Mostly needless
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This book is well written and easy to read but nevertheless a complete ripoff. It's just the usual compilation of topics (time travel, parallel universes, possibility of extraterrestrial life etc.) that could be written as a "science companion" to almost every other science fiction novel. Hanlon's book is garnished with very few Hitchhiker citations and depends more on other popular science books. The author doesn't seem to have the faintest clue which scientific topics are really relevant concerning the works of Douglas Adams. Furthermore: The first two volumes of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"-"Trilogy" are much more satire and comedy than "hard science fiction". The growing interest of Douglas Adams in science and technology becomes much more manifest in his later books. All in all a missed opportunity!
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Great Science Book
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Don't get to hung up on the title. The HGtotheG is only referred to in introducing each topic. This is an interesting and thoroughly absorbing book on 'big science'; once you start you'll want to read it all the way through. Highly recommended. (I picked my copy up in the library almost by accident - I wasn't a big fan of the HGtotheG - and was glad I did.)
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Excellent
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This was like discovering an extra, long-lost Douglas Adams book. It has the same blend of weird science, spot-on humour and philosophy that made the Hitchhikers series such a hit, without being a straight copy or a pastiche. It's also first-rate as a stand-alone popular science book, with something surprising in every chapter no matter how much you think you already know. A superb read.
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