Book Review

The book “The Physics of Superheroes” by James Kakalios is fantastic. A great read for superhero and physics nerds alike, James is able to go one step further with the idea by thinking in ways no one else would. An example would be his research into the superhero Iron man, James calculates Tony Starks weight with the weight of his suit to figure out the power the his rocket boots would need to exert in order too get Iron man off the ground. Who would think of this? Who would calculate the surface area of the Iron Man suit and figure out how much solar would be able to be absorbed over how long? James Kakalios does.

I started physics with no idea what was going on and stumbled along with C’s. Third quarter I told myself I needed to buckle down and started reading this book, the first few chapters are basic physics and the stuff that I was learning in class, this outside source helped me bring my grade up to a B as I worked and read. I read about the tension in Spiderman’s webs as well as the tension needed to hold up ten pounds. This outside source really helped because I was working hard to read up more on the subject.

This book brings physics and superheroes together. He picks at the truth in the comics but respects them, he makes sure the reader knows that the reason the science is often wrong is because the comics were coming out so fast the writers did not often have time to learn a whole new science for each hero and villain. The reader gets new insight into the world of science and even learns about superheros.

You can tell if you like this book when you get the little jokes. Good reading.