I saw this headline in the Guardian this morning. You can read the article here – I’ll wait while you do.

Now, while I understand where professor Perkowitz is “coming from”, as they say, but I fear he’s missing the point. His main aim is summed up by the first paragraph of the article.

Science fiction movies should be allowed only one major transgression of the laws of physics, according to a US professor who has won backing from a number of his peers after creating a set of guidelines for Hollywood.

The article then refers to “Starship Troopers” and “The Core” as two movies with Bad Science in them but one he liked and the other he didn’t (for those of you that didn’t read the article, can you guess which was which?).

I actually agree with the professor, but think that both he and I are on the losing side here. I understand that Hollywood is in the entertainment business and the needs of the plot will always beat science whether it gives us bugs the size of houses, craft that can navigate to the Earth’s core or gravity in space.

One day I’ll post my well reasoned arguments on why this happens and why it’s a “Bad Thing”.

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