Page 345 “Doctor Octopus, is able to walk.” See Amazing Spider-Man # 3, 11, 12 (Marvel Comics, July 1963, Apr. 1964, May 1964), reprinted in Essential Spider-Man Volume 1 (Marvel Comics, 2002). Written by Stan Lee and drawn by Steve Ditko.
Page 346 JLA # 58 (DC Comics, Nov. 2001). Written by Mark Waid and drawn by Mike Miller.
Page 346 Detective Comics # 225 (National Comics, Nov. 1955) written by Joe Samachson and Jack Miller and drawn by Joe Certa.
Page 348 “A common misconception is that the pressure change . . .” K. Weltner, American Journal of Physics 55, pp. 50-54 (1987).
Page 350 “Birds such as the California condor . . .” “The Simple Science of Flight: From Insects to Jumbo Jets,” Henk Tennekes (MIT Press, 1997).
Page 350 Avengers # 57 (Marvel Comics, Oct. 1967), reprinted in Essential Avengers Volume 3 (Marvel Comics, 2001). Written by Roy Thomas and drawn by John Buscema.
Page 352 Power of the Atom # 12 (DC Comics, May 1989). Written by William Messner-Loebs and drawn by Graham Nolan.
Page 352 Showcase # 34 (DC Comics, Sept./Oct. 1961), reprinted in Atom Archives Volume 1 (DC Comics, 2001). Written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Gil Kane.
Page 353 “When you speak, complex sound waves . . .” The Way Things Work, David Macaulay (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1988) has an accessible description of the physics underlying telephones. See also How Does It Work? by Richard Mikoff (Signet, 1961).
Page 355 “When a low mass star . . .” Astronomy. The Solar System and Beyond (2nd ed.), Michael A. Seeds (Brooks/Cole, 2001).
Page 356 “Some astrophysicists have suggested . . .” “Disks of Destruction,” Robert Irion, Science 307, pp. 66-67 (2005).
AFTERWORD
Page 358 Fantastic Four # 22 (Marvel Comics, Jan. 1964). Reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Volume 3 (Marvel Comics, 2003). Written by Stan Lee and drawn by Jack Kirby.
Page 358 Footnote. Green Lantern # 24 (DC Comics, Oct. 1963), reprinted in Green Lantern Archives Volume 4 (DC Comics, 2002). Written by John Broome and drawn by Gil Kane.
Page 358 JLA # 19 (DC Comics, June 1998). Written by Mark Waid and drawn by Howard Porter.
Page 359 “turned him into a human marionette.” Flash # 133 (DC Comics, Dec. 1962). Written by John Broome and drawn by Carmine Infantino.
Page 359 “if you could travel one thousand years into the past . . .” In What If Tale # 33 (Marvel Comics, Jun. 1982), written by Steven Grant and drawn by Don Perlin, Iron Man is trapped back in the days of King Arthur by a double-crossing Doctor Doom. With no way to return to the present, he employs his twentieth-century knowledge of science and engineering to usher in a millennium of worldwide peace and prosperity.
Page 360 “Knowledge is itself the basis of civilization.” “To the United Nations,” Niels Bohr, Impact of Science on Society 1, p. 68 (1950).
Page 361 “A New Model Army Soldier Rolls Closer to the Battlefield,” Tim Weiner, New York Times, Feb. 16, 2005; “Who Do You Trust: G.I. Joe or A.I. Joe?,” George Johnson, New York Times, Ideas and Trends, Feb. 20, 2005.
Page 361 Superman # 156 (DC Comics, Oct. 1962), reprinted in Superman in the Sixties (DC Comics, 1999). Written by Edmond Hamilton and drawn by Curt Swan.
Page 361 “Face Front,” à la Stan Lee, in practically every Marvel Comic in the 1960s.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
THE SEED OF THE IDEA for the freshman seminar on the physics of superheroes that preceded the writing of this book was unintentionally planted by Prof. Terry Jones of the astronomy department at the University of Minnesota during a student’s preliminary oral exam. A traditional academic hurdle in many physics graduate programs involves an examination of the students’ general knowledge of physics, administered by faculty members who direct their questions to a student, who is armed only with chalk and a blackboard, and must answer in real time. Terry’s question: “How much energy would it take for the Death Star to blow up the planet Alderaan in Star Wars (Episode IV—A New Hope)?” led me to think of other exploding planets, and inspired me to develop my freshman seminar on superhero science.
Speaking of inspiration, I owe a debt to my many physics teachers and mentors at the college, graduate, and postgraduate levels. In particular I would like to thank Steve Cotsalas, John Jacobson, Peter Tea, Robert Alfano, Narkis Tzoar, Timothy Boyer, Frederick W. Smith, Kenneth Rubin, Sidney R. Nagel, Robert A. Street, and Hellmut Fritzsche. They taught me physics and, by their example, how to be a physicist.
I am also grateful to the creators of the many comic book adventures I have enjoyed over these many years. There are too many names to list them all, but I am especially appreciative of the efforts of the comic book creators of my youth: Gardner Fox, John Broome, Carmine Infantino, Gil Kane, Gene Colan, John Romita, Robert Kanigher, Steve Ditko, and the big three, Julius Schwartz, Stan Lee, and Jack Kirby. Their stories, featuring heroes that employed their intelligence as well as their superpowers to save the day, taught me an early lesson on the importance of “brain power,” though a power ring can be handy also.
I would like to thank Prof. Lawrence M. Krauss for graciously agreeing to write the foreword for this book. I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge Craig Shutt (Mr. Silver Age), from whose book Baby Boomer Comics I shamelessly lifted the joke in the afterword’s title (quoting a Stan Lee Fantastic Four story, who in turn got it from the Bible).
I am grateful to my mom for instilling in me a love of reading and setting an example of lifelong learning and critical thinking. My own children, Thomas, Laura, and David, have served as willing test subjects for many of the arguments presented here, and I benefited from their feedback. I also thank Laura Adams and Allen Goldman for the STM image in fig. 38. My thanks to friends, family, and the employees at Dreamhaven Books and Comics for support and advice.
I could not have written this book without the input from the students in my freshman seminar course from 2001 through 2003, and the evening Compleat Scholar class I taught in 2003. They enriched the class with their insightful comments, clever ideas, and unique perspectives on superhero physics. In particular, questions raised by Eric Caron, Kristin Barbieri, Matt Bialick, Drew Goebel, and Christopher Brummund directly inspired the discussion of some of the topics covered in this book.
One of the bonuses of writing a book on the physics of super heroes is that it has provided a new perspective from which old problems can be viewed. However, a drawback to seriously considering fantastic topics such as running at superspeed or being able to adjust one’s tunneling probability at will is that one cannot rely on experiment as a check on analysis. This handicap was mitigated by the thoughtful consideration provided by my colleagues in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Minnesota. I am extremely grateful to Prof. E. Dan Dahlberg, who generously volunteered his time to carefully read the entire manuscript in draft form, and caught many mistakes or oversimplifications. In addition, Professors Benjamin Bayman, Charles E. Campbell, Michel Janssen, Russell Hobbie, Marco Peloso, and John Broadhurst reviewed selected chapters of this book—the book is much improved for their input. I also benefited from the helpful comments and suggestions of Mark Waid, Gerard Jones, and Kurt Busiek. The paperback version has benefited from the close reading and comments of Markus Poessel. Any errors or confusion that remain are solely my responsibility, though I reserve the right to claim that they have been deliberately left in the text as “Easter eggs” for the attentive reader to discover.
Finally, I would like to offer thanks and acknowledgment for the contributions of the following individuals—without their assistance this book would have been much poorer: my agent, Jay Mandel, for wondering whether there might be a book in this superhero approach to teaching physics, for crucial guidance in the early drafts, and for helping to set the tone of the book. I am very fortunate to have Brendan Cahill of Gotham Books for an editor. His technical advice for structuring the book greatly improved the manuscript and saved this first-time author from s
everal “freshman mistakes.” Brendan’s vision for this book complemented my own, and—just as importantly—his own knowledge of superhero comic books enabled him to suggest examples that I hadn’t considered. In addition, the copy editor, Rachelle Nashner, played a large role in improving the readability of the final version of the text. Jenny Allen went above and beyond the call of friendship in scanning all of the figures used here. The occasional technical crisis was always ably resolved at William Morris by Tali Rosenblat (present at the beginning) and Liza Gennatiempo (there at the end) and by Patrick Mulligan at Gotham Books.
My wife, Therese, has been a constant source of encouragement. She has, from its inception, been more supportive of this project than I could ever have hoped. She has read through all of the many drafts of the manuscript, and I cannot imagine this book without her editorial advice and general counsel. I am a lucky man.
INDEX
Page numbers in italics refer to illustrations
Abra Kadabra (Flash foe)
absolute zero
acceleration
bubbles and cube-square law
centripetal
defined
flight and
forces and motion
simple harmonic motion and
stopping and kinetic energy of
traveling near speed of light and
acceleration due to gravity
Action Comics
Action Comics ,
Action Comics ,
Action Comics ,
Action Comics# ,
Adamantium
adenosine triphosphate (ATP)
Adventure Comics
Adventure Comics ,
Adventure Comics ,
Adventure Comics,
“Adventure of the Cancelled Birthday, The” (Atom )
aerodynamics
Agincourt, battle of
air
breathing underwater
humidity of, and breathing
as insulator
air bags
air compression
air currents,
air flow and wind
air molecules
entropy and
kinetic energy of
airplanes
air pressure. See also atmospheric pressure
drinking from straw and
explosion and
shock front and
air resistance
All-American Comics
All-New, All-D ifferent X-Men
All-Star Comics
All-Star Comics ,
alternating current (AC)
Amazing Fantasy ,
Amazing Spider-M an
Amazing Spider-M an, ,
Amazing Spider-M an ,
Amazing Spider-M an ,
Amazing Spider-M an ,
Amazing Spider-M an ,
Amazing Spider-M an , ,
Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1
Amazing Stories
Amazo (JLA foe)
Amontons, Guillaume
Ampère, André-Marie
Ampere effect
Ampere’s Law
Angel (Warren Worthington III)
Animal Man ,
antenna, television
antigravity
antimatter
anti-vortex
Ant-Man (Dr. Henry Pym) . See also Giant Man
ants as transportation for
hearing and speaking ability of
Iron Man saved by
mass and density of
materials science and
miniaturization of
origin of
punching ability of
“Pym particles” and
spring- loaded catapult of
vision of
ants, neurons of
Aquaman
breathing underwater
fish telepathy and
strength of
super-swimming speed of
tough skin of
archery
arrows, trick
Asimov, Isaac
Astonishing X Men ,
Astounding Stories
astrophysics. See also stars
Atlantis
atmosphere. See also air
atmospheric pressure
atmospheric temperature
Atom (Ray Palmer)
breathing of
costumes of
Golden vs. Silver Age
hearing of
micro-worlds and
miniaturization of
miniaturization of, and matter-waves
origin of, and white-dwarf meteorite found by
size and mass control by
telephone travel by
thermal air current travel by
Time Pool and-
vision of
Atom ,
Atom
Atom
Atom ,
Atom ,
Atom,
Atom Comics
atomic bombs
atomic grenade
atomic magnetic moments
atoms. See also chemical bonds; electrons; neutrons; protons
average energy per
Brownian motion and
chemical bonds and
chemical stacking of
crystalline vs. amorphous structure of
drag and friction and
electrically charged. See ions
electrostatics and
energy levels of electrons in, and quantum physics
food and energy and
light and Schrödinger equation and
magnetic fields and
mass and density and
microwave heating and
micro-worlds and
miniaturization and
nuclei of
phase transitions and
quantum vs. classical mechanics and
size of
synthesis of, in core of stars
vibrational frequency of
Aunt May (Spider-Man’s relative)
automatic door openers
automobile
air bags and
centripetal acceleration and
hybrid
kinetic energy and
static electricity and
Autumn, Keller
Avengers
Avengers,
Avengers,
Avengers ,
Avengers,
Avengers,
Avengers ,
average values, quantum mechanics and
axis of rotation
Baade, Walter
Ballard, Carl (Atom foe)
Bardeen, John
Bartman Comics ,
Batcave
Batman (Bruce Wayne)
Batman Begins (film)
Bat-Mite (Batman imp)
Beast (Henry McCoy)
Beetle (villain)
Bell Laboratories
Bernoulli effect
Bester, Alfred
“Beware the Atomic Grenade” (Flash )
Big Bang
binding or bonding energy
birds
Bizarro planet
Black Canary
Black Condor
black holes
Black Mask
Blob (X Men foe)
Bloch, Robert
blood, magnetism and
blubber
Blue Beetle
body, human or animal
biological limits of size of
cells and functions of
diamagnetism of
temperature, energy need to maintain
Bohr, Niels
boiling, bubbling and. See also phase transition
bones, strength of
Boolean logic
Booth, John Wilkes
Boraz, Toughy (Flash foe)
Bouncing Boy (Chuck Taine)
bow
Bradbury, Ray
brain
“brain amplifier,”
Brave and the Bold
Brave and the Bold ,
Brittain, Walter
Broglie, Louis de
Broome, John
Brotherhood of Evil (Doom Patrol foes)
Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (X Men foes)
Brown, Buster
Brown, Robert
Brownian motion
Bruttu (foe)
bubbles
buildings
Electro using electric rays to climb up
Flash running up sides of
Spider-Man swinging from
Superman lifting
bullet
Flash stopping
passing through Kitty Pryde
Wonder Woman deflecting
buoyancy
Burroughs, Edgar Rice
Buscema, John
butterfly effect
Byrd, Senator (Iron Man character)
Byrne, John
Byzantine Empire
calendar, Gregorian vs. Julian
caloric fluid (phlogiston)
calories physicist’s vs. nutritionist’s
Captain America (Steve Rogers)
shield of
Captain Cold (Flash foe)
Captain Marvel (Avengers heroine)
Captain Marvel (Billy Batson)
carbon atoms
chemical bonds of
diamonds and
electron orbits in
liquid crystals and
scanning tunneling microscope image of
carbon dioxide
carbon nanotube
Carr, Dr. John (scientist in World’s Finest)
Carter, John (Burroughs character)
“Case of the Innocent Thief, The” (Atom # 4)
cat. See Schrödinger’s cat
Catwoman
CD players
cell phones
center of mass or gravity
centripetal acceleration
Cerebro (amplifier)
“Challenge of Comrade X, The” (Tales to Astonish )
“Challenge of the Weather Wizard, The” (Flash )
Challengers of the Unknown
Chandler, Raymond
Charleton Comics
chemical bonds. See also atoms
covalent
covalent, vs. metallic
defined
food energy and
fossil fuel energy and
materials science and