Worst science goofs

ATimson · January 31 2013, 05:14 AM

After reading Allegiance in Exile, I decided to reread The Lost Years. Most of the way through, I came across this humdinger:

The Lost Years wrote:

She programmed the computer to send out a distress signal on a frequency monitors by all Romulan vessels. It warned of the ship's imminent destruction, and instructed all vessels to stay clear. The effects of the explosion would be felt over an area of roughly one square parsec.

Area, volume, what's a dimension between friends?

What other fun science goofs have you noted in TrekLit?

(The Hobus Supernova is well-trodden ground already.)

King Daniel Into Darkness · January 31 2013, 03:36 PM

William Rotsler's Star Trek II Short Stories. Hilarious quote from Admiral Tatenen, to Admiral Kirk, about the Klingons: "You give them a parsec and they'll take a light-year, son!"

The Klingons of Kirk's era were apparently somewhat cautious

Garrovick · January 31 2013, 04:08 PM

There was a star system in Black Fire that contained a star so large that it took the Enterprise 3 days at warp speed to transit from one side of it to the other. That's some star!

Therin of Andor · January 31 2013, 04:23 PM

ATimson wrote:

What other fun science goofs have you noted in TrekLit?

In the DC Comics "Grond vs Ajir" two-parter by Diane Duane, Kirk needed to get the Enterprise to safety, so he ordered Sulu to perform a 360 degree turn to escape an alien vessel!

ryan123450 · January 31 2013, 05:31 PM

These are hilarious!

Thrawn · January 31 2013, 06:36 PM

King Daniel wrote:

William Rotsler's Star Trek II Short Stories. Hilarious quote from Admiral Tatenen, to Admiral Kirk, about the Klingons: "You give them a parsec and they'll take a light-year, son!"

The Klingons of Kirk's era were apparently somewhat cautious

That's awesome

Christopher · January 31 2013, 08:01 PM

Yeah, Rotsler's books had some serious moments of Did Not Do the Research in them. Like in Star Trek II Biographies where he claimed that Pavel Andreievich Chekov's father was named Alexei.

Mr. Laser Beam · January 31 2013, 11:50 PM

King Daniel wrote:

William Rotsler's Star Trek II Short Stories. Hilarious quote from Admiral Tatenen, to Admiral Kirk, about the Klingons: "You give them a parsec and they'll take a light-year, son!"

The Klingons of Kirk's era were apparently somewhat cautious

Countdown to the inevitable Han Solo reference in 5...4...3...

T'Ressa Dax · February 1 2013, 03:16 AM

Mr. Laser Beam wrote:

King Daniel wrote:

William Rotsler's Star Trek II Short Stories. Hilarious quote from Admiral Tatenen, to Admiral Kirk, about the Klingons: "You give them a parsec and they'll take a light-year, son!"

The Klingons of Kirk's era were apparently somewhat cautious

Countdown to the inevitable Han Solo reference in 5...4...3...

Are those seconds or parsecs? I've wondered if somehow someone noticed the 'sec' part and decided par must be a portion of a second!

CorporalCaptain · February 1 2013, 03:22 AM

T'Ressa Dax wrote:

Are those seconds or parsecs? I've wondered if somehow someone noticed the 'sec' part and decided par must be a portion of a second!

The sec in parsec does mean second, just a second of arc, not of time. Parsec means having a parallax of one second of arc [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsec].

ATimson · February 1 2013, 03:00 PM

Mr. Laser Beam wrote:

King Daniel wrote:

William Rotsler's Star Trek II Short Stories. Hilarious quote from Admiral Tatenen, to Admiral Kirk, about the Klingons: "You give them a parsec and they'll take a light-year, son!"

The Klingons of Kirk's era were apparently somewhat cautious

Countdown to the inevitable Han Solo reference in 5...4...3...

Ann Crispin managed a decent retcon of that in her Star Wars novels, though, so I'll let that slide.

Christopher · February 1 2013, 03:42 PM

I've heard that Han Solo's "parsecs" line was an intentional flub by Lucas, to show that Solo was a blowhard who didn't quite know what he was talking about. I think there's actually something about that in the script.

CorporalCaptain · February 1 2013, 04:11 PM

Christopher wrote:

I've heard that Han Solo's "parsecs" line was an intentional flub by Lucas, to show that Solo was a blowhard who didn't quite know what he was talking about. I think there's actually something about that in the script.

Ford's delivery and Sir Alec's look of "yeah, right" certainly make the scene play that way.

Silvercrest · February 1 2013, 05:00 PM

Christopher wrote:

I've heard that Han Solo's "parsecs" line was an intentional flub by Lucas, to show that Lucas was a blowhard who didn't quite know what he was talking about. I think there's actually something about that in the script.

Fixed that for you.

No, seriously, I've heard the Solo thing before, but it never made much sense to me. Why Kenobi consider going on such an urgent mission with someone who didn't know the basics of space navigation?

Anyway, given Lucas' history of changing his story, this just sounds like another instance. But if it actually is in the script....

CorporalCaptain · February 1 2013, 05:12 PM

I think it's more a question of Han trying to impress who he assumes are just a couple of local hicks than him not knowing the basics of space navigation.

January 31 2013, 03:36 PM	#2
King Daniel Into Darkness Admiral Location: KingDaniel has fallen Into Darkness (in England)	Re: Worst science goofs William Rotsler's Star Trek II Short Stories. Hilarious quote from Admiral Tatenen, to Admiral Kirk, about the Klingons: "You give them a parsec and they'll take a light-year, son!" The Klingons of Kirk's era were apparently somewhat cautious __________________ Star Trek Imponderables, fun video mashups of Trek's biggest continuity errors. Episode One Episode Two

January 31 2013, 04:08 PM	#3
Garrovick Lieutenant Commander Location: wallowing in a pool of emotion	Re: Worst science goofs There was a star system in Black Fire that contained a star so large that it took the Enterprise 3 days at warp speed to transit from one side of it to the other. That's some star!

January 31 2013, 05:31 PM	#5
ryan123450 Commodore Location: Woodward, OK	Re: Worst science goofs These are hilarious! __________________ Lost: A Chronological Experience-http://lostchronologically.yolasite.com Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

January 31 2013, 08:01 PM	#7
Christopher Writer	Re: Worst science goofs Yeah, Rotsler's books had some serious moments of Did Not Do the Research in them. Like in Star Trek II Biographies where he claimed that Pavel Andreievich Chekov's father was named Alexei. __________________ Christopher L. Bennett Homepage -- Includes purchasing links for Only Superhuman, on sale now! Updated 12/30/12 with annotations for the novel. Written Worlds -- My blog

February 1 2013, 03:42 PM	#12
Christopher Writer	Re: Worst science goofs I've heard that Han Solo's "parsecs" line was an intentional flub by Lucas, to show that Solo was a blowhard who didn't quite know what he was talking about. I think there's actually something about that in the script. __________________ Christopher L. Bennett Homepage -- Includes purchasing links for Only Superhuman, on sale now! Updated 12/30/12 with annotations for the novel. Written Worlds -- My blog

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February 1 2013, 05:12 PM	#15
CorporalCaptain Vice Admiral Location: In pre-production	Re: Worst science goofs I think it's more a question of Han trying to impress who he assumes are just a couple of local hicks than him not knowing the basics of space navigation. __________________ John