Why did you decide to write a scientific reference book exploring the James Bond films?
It's a book I had wanted to do for a long time and I mentioned it to my editor and he was eager to go ahead with it.

How did you decide what level of detail to go into? Which was the hardest stunt to breakdown?
The book is written for a university press and it is aimed at the physics in the movies so it was natural to have a few equations in it, but I wanted to keep them to a minimum. I found the physics of all the stunts interesting, but skydiving and terminal velocity associated with it particularly fascinates me.

How long did you spend writing and researching the book? How did writing this book compare to writing your past titles?
I usually take about 8 or 9 months to write a book, then have to spend some time on it again after the editor makes changes. I usually plan on about one book per year. This book was a little different in that I had to watch each of the movies carefully. I had already seen all of them except one or two but when you're writing a book about them you have to look at them a lot more carefully.

Did you develop your coverage in the order of the films? If not how did you structure your research?
I did look at the films in order, but as I wrote the book I had to go back to certain films and study sections of it in detail.

Above: Book cover art

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Above: Author Barry Parker

Which was the most interesting stunt/action/gadget to research and why?
It's hard to pinpoint one stunt or gadget. I was fascinated by almost everything in the movies. It was particularly interesting, however, to look at the physics of some of the gadgets to see how far they were off in the movie, or of course, whether they would really work.

Which was the most interesting book to research and why?
From Russia with Love is very interesting, because there is some unusual original research in it. But they are all good, because Fleming could not help writing about himself.

Do you have any future plans for Bond projects? Will we see an expanded version of this book in the future?
I'm not sure. That depends on how well the book does and what the editor thinks. It has got some excellent reviews, however, and I hear that it is selling quite well. I won't know the details until a little later.

You have worked on a variety of projects which are you most proud of to date?
I have done over 20 books now on a variety of subjects. I'll have to admit that along with Bond I've always been fascinated with Einstein and have done 4 books on him and his theories. That was my area of expertise at university. I've also done a book on the physics of cars that was helpful in writing about Bond's cars.

What gadgets would you like to see new James Bond Daniel Craig use in Casino Royale?
I'm hoping they come up with something really interesting, something new and novel. I thought that they brought back too many of the early gadgets (lasers etc) in "Die Another Day."

What are you currently working on?
I'm doing something quite different again. I'm a musician and my editor has got me doing a book he wants to call " Rock and Roll physics." It will be about the physics behind music recording, iPods and so on.