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The Physics of Superheroes Paperback – September 21, 2006

by James Kakalios (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 379 ratings
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The Physics of Superheroes: Spectacular Second Edition
The Physics of Superheroes: Spectacular Second Edition
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James Kakalios explores the scientific plausibility of the powers and feats of the most famous superheroes — and discovers that in many cases the comic writers got their science surprisingly right. Along the way he provides an engaging and witty commentary while introducing the lay reader to both classic and cutting-edge concepts in physics, including:
  • What Superman’s strength can tell us about the Newtonian physics of force, mass, and acceleration
  • How Iceman’s and Storm’s powers illustrate the principles of thermal dynamics
  • The physics behind the death of Spider-Man’s girlfriend Gwen Stacy
  • Why physics professors gone bad are the most dangerous evil geniuses!
Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Print length
    384 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Avery
  4. Publication date
    September 21, 2006
  5. Dimensions
    5.2 x 0.95 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1592402429
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1592402427
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Praise for The Physics of Superheroes

"Surprisingly enough, according to Kakalios, comic books get their physics right more often than you d think."
The Boston Globe

"Writing with tongue firmly planted in cheek, Kakalios looks at classic comics with a physicist s eye. . . . Outstanding."
 The Orlando Sentinel

"Kakalios, a University of Minnesota physicist and unrepentant comics nerd, offers up jovial, largely equation-free deconstructions of Ant-Man s shrinking ability, the centripetal acceleration of Spider-Man s swing, and the strength of his silk web."
 Discover

"Wildly entertaining, yet scientifically accurate Comprises a fairly solid introductory education in physics, sweetened with a history lesson in classic comic book superheroes."
Metro

"Offers a droll but sincere look at what Superman and Spider-Man can teach about physics. . . . Entertaining. . . . His explanations are lucid and smooth."
Science magazine

About the Author

James Kakalios is a professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Minnesota, where he has taught since 1988, and where his class "Everything I Needed to Know About Physics I Learned from Reading Comic Books" is a popular freshman seminar. He received his Ph.D. in 1985 from the University of Chicago, and has been reading comic books for much longer.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Avery; unknown edition (September 21, 2006)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 384 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1592402429
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1592402427
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.2 x 0.95 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 379 ratings

About the author

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James Kakalios

James Kakalios

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James Kakalios is the Taylor Distinguished Professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Minnesota, where he has been teaching since 1988. His research projects in experimental solid state physics range from the nano to the neuro. In 2001 he created a Freshman Seminar course at the University of Minnesota entitled "Everything I Know About Science I Learned from Reading Comic Books." When the first Spider-Man film was released in May 2002, media attention about this class inspired him to write The Physics of Superheroes - now in its Spectacular Second Edition. He was the science consultant for the Warner Bros. film Watchmen. In Feb. 2009 he filmed a video on The Science of Watchmen for the University of Minnesota's youtube page which, to date, has been viewed over 1.6 million times, and in Sept. 2009 won a regional Emmy award and in 2010 was nominated for a Webby. His latest book - The Amazing Story of Quantum Mechanics - explains the basic quantum physics principles behind the laser, transistors, light emitting diodes, computer hard drives and magnetic resonance imaging. He has been reading comic books longer than he has been studying physics.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
379 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Just another reviewer
5.0 out of 5 stars ... physics course that uses this book instead of the terribly dry college physics I took many years ago
Reviewed in the United States on September 11, 2017
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I wish that I could have taken the author's physics course that uses this book instead of the terribly dry college physics I took many years ago. This is a very fun but also serious book and a wonderful job by the author. (Aside: If you are thinking of taking a standard physics book, you might read this one first; also, my experience as a college student taught me that probably a better thing to do before taking a standard college physics course would be to take something more fun that uses physics heavily, such as a first astronomy-for-majors course, to develop a stronger reason to be interested in learning physics BEFORE subjecting oneself to the dry way most physicists teach their subject. But better yet, find a way to go up to the University of Minnesota to take this author's course and transfer the credits!)
6 people found this helpful
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Joseph J. Truncale
5.0 out of 5 stars If you are interested in learning basic physics in a fun way which includes the powers of superheroes this book is for you.
Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2018
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I had read another book by this author (The physics of Star Trek) in the past and decided to purchase and read this very informative 365 soft cover book (The Physics of Superheroes by James Kakalios) which I got for a bargain price on Amazon.

Like the Physics of Star Trek, the author cleverly teaches traditional physics while evaluating comic book super heroes relating what is and what is not possible according to the theories of basic physics.

This book is organized into four sections: the first section covers mechanics such as forces and motion, Newton’s law of gravity, special relativity and other topics. Section two focuses on heat and light where he explains the three laws of thermodynamics, electrical currents and other subjects. The third part explains modern physics such as atomic physics, Quantum mechanics, tunneling phenomena and solid-state physics. The final section asks the question “what have we learned? This part is essential reading if you want to better understand key equations and further reading on this subject. This section also has a detailed notes section on each chapter.

If you are into comic book superheroes and would like to learn the possible real life physics behind some of the amazing abilities of superheroes this book is for you.

Rating: 5 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Training alone in Combatives and self-defense)
8 people found this helpful
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Justin
4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating - but there is a mistake in there
Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2011
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I really enjoyed this book because I'm geeky enough to have thought about these types of issues. I vaguely recall my mechanics from my high school days but not well enough to work this out for myself. So it is great having a really solid discussion from a real physicist.

Having said that, I think there is a mistake in this book. The first chapter is about the original version of Superman, who is merely really strong because he grew up on Krpton and Krypton has much stronger gravity on Earth. The original Superman did not have the ability to fly or X-Ray vision or anything like that. So the question is: how strong must Superman be - and how strong must Krpton's gravity be - for Superman to leap a tall building in a single bound? We do know that the original Superman could leap an eighth of a mile high. That's 660 feet high. Then he does some physics to get the answer.

Here comes the math (7% on the Kindle)

Kakalios uses the formula v^2 = 2gh to conclude that Superman's initial velocity must be 200 feet per second (that's 140 miles per hour). Now, how much force must Superman's legs generate to accelerate to that speed? Well, assume that Superman's jump - the part while he was pushing off the ground - took a quarter second. Then he'd have to accelerate at 800 feet per second per second.

Now Kakalios switches to meters. An acceleration of 800 feet/s/s is about 250 meters per second per second. Assume Superman is a relatively big guy who weighs 100 kilograms (220 pounds) and we have a total force of 25,000 Newtons. Translate back to English measurements and that works out to 5,600 pounds. Now, that's how much force Superman can generate when he's jumping as hard as he can. If he's just standing around then he'd probably only be putting out about 70% of that. So that means that Superman's weight on Krpton must be 3300 pounds, which is 15 times his earthly weight of 220 pounds. In conclusion, Krypton's gravity and Superman's strength must be about 15 times that of a regular human being.

That seemed way to low for me. So I checked his numbers and I disagree with Kakalios' simplifying assumption that Superman will spend a quarter second pushing off the earth at the start of his jump. I think that is quite wrong. Here's why. Remember that if the "push" phase of the jump takes a quarter second then Superman's acceleration must be 250 m/s/s. Then we can use the following formula and plug in acceleration of 250 and time of 1/4th.

distance = 1/2 acceleration * time^2
distance = 1/2 (250) (1/4)^2
distance = 125 (1/16)
distance = 7.8 meters

That means that for the quarter second that Superman is pushing against the Earth with his legs, he has travelled 7.8 meters. He couldn't do that unless he is also plastic man and can keep stretching his legs!

Kakalios came up with his estimates based on the assumption of a quarter second to jump. I think a better estimate is a half meter to jump (if you bend at the knees to jump, then at the lowest point you'll drop about a half meter). So if you assume that Superman has a half meter to accelerate to 205 feet per second instead of 7.8 meters, then you conclude that Superman must accelerate much, much faster. And that means he needs a much larger force. I will spare you the rest of the math, but my calculations worked out such that Superman is 330 times stronger than a man who can do a 24 inch vertical leap (which is an above average vertical leap).

I'd be curious if other reviewers would be interested in double checking my work. I think my analysis is correct, but as I said at the beginning of the review, my high school physics is pretty rusty. I could easily be missing something here!

I do want to conclude on one point that I hope is obvious, which is that Kakalios really gets you thinking about the physics of Superheroes. I enjoyed delving into Kakalios' work and look forwards to the rest of the book. It is fascinating and stimulating stuff and I've thoroughly enjoyed it.
18 people found this helpful
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R. Igor Gamow
5.0 out of 5 stars like Einstein, who was the topic of the popular ...
Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2015
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My name is Igor Gamow and I am the son of George Gamow, who was professor of Physics at the University of Colorado and passed away in 1968. He made significant contributions to physics, to cosmology, to quantum mechanics and even biology. He also created, in 1937, the delightful fictitious character C.G.H. Tompkins. Mr. Tompkins, a bank clerk, after listening to popular physics lectures goes home and that night dreams that he is with the scientist, like Einstein, who was the topic of the popular lecture he had attended. In 2008, a few years after retiring, I was inspired to recreate father's famous personage in a more modern world. I have now published, in graphic form, a series of Mr. Tomkins episodes in which he not only meets Albert Einstein but also Aristotle and Rachel Carson to name a few. I have now completed 10 episodes and I have another 10 to go. All these past years I was not aware of Professor Kakalios's The Physics of Super Heroes. Perhaps it was good that I had not known about his book or I might not have started my Tompkins series? That would have been sad because I have so much enjoyed writing my series. My biggest regret is that I did not have his book when I was an undergraduate student studying physics. His book is simply marvelous and I would recommend it to students of all ages.
R. Igor Gamow
Professor University of Colorado, retired.
5 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Ryan
5.0 out of 5 stars SUPER IMPRESSED 🦸‍♂️
Reviewed in Canada on November 1, 2022
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This will up-class you from geek to nerd! Highly recommended!! 📖
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Rafael Santos
5.0 out of 5 stars Tome isto, física!
Reviewed in Brazil on January 29, 2019
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Eu e meus filhos costumamos ver desenhos e filmes de heróis e comentar sobre as impossibilidades dos mesmos. Daí a compra deste livro (e do excelente What If de Randall Munroe.
Versão paperback. então o papel é meio fino, mas o conteúdo é fantástico.
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Nalin K Pithwa
5.0 out of 5 stars the physics of superheroes...james kakalios...a personal opinion
Reviewed in India on March 30, 2018
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yes, one of the very best to kindle the intellect and curiosiry of youngsters and adults alike in Physics...like Physics for Entertainment of Ya Perelman...
2 people found this helpful
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T. Washington
5.0 out of 5 stars The Physics of Superheroes- everything you ever wanted to know abotu the mechanics of superheroes
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 17, 2016
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Ever wondered how Superman could leap tall buildings in a single bound? Or how Aquaman or Prince Namor the Sub Mariner could breath underwater? Or how Iceman's powers work(never mind Iron Man's armor). Well wonder no more: the second edition of James Kakalios's "The Physics Of Superheroes"( I hope there will be a third, forth and five editions- the subject of physics and superheroes is literally endless) answers all these and many other questions.
Much like The Law of Superheroes, Kakalios answers questions that have intrigued "nerds" for decades(such as whether it is possible for Ant Man and the Atom to shrink down to sub atomic sizes- the answer is: not yet and quite possibly never).
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richard wagner
5.0 out of 5 stars Don't let it fools you!
Reviewed in Italy on June 27, 2015
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Don't think is just a waste of time!
I've started with any base about physics and I've learned about angular momentum, electricity and a bit of quantum mechanics thanks to superheroes.
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