Eight blockbuster movies. Five TV series, now airing in over a hundred and fifty countries worldwide. Thirteen Trek books are sold every minute. And trekkers log on to hundreds of Internet chat groups. Yet only Jeff Greenwald has captured exactly what the true appeal is behind one of the most incredible pop phenomena ever.

Warp Factors interweaves a lively history of Star Trek's impact on our earthly culture, a world tour of diehard trekdom, and on-the-set reporting from the latest Trek movie, First Contact. It shows how Star Trek's initial vision of an Earth liberated from war and prejudice still inspires our craving for miracle technology and extraterrestrial exploits. It explores how Trek imagery feeds the collective yearning to get back into outer space and expresses utopian longings in devotees from all walks of life -- from NASA engineers to the director of the Klingon Language Institute.

Up-to-the-minute interviews take us inside the mythmaking machinery. Actors like Patrick Stewart and Michael Dorn discuss with Greenwald what they bring to -- and get out of -- their experiences working on Star Trek. He also consults producers, writers, directors, crew, and wise observers that include Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Arthur C. Clarke, and the Dalai Lama.