Star Trek and History (2 page)

Star Trek
—its many characters, cultures, plots, and incarnations—is endlessly absorbing. I found it that way as a child, watching the original broadcasts, and I'm still as excited by the appearance of new
Star Trek
movies today. A series is especially compelling when you have good friends to explore, discuss, and debate it with, and the friends I have made through
Star Trek
fandom (my first fandom, although not my last one) have enriched my life. In return, I offer them this book, which I hope will give everyone who enjoys reading about the
Enterprise
and her crew new ways of seeing
Star Trek
's fascinating universe.

A Timeline of Stardates

Alan Kistler

Star Trek
Series and Movie Titles

The
Star Trek
franchise includes five television series, an animated series, and (with the premiere of the 2013 movie) twelve films. Star Trek films are discussed using their full titles, but this book abbreviates the television series names as follows:

Introduction

Nancy R. Reagin

Spock:
Captain, I never will understand humans. How could a [historian] as brilliant, a mind as logical as John Gill's, have made such a fatal error?

Kirk:
He drew the wrong conclusion from history.

—TOS,
“Patterns of Force”

James T. Kirk certainly knows his history—even better than his former history instructor at Starfleet Academy, Professor John Gill. In the original series episode “Patterns of Force,” Gill was rather naive about the consequences of introducing Nazi ideology into an alien culture. His re-creation of Nazi Germany on another planet almost leads to a new Holocaust, before Kirk and the
Enterprise
crew intervene and head off disaster.