When the announcements of the remake (BSG-03) and its move toward �realism� hit the wires, I was involved in a number of discussions with friends as to the need for such a move. I was initially of the mind that, even though I have been a fan of what I will now call Classic Galactica since I watched the premier so many years ago, the show was basically space-opera with little or no thought put into making it believable. This was bolstered by the fact that this approach to network television was typical of the period, and Classic Galactica fit the mold.
These friends, much more die-hard fans than I, challenged me to take one aspect of the classic series and justify it in its entirety. I accepted the challenge, but soon realized that it was difficult to look at one aspect of technology without looking at others. The work grew to such an extent, and I was sufficiently excited by what I was finding, that I decided I needed to share it. Thus this page was born.
The mandate I ended up with was the justification of the viewable or explained phenomena of the series. Not just some of what we see and hear, but ALL of what we see and hear, as if we are looking through a window at the reality of another culture and trying to make sense of what is observed there. Considering the series� consistent scientific mistakes, hit-and-miss writing, and just plain bad continuity, this was a tall order, and one in which I have not been entirely successful. Yet in my research I have come up with some surprising results, which often shed new light on other aspects of the show. They have also caused me to wonder if this isn�t what the creative minds behind the show had in mind all along.
Of course, everything presented here is my opinion, and should not be considered in any way as �official�. It is also all speculation, hypothesis, conjecture, or down-right guesses. In order to reach a number of my conclusions, I have not only had to speculate on the science and technologies involved, but in some cases the little-known culture of the Colonials, and even more precarious, the circumstances and motivations behind the actions of the individuals that lead to the evidentiary data that is the basis for some conclusion.
Not all of the science presented here is �hard�, either. Indeed, a great deal of speculation about the nature of the universe and the Colonial�s understanding and control of its forces is needed in order to get where we need to go. But it is after all, science fiction, even if we are trying to emphasize the �science.�