Live Long and Evolve

An engaging journey into the biological principles underpinning a beloved science-fiction franchiseIn Star Trek, crew members travel to unusual planets, meet diverse beings, and encounter unique civilizations. In these remarkable space adventures, does Star Trek reflect biology and evolution as we know it? What can the science in the science fiction of Star Trek teach us? In Live Long and Evolve, biologist and die-hard Trekkie Mohamed Noor takes readers on a fun, fact-filled scientific journey. Noor offers Trekkies, science-fiction fans, and anyone curious about how life works a cosmic gateway into introductory biology, including the definitions and origins of life, DNA, reproduction, and evolutionary processes. Giving readers irresistible insights, Live Long and Evolve looks at some of the powerful science behind one of the most popular science-fiction series.

"Live Long and Evolve leverages the huge amount of interest in Star Trek to examine basic concepts of biology, genetics, and evolution. Exploring where the show gets it right and gets it wrong, Mohamed Noor does a lovely job tying an incredibly popular and enduring set of characters and stories to real science. This engaging, clear book isn't afraid of having fun."--Maria E. Orive, University of Kansas, "A world-class geneticist and lifelong Trekkie, Mohamed Noor combines his two passions in this wonderful new book. To read it is the only logical course of action."--Lee Alan Dugatkin, coauthor of How to Tame a Fox (and Build a Dog): Visionary Scientists and a Siberian Tale of Jump-Started Evolution, "Calling all Trekkies! The answers to questions about evolution may not be found in Star Trek, but they just might be in this wry and wonderful new book. Live Long and Evolve turns what sounds like meaningless biobabble from the shows into thoughtful explanations of everything from mutations and sexual reproduction to what life really is."--Marlene Zuk, author of Paleofantasy: What Evolution Really Tells Us about Sex, Diet, and How We Live , "I played Ensign Harry Kim on Star Trek Voyager and started out in college as a biology major, so this book resonates with me in a unique way. In Live Long and Evolve, Mohamed Noor draws upon his extensive knowledge of Star Trek to help explain the nuances of evolutionary biology with a style that is both informative and entertaining."--Garrett Wang, "In Live Long and Evolve, Mohamed Noor uses Star Trek, a show that probed the deepest questions of biology, as a springboard into some of the most exciting fields of science."--Carl Zimmer, author of She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Power, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity

Mohamed A. F. Noor, besides being a Trekkie, is a professor in the Biology Department and the Dean of Natural Sciences at Duke University.