.jpg) Cover | |
| Author | Rick Sternbach andMichael Okuda |
|---|---|
| ISBN | 0-671-70427-3 |
| OCLC | 24648561 |
| 791.45/72 20 | |
| LC Class | PN1992.77.S73 S78 1991 |
| Followed by | Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual |
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Technical Manual (ST:TNG TM) is apaperback reference guide detailing the inner and other workings of thefictionalFederationstarshipEnterprise-D and other aspects oftechnology that appeared in the television seriesStar Trek: The Next Generation.
Authored byRick Sternbach andMichael Okuda, who both worked in the art department on the television series, with a foreword by series creatorGene Roddenberry, the first and only edition was published in 1991 (ISBN 0-671-70427-3) byPocket Books, andParamount Pictures holds allcopyrights.
TheST:TNG TM is written from the perspective of the 24th century, whereTNG is set; it also contains a wealth of behind-the-scenes trivia distinguishable from the technical content. The work is considered by Paramount to becanon in many respects, although some elements first published in the manual have not yet made it onto screen.
Some ideas developed for the technical manual, or its predecessor, the internalWriters Technical Manual, were later incorporated into the storylines of the TV series and movies. Most notably, a concept drawing from the manual describing an emergency landing of the saucer section was seen byTNG writersRonald D. Moore,Jeri Taylor, andBrannon Braga who wanted to use a saucer crash as a sixth-season cliffhanger episode for the TV series. This idea was shelved due to budget limitations and resistance from producerMichael Piller. However, Moore and Braga later included the scenario inStar Trek Generations. Also first seen in the technical manual were theNova-class starship and the USSGalaxy.
The book contains explanations ofWarp drive (including a chart showing warp factor against speed, and an explanation that integer warp factors are more efficient than fractional ones), thetransporter (which is said to transport matter from place to place keeping it in the form of a "matter stream", and works using analog technology to defeat pattern storage requirements), thereplicator (which is said to work on the basis of the transporter, but with a less precise digital resolution),holodecks,phasers and photon torpedoes,impulse drive, thewarp core (including a chemical formula fordilithium),subspace radio, saucer separation and landing, the computer, and the various auxiliary craft of theEnterprise. It also contains a section regarding the history of the development of theGalaxy-class ships.
In addition to the more serious material, the manual also contains a number ofinside jokes. These include:
The print version was later complemented by a similar electronic version, theStar Trek: The Next Generation Interactive Technical Manual.
A follow-up title, theStar Trek: Deep Space Nine Technical Manual, was published in 1998.