Book Report: The Physics of Superheroes, by James Kakalios
How could it have taken me so long to read this book? Considering my heavy background in physics, and the fact that I practically marinate in the lore of superheroes and super powers, you’d think this would be on my bedside table. Well, better late than never.
This book uses examples of situations from superhero comics to illustrate many of the basic concepts of physics. For example, given that the original Superman (pre-flying) could jump an eighth of a mile, could he really jump over a skyscraper? The book covers motion and energy, light and heat, electricity and magnetism, and even a little quantum mechanics, all presented with such lively and interesting examples. Plenty of pictures from real DC and Marvel comics illustrate his points.
Is this, then, a spoil-sport book, exposing how super powers are impossible and fictitious nonsense? Not at all. In fact, early on the author makes it clear that very often, if you grant a single “miracle exception”, everything else follows quite logically and scientifically. For example, once you accept that the Flash can run at super-speed, it’s entirely reasonable that bad guys would get sucked into his wake, and you can turn your attention to calculating how much he would need to eat to maintain his speed like that. Quite a lot, as it turns out.
In fact, the author often goes in the other direction, explaining how some of these super powers might actually be physically possible. I especially liked his discussion of telepathy and invisibility.
The book is also very funny, as he makes comments on the world of super heroes. He points out, for example, that gamma rays are far more energetic than radio waves, which is why you rarely see people acquire super powers from standing too close to a radio broadcast tower. Also, he offers the theory that the source of Doctor Doom’s rage is probably because he’s actually ABD, and “doctor” is only an honorary title. This is also one of the few books where the Recommended Reading section is actually worth reading, because it points to many other fascinating sounding books.
This book would make an excellent textbook for a physics-for-non-scientists course (at my college, it was called Physics for Poets), or as a fun adjunct to a regular beginning physics course. I know a good deal about physics, but I learned many fascinating facts, including finally understanding how a diode works.
I can recommend this book wholeheartedly to the tiny niche of readers who, like me, have interests in both physics and superheroes. I think ordinary physics-heads would also like it, because they usually enjoy any application of their favorite subject. I’m not sure the general public would like it as much as I did. Most people aren’t that keen on learning physics and only have a limited tolerance for superheroes. It takes all kinds.
How could it have taken me so long to read this book? Considering my heavy background in physics, and the fact that I practically marinate in the lore of superheroes and super powers, you’d think this would be on my bedside table. Well, better late than never.
This book uses examples of situations from superhero comics to illustrate many of the basic concepts of physics. For example, given that the original Superman (pre-flying) could jump an eighth of a mile, could he really jump over a skyscraper? The book covers motion and energy, light and heat, electricity and magnetism, and even a little quantum mechanics, all presented with such lively and interesting examples. Plenty of pictures from real DC and Marvel comics illustrate his points.
Is this, then, a spoil-sport book, exposing how super powers are impossible and fictitious nonsense? Not at all. In fact, early on the author makes it clear that very often, if you grant a single “miracle exception”, everything else follows quite logically and scientifically. For example, once you accept that the Flash can run at super-speed, it’s entirely reasonable that bad guys would get sucked into his wake, and you can turn your attention to calculating how much he would need to eat to maintain his speed like that. Quite a lot, as it turns out.
In fact, the author often goes in the other direction, explaining how some of these super powers might actually be physically possible. I especially liked his discussion of telepathy and invisibility.
The book is also very funny, as he makes comments on the world of super heroes. He points out, for example, that gamma rays are far more energetic than radio waves, which is why you rarely see people acquire super powers from standing too close to a radio broadcast tower. Also, he offers the theory that the source of Doctor Doom’s rage is probably because he’s actually ABD, and “doctor” is only an honorary title. This is also one of the few books where the Recommended Reading section is actually worth reading, because it points to many other fascinating sounding books.
This book would make an excellent textbook for a physics-for-non-scientists course (at my college, it was called Physics for Poets), or as a fun adjunct to a regular beginning physics course. I know a good deal about physics, but I learned many fascinating facts, including finally understanding how a diode works.
I can recommend this book wholeheartedly to the tiny niche of readers who, like me, have interests in both physics and superheroes. I think ordinary physics-heads would also like it, because they usually enjoy any application of their favorite subject. I’m not sure the general public would like it as much as I did. Most people aren’t that keen on learning physics and only have a limited tolerance for superheroes. It takes all kinds.
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