Source: The Associated Press
Date: December 21st 1997
Written by: M.R. KROPKO

CLEVELAND (AP) - Physicist Lawrence Krauss is boldly going where scientists have rarely gone before - out of the cloistered halls of academia and into the alien world of mass media. His mission: to convince people that science is fun. His primary tool: ``Star Trek'' reruns.

``I like to convince people that science is exciting and worth talking about, just like a good movie,'' says Krauss, author of two books that have taken ideas from science fiction - particularly from the ``Star Trek'' TV series and films - and applied real scientific concepts to them.

Krauss' gimmick is working.

His first book, 1995's ``The Physics of Star Trek,'' sold 100,000 copies in hardback. He recently completed a cross-country tour promoting his latest release, ``Beyond Star Trek: Physics from Alien Invasions to the End of Time,'' published last month. With his success, the head of the physics department at Case Western Reserve University makes no apologies for tackling such weighty topics as: would a transporter really work? And, what's wrong with those explosions viewers hear when the U.S.S. Enterprise trades phaser blasts with an alien ship?

``In `Physics of Star Trek' and hopefully with this new one, I get to say, `Well look, here's how close or far it is from reality,''' Krauss said during an interview in his office, where life-size photo cutouts of the original TV show's Capt. Kirk and Mr. Spock guard his recliner.

In many cases - but not all - science and science fiction just don't mesh. Case in point: The transporter on the starship Enterprise. The instrument got Krauss ruminating about science fiction concepts in the first place.

Using a transporter, a crew member can dematerialize in one place and re- materialize in another. Krauss believes the device wouldn't work, now or in the future, because of the immense energy required to disassemble and reassemble a person atom by atom.

He also touches in his first Trek book on blunders physicists can't help but notice, such as objects producing sound in space. There's no air in space and therefore no sound, so the thunderous explosions heard in ``Star Trek'' battle scenes on television and in the movies are inaccurate.

But two other mainstays of the ``Star Trek'' universe - warp speed, which is faster than the speed of light, and time travel - are theoretically possible, he contends.

``Beyond Star Trek'' not only targets Trek science, it considers other scenarios, such as in the film ``Independence Day'' and the TV show ``The X- Files.'' He discusses real science implications of traditional science fiction subjects, such as time travel, UFOs and aliens, and clairvoyance.

For instance, the huge alien spaceship over New York in ``Independence Day'' would flatten the city merely due to the air pressure involved to hold it up against the force of gravity, he says. ``It would be nice if science fiction on TV and other places always got it right,'' he says. But they don't, so Krauss accepts the fiction as entertainment. ``It's drama after all, and that's what keeps it going.''

While it's fun to find the flaws in science fiction, Krauss sees his role as much more than a professional nitpicker. He believes there's a void between scientists and the public, particularly since the death of Carl Sagan last December.

Sagan won the Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction in 1978 for ``The Dragons of Eden: Speculations on the Evolution of Human Intelligence'' and wide acclaim for his 13-part Public Broadcasting Service series ``Cosmos.'' Krauss dedicated his latest book to the popular Cornell University astronomer, who brought difficult concepts to the masses and made science, well, almost cool.

``Many scientists are hesitant to make that leap into popular culture because some sense that it might be demeaning,'' he said.

``But it hasn't been for me, and I think people are craving to know more about their world.'' Jack Munsee, professor of physics and astronomy at California State University, Long Beach, recently invited Krauss to be the first speaker in a popular science lecture series. He says the physics professor is good at delivering the message that hard science is as amazing as the dreams of fiction writers.

``I think too many scientists are worried about their own discipline and not worried about communicating it to a wider audience,'' Munsee said.

The only thing Krauss fears now is that his audience will be disappointed that some of their favorite ``Star Trek'' gadgets would never work.

Even if you can't change the laws of physics, as Enterprise engineer Scotty was fond of reminding Capt. Kirk in almost every episode, there's still plenty to learn about the universe.

``Physics constrains us, sure,'' Krauss says. ``But it constrains us by marvels.''

``Beyond Star Trek'' is published by BasicBooks, a division of HarperCollins, in hardback. It costs $21. Copyright 1997 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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