Book Review: The Physics of the Buffyverse by Jennifer Ouellette - Page 3

Ouellette is also funny, with the same geeky-wacky humour that was so often seen in the Buffyverse shows. This makes the book feel like a coffee klatch with friends, except that instead of discussing Buffy's ever-changing hairstyles or Spike's potential for redemption, the subject just happens to be the origins and rules of the universe itself. Ouellette seems to be saying, "The nature of the universe? No big."

Ouellette's conversational approach to physics inspires a kind of confidence that is hard to achieve when looking at physics in a more traditional, jargon-and-equation fraught setting. You get the sense that Ouellette believes everyone is capable of understanding basic physics precepts, if only physicists were to explain them in an accessible way. And though some of the concepts still seemed to be over my head, I was surprised by how much I got. In other words, Ouellette makes you feel smart. As Buffy says, "I'm all for spurty knowledge."

Article Author: Bonnie

Bonnie writes about books every Thursday at Fourth-Rate Reader, about everything else at Signifying Nothing, and sometimes she resorts to pictures. She lives in Toronto.

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