Current Reading: The Physics of Superheroes

I took Physics for Poets in college. That wasn't actually the name of the class, but I think many schools have an equivalent - hard science packaged for the literature set, the fundamentals of the field for the unscientifically inclined. That is the place from which James Kakalios brings us The Physics of Superheroes. Kakalios teaches in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the U of Minnesota, and offers a class called "Everything I Needed to Know about Physics, I Learned from Comic Books." Instead of the usual physics course fare of studying how pulleys pull and levers...leve?, Kakalios primarily uses examples from the Silver Age of comics [the 1950s & '60s] to demonstrate the principles of physics.

He promises up front that if you can grasp the equation 1/2 + 1/2 = 1, you will be able to handle the math he presents. He starts off with a couple of fundamentals: F=ma [Force equals mass times acceleration]; and, how Superman can leap tall buildings in a single bound. His explanation is clear, his math straightforward, and his forgiveness for comic book reality bountiful. The rest of the book is pretty much the same thing: each physics concept explained through some exciting action in comics history. Superman and Spider-Man help teach us about gravity and centrifugal force, respectively. From Ant-Man's escapades we learn about the structure of atoms, and torque. Magneto helps us understand - of course - magnetism. We even get an explanation for how the Hulk manages to keep his pants on when he gets angry.

It's a physics book, so it's not exactly entertainment, though it is entertaining if you get off on physics. Which I do. I'm sure it's still more entertaining if you get off on comic books as well. Kakalios cracks a lot of bad jokes & painful puns, which kind of reminds me of actually being in a physics class. That's okay, though - nice, in fact. The occasional groaner keeps his plain, straightforward writing style from being dry and textbookish. To sum up, The Physics of Superheroes is a good read, and I really want to take this guy's course.