By Chris Snellgrove | Published
Here's a fun fact: historically, Star Trek shows have had a science advisor whose job it is to keep the storytelling grounded in our current knowledge of physics and technology. That's not what he said everything what you see in these shows is scientifically accurate, of course: as Voltaire memorably sings, far too many plot points are still resolved with nonsensical technobabble, such as “[bouncing] the graviton particle is coming out of a large deflector.” But the advisor does his best to ensure that much of what we see in shows set in the 24th century meets the collective scientific knowledge of the 20th and 21st centuries.
As a rule, the scientific advisor is rarely very involved in planning the episode. Instead, he is called upon after the fact to provide a convincing jargon for technical explanation scenes. There are exceptions, of course, including Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “A Matter of Perspective.” Science consultant David Krieger attended the episode's press conference because the writers needed to know how the holodeck could endanger the ship. He gave the perfect explanation and received an unexpected reward: a new piece of Trek technology was finally named after him!
The Holodeck is Deadly
“A Story of Vision” is a murder mystery in which Riker is accused of killing a man by deliberately blowing up the space station he was on. Finally, we find out that the commander did not kill the boy; instead, this guy tried to kill Riker, but his radiation waves exploded the beam of the transporter and blew up his interstellar laboratory; In addition, the Enterprise's holodeck recreation of the scientist's lab was converting energy from Earth into radiation that endangered the ship. It makes for a fun reveal, especially with lawyer Picard talking. Still, the story upset the entire writing staff for a simple reason: it required the holodeck to do the impossible.
In Star Trek: The Next Generationthe holodeck is presented as the ultimate virtual reality simulation. No glasses needed: thanks to holographic projectors, replicators, and invisible energy fields, it can replicate anyone and anything, allowing guests to do whatever they want without leaving the ship. Fortunately, they are designed with safety features that keep people from getting killed. But that presented a problem for the TNG writers (who all worked on “A Matter of Vision”) because the episode had the holodeck sending dangerous radiation waves into the ship. So, how can it do that when the technology was clearly designed to keep people safe?
Science Saves the Day
Because of this narrative convention, “The Story of Vision” marked the few times that science consultant David Krieger was invited to attend a news conference in person. Writers sent him their problem, and he came up with a creative solution. Instead of the holodeck acting as a direct source of damage to the Enterprise, it would simply convert harmless energy from the earth into lethal radiation. It did this because the scientist's lab was designed to do so in secret, and the Enterprise recreated it entirely on the holodeck.
It made for a nice little scene: the holodeck wasn't intentionally dangerous, and the discovery that the Enterprise accidentally creates radiation leads to the nature of the episode's climax. As for the Star Trek: The Next Generation producers and writers, were proud of the scientific consultant's opinion. In fact, they are so proud that they named the special radiation “Krieger waves” in his honor. Unfortunately, the reception of this episode was mixed; many fans liked it, but TNG writers like Michael Piller, Ira Steven Behr, and Ronald D. Moore absolutely hated it.
A very divisive episode indeed so called “A Matter of Vision?” Guys, our character is really crumbling. Before it gets any worse…computer, finish the program!
