Table of Contents

The Physics of Super HeroesForeword
Preface to the Second Edition
Introduction: Secret Origins: How Science Saved Superhero Comic Books

Section 1-Mechanics

1. Up, Up, and Away-Forces and Motion
2. Deconstructing Krypton-Newton's Law of Gravity
3. The Day Gwen Stacy Died-Impulse and Momentum
4. Flash Facts-Friction, Drag, and Sound
5. If This Be My Density-Properties of Matter
6. So He Talks to Fishes, Want to Make Something of It?-Fluid Mechanics
7. Can He Swing From a Thread?-Centripetal Acceleration
8. Can Ant-Man Punch His Way Out of a Paper Bag?-Torque and Rotation
9. The Human Top Goes Out for a Spin-Angular Momentum
10. Is Ant-Man Deaf, Dumb, and Blind?-Simple Harmonic Motion
11.Like a Flash of Lightning-Special Relativity

Section 2-Energy-Heat and Light

12. The Central City Diet Plan-Conservation of Energy
13. The Case of the Missing Work-The Three Laws of Thermodynamics
14. Mutant Meteorology-Conduction and Convection
15. How the Monstrous Menace of the Mysterious Melter Makes Dinner Preparation a Breeze-Phase Transitions
16. Electro's Clinging Ways-Electrostatics
17. Superman Schools Spider-Man-Electrical Currents
18. How Electro Becomes Magneto When He Runs-Ampere's Law
19. How Magneto Becomes Electro When He Runs-Magnetism and Faraday's Law
20. Electro and Magneto Do the Wave-Electromagnetism and Light

Section 3-Modern Physics

21. Journey Into the Microverse-Atomic Physics
22. Not a Dream! Not a Hoax! Not an Imaginary Tale!-Quantum Mechanics
23. Through a Wall Lightly-Tunneling Phenomena
24. Sock It to Shellhead-Solid-State Physics
25. The Costumes are Super, Too-Materials Science

Section 4-What Have We Learned?

26. Me Am Bizarro!-Superhero Bloopers
Afterword-Lo, There Shall Be an Ending!
Recommended Reading
Key Equations
Notes
Acknowledgments
Index

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.

Reviews

This terrific book demonstrates a number of important points. First, a subject that everyone "knows" is difficult and boring can, in the hands of a master teacher, be both exciting and fun. Second, it's a myth that only people particularly adept at mathematics can understand and enjoy physics. Third, superhero comic books have socially redeeming qualities. By combining his love for physics with his love of comic books, University of Minnesota physicist Kakalios has written a book for the general reader covering all of the basic points in a first-level college physics course and is difficult to put down. Among many other things, Kakalios uses the basic laws of physics to "prove" that gravity must have been 15 times greater on Krypton than on Earth; that Spiderman's girlfriend, Gwen Stacy, died because his webbing stopped her too abruptly after she plunged from the George Washington Bridge; and that when the Flash runs, he's surrounded by a pocket of air that enables him to breathe. Kakalios draws on the Atom, Iron Man, X-Men, the Ant-Man and the Hulk, among many others, to cover topics as diverse as electromagnetism, quantum mechanics, string theory and thermodynamics. That all of this is accomplished with enough humor to make you laugh aloud is an added bonus. B&w illus. Agent, Jay Mandel. (Oct.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Bam! Pow! Kakalios (physics, Univ. of Minnesota) delivers a one-two punch: real science and good fun. Does "leaping tall buildings in a single bound" have anything to do with Newton's three laws of motion? You bet, and Kakalios explains the connection in his lively, humorous style. He looks at momentum, friction, special relativity, properties of matter, light, magnetism, atomic physics, quantum mechanics, and solid-state physics as demonstrated by his favorite comic book heroes-including Superman, Flash, and the Invisible Woman-and shows that much of the time, comic book physics is accurate (though he exposes the bloopers, too). The book's a treat for anyone interested in physical science and can be enjoyed readily by math phobes and those with little science education, since Kakalios explains it all with clear detail and a good measure of fun. Highly recommended for small academic libraries and the science collections of public libraries of all sizes. [Popular science buffs may also enjoy Laurence Krauss's The Physics of Star Trek and Barry Parker's forthcoming Death Rays, Jet Packs, Stunts & Supercars: The Fantastic Physics of Film's Most Celebrated Secret Agent (Johns Hopkins, Nov.).-Ed.]-Denise Dayton, Jaffrey Grade Sch., NH Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.