science

Nostradamus Ate My Hamster

Nostradamus Ate My Hamster is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Nostradamus Ate My Hamster rather than just read about it. In short: Nostradamus Ate My Hamster is a fantasy novel by British author Robert Rankin. In it, several seemingly unconnected and nonsensical events come together to make perfect clarity at the end; these include time travel and an attempted alien invasion vaguely orchestrated by Hitler.

Key takeaways

Nostradamus Ate My Hamster belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Nostradamus Ate My Hamster to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Nostradamus Ate My Hamster from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Nostradamus Ate My Hamster is a fantasy novel by British author Robert Rankin. In it, several seemingly unconnected and nonsensical events come together to make perfect clarity at the end; these include time travel and an attempted alien invasion vaguely orchestrated by Hitler. The title is a reference to the infamous tabloid headline, "Freddie Starr ate my hamster".

Plot summary The plot centers on the aptly named Russell Nice, stuck in a dead-end job at a movie prop selling business, discovering holographic equipment from the future that allows the holder to create lifelike holograms of any movie star they want. Eventually, he becomes entangled in a mass of deceit, lies, and betrayal, all of which centers on a demon-god with an insect face, and Hitler, who is stuck in the present time with his SS bodyguards, intending to make a film that will influence the world to follow Hitler and his ideals. During his time travel, Russell discovers that the creature has disposed of traditional heroes Jim Pooley and John Omally before its attack; they would normally defend Brentford from the threat the creature posed, but as it exists outside the natural order it is able to destroy them before they can take action against it. Finding himself unable to simply destroy the film or prevent it being made, Russell decides to use the time-travel belts that Hitler's forces had acquired to establish himself as a major film producer in the present, thus ensuring that he will be the one that Hitler's men bring the film to, allowing him to destroy it before it is released. This victory, due to the temporally active nature of the conflict, apparently erases Russell's struggle, and the novel ends with Jim Pooley and John Omally discussing the story in the Flying Swan as a man who appears to be Russell enters the bar, and begins to talk with an attractive waitress.

Reception Paul Pettengale reviewed Nostradamus Ate My Hamster for Arcane magazine, rating it a 9 out of 10 overall, and stated that "Is it any good? Why yes. The humour, which is incredibly sick and intensely English at the same time, lollops from improbable situation to extraordinary plot device, stabbing you repeatedly with the fierceness of a stun baton. True, it's not until the end that you can really appreciate the devilishness of the author's mind (though you get some very strong hints on the way), but the journey through the monstrous mass of garbage that is Rankin's psyche is far more enjoyable than reading through anything Pratchet or Adams has ever written. Quite superb."

Reviews Review by Chris Gilmore (1996) in Interzone, December 1996 Review by Chris Amies (1997) in Vector 195

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Nostradamus Ate My Hamster

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Nostradamus Ate My Hamster claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Nostradamus Ate My Hamster before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Nostradamus Ate My Hamster ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Nostradamus Ate My Hamster

In research: Nostradamus Ate My Hamster appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Nostradamus Ate My Hamster in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Nostradamus Ate My Hamster is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1996 British novels, 1996 English-language novels, British fantasy novels, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Nostradamus Ate My Hamster outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Nostradamus Ate My Hamster in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Nostradamus Ate My Hamster means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Nostradamus Ate My Hamster out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Nostradamus Ate My Hamster in simple terms?

Why does Nostradamus Ate My Hamster matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Nostradamus Ate My Hamster?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Nostradamus Ate My Hamster.