestation that may be responsible for poor Rudolph's red nose and examines the advantages of cloned Christmas trees. Psychologically speaking, we find an analysis of the emotional weight of gift giving and card exchanging (sever all relationships with those who send musical cards, research suggests), and how a holiday can be both religious and commercial. Even post-holiday depression is deconstructed, along with Santa's unhealthy obesity and apparent immortality, the effects of alcohol on sleep patterns, the astronomical origins of the Bethlehem star, and the ins and outs of snow.

You'll never look at the trappings of Christmas the same way after reading Highfield's seriously funny book. And you may accidentally learn something, too. --Therese Littleton

Ingram
A witty, scientific investigation into all the rituals and icons of Christmas, from the Star in the East to jolly old Saint Nick--who, Dr. Highfield estimates, has just over two ten-thousandths of a second to get between each of the 842 million households he must visit on Christmas Eve. 25 illustrations. NPR sponsorship.

About the Author
"Roger Highfield is the science editor of The Daily Telegraph in London. He carried out research at Oxford University and the Institute Lane Langevin, Grenoble, where he became the first to bounce a neutron off a soap bubble. He has coauthored three other books: Frontiers of Complexity, The Private Lives of Albert Einstein and The Arrow of Time a bestseller that has been translated into more than a dozen languages.

With the BBC, he has organized several mass experiments, dubbed Megalab, which have attracted the participation of hundreds of thousands of people. He has also contributed to Esquire magazine. Highfield has won a number of awards, including a British Press Award, two Glaxo science writing awards and one for medical journalism. He is married and lives in Greenwich, London.

There will also be a UK edition of the book, called Can Reindeer Fly?"

Customer Reviews

The Magic Explained and Retained
For those who believe curiosity killed the cat, this book proves such cliches to be incorrect. Dr. Highfield has done well to organize the massive amounts of research in sociology, psychology, chemistry, physics etc. in such a way as to explain much of the mysteries and associations of the holidays. Despite such "debunking", Highfield somehow manages to retain much of the mystery and joy of Christmas in his writing, which balances humor and academic rigor nicely. This is a must read for the perpetually curious, and holiday revelers of all sorts.

Interesting read, fascinating science, great history
If you are one of those people who has to ask "Why" about everything then you will find this a fascinating book. It is indeed centered around Christmas and all the traditions and expectations of that season, but it is much more than another historical or anthropological book about the holiday. It does have a lot of historical information and makes a fascinating read just for that fact. But in addition it has scientific information from many disciples that just builds more fascination into the subject.
Each chapter stands alone and so you can pick one that sounds interesting and read it. Each deals with a different aspect of the season and so does not build on a previous chapter. Read it in the order of your interests. Chapters cover such areas as Santa, reindeer, Christmas trees, food, snow and seasonal moods.
The writing style is easy flowing and fun to read. You don't need to know anything about physics, or any other science for that matter, to follow and understand the book. It is a unique style of writing because the book is easy and fun to read like a novel and yet packed so full of information that it is more like a science book. So, which is it? I'm not sure, but if regular science books were this interesting and fun instead of full of dry examples then perhaps science scores in schools would climb.

Fascinating Collection for the Trivia Buff
As a fan of trivia, I found the scientific and historical accounts contained within fascinating. It gives, as a whole, a sort of evolution of Christmas and it's traditions, interesting scientific information, and riduculously unimportant facts that are still a lot of fun to read. Also, the book is wonderful coffee table reading because it is not required, or even recommended, to read it from cover to cover. It is essentially a compendum of interesting essays, and a good buy.