Essays

Written: 1999-07-27
Last Revised: 2004-05-13

This section is designed to hold miscellaneous ramblings on various assorted subjects. Basically, if I didn't know where else to put it, I put it here.

General Science and Sci-Fi

Plasma Weapons: A frontal assault upon one of the most overused cliches in sci-fi: the "plasma weapon".
Planet Killers: A list of famous planet-killers with brief analyses.
How to Analyse Sci-Fi: Exactly what the title says.
Occam's Razor: Ever heard of Occam's Razor? Sick of people throwing it in your face? Well, here's an article on it.
Brain Bugs: Try to guess what I mean by "Brain Bugs" before you click on this one.
Commandments of Science Fiction: The peculiar rules of conduct in Star Wars and Star Trek.
Creationism vs Science: My other website.
Science, the Grand Illusion, and Other Neat Stuff: Some background on scientific method.
Quantum Mechanics in Science Fiction: My theory as to why the word "quantum" is heard more frequently in TNG, DS9, and Voyager than any other word.
Sci-fi Debating Fallacies: The most common deceptions employed by science fiction debaters, ie- how not to argue.

Star Trek vs Star Wars

Star Wars vs Star Trek in Five Minutes: For those of you who aren't patient enough to slog through calculations, derivations, and analysis of observations.
What is Canon?: An old subject, but an important one.
Battles: Hey, we all love battles.
Engineering and Star Trek: Most intelligent people know how Star Trek butchers science. How many people know that it slaughters engineering principles as well?
My Favourite Trekkie Arguments: Non-pseudoscience Trekkie arguments for your perusal.
Racism in Star Wars and Star Trek: My take on the allegations of racism against George Lucas and TPM, as well as the evidence of racism in Star Trek.
Star Trek Writing Standards: Ssshhh! I've discovered how the Star Trek writers come up with their stories!
The Economics of Star Trek: The Federation is Communist. Don't believe me, or don't believe that communism is bad? Hear me out first.
The Philosophy of Star Trek: A reader contribution.
The Technobabblator: A brief list of Star Wars quotes, as they would sound if spoken by Data.