Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration of the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel
by Michio Kakubook data
331 ratings,
3.98
average rating, 104 reviews
(more data...)
edit
published
March 11th 2008
by Doubleday
binding
Hardcover, 288 pages
isbn
0385520697
(isbn13: 9780385520690)
description
One hundred years ago, scientists would have said that lasers, televisions, and the atomic bomb were beyond the realm of physical possibility. In PHY
...more
Sign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of this book.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Next Best Boo...: What are you reading? | 13081 | 11060 | 2 hours, 36 min ago | |
| The Next Best Boo...: OFFICIAL SPRING CHALLENGE - 2009 | 6462 | 7312 | 21 days ago, 02:57PM |
friend reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.
other reviews (showing 1-20 of 1,012)
All ratings
|
5 stars (97)
|
4 stars (143)
|
3 stars (74)
|
2 stars (13)
|
1 star (2)
|
avg 3.98
editions: all | this edition
editions: all | this edition
Read in May, 2008
recommended to Servius Sextus Heiner by:
anyone who enjoys science
This book is standard Michio Kaku. He starts off discussing the three classes of impossibilities. (Understand that much of what you would think of as impossible is not really impossible. In order to be proven impossible it must break a law of physics, there is not much that does.)
“Class 1 Impossibilities: These are technologies that are impossible today but that do not violate the known laws of physics. So they might be possible in this century, or perhaps the next, in modified for...more
“Class 1 Impossibilities: These are technologies that are impossible today but that do not violate the known laws of physics. So they might be possible in this century, or perhaps the next, in modified for...more
Like this review?
yes
(5 people liked it)
1 comment
Read in March, 2009
Dr. Michio Kaku is perhaps the or one of the most brilliant minds in theoretical physics living today. I've seen him present several concepts and theories on the Discovery Channel.
I am a man who truly appreciates the marvel of theoretical physics. The stuff of Albert Einstein. Although I have some education along these lines and have watched and read quite a lot, I still find it very difficult to follow.
In this book/audio book, Dr. Kaku takes us on a journey into all of those "...more
I am a man who truly appreciates the marvel of theoretical physics. The stuff of Albert Einstein. Although I have some education along these lines and have watched and read quite a lot, I still find it very difficult to follow.
In this book/audio book, Dr. Kaku takes us on a journey into all of those "...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
1 comment
Read in April, 2008
Great introduction to current issues in Physics - without the pain of complex equations. Also, fun as the author esplores the plausibility of the physics in the Star Trek, Star Wars, and Time travel movies and books.
Like this review?
yes
(2 people liked it)
add a comment
Read in July, 2008
While I really liked this book, a lot, it felt incomplete to me in that much of the math and science behind these concepts is not very in depth. Sure, it's not a text book, but I would have liked to have seen equations or at least references to something that could explain the math.
Also, while there is a TARDIS on the cover, there is no TARDIS, and no mention of Doctor Who at all in the book. I felt slightly cheated, but not enough to not give it a five star rating.
...more
Also, while there is a TARDIS on the cover, there is no TARDIS, and no mention of Doctor Who at all in the book. I felt slightly cheated, but not enough to not give it a five star rating.
...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
02/05/09
Bookmarks Magazine
added it
Kaku (Parallel Worlds, Beyond Einstein, Hyperspace) introduces complex theories of physics to general readers. As The Economist notes, Kaku "makes a good stab at explaining difficult physics. But his grasp of his subject is perhaps trumped by his knowledge of science fiction." While Kaku writes in language designed to captivate nonscience readers, it's his references to pop culturefrom Star Trek to Terminator 3that clarify his fringe physics. (Those wishing to explore the topic f
...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in May, 2009
Interesting exploration of what may someday be. Though Mr. Kaku is probably right in most of what he says, I am saddened to hear that he leaves little room for the discovery of additional laws of physics that will blow his timeline away.
I suppose that it is only to be expected when you speak to a scientist that only what is scientifically known now is appropriate for consideration. Still, he could have been a bit more flexible in how he worded some of his more absolute statements...more
I suppose that it is only to be expected when you speak to a scientist that only what is scientifically known now is appropriate for consideration. Still, he could have been a bit more flexible in how he worded some of his more absolute statements...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
This book was fantastic, and it really captured my attention! I've read enough 'the physics of Star Trek' and the 'physics of Indiana Jones' books to know that lots of them are written so that people can snag some of that bandwagon money with their smarts. There's nothing wrong with that, mind, if I had any great grasp of physics I'd be writing a book about how the magic of Harry Potter surely has a grounding in reality. But my point is that a lot of those books are dry and lengthy, and they req...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in December, 2008
This was really fun. If you like The Science of Star Trek, or The Physics of Superheroes, then you'll like this.
I found the first 1/4 a little slow starting, and not much different from The Science of Star Trek, but after that it really got rolling and I had so much fun.
One nit picky comment would be that Mr. Kaku is always using the word "theory" when in some cases I think he should be using the word "hypothesis". The only reason I mention this is ...more
I found the first 1/4 a little slow starting, and not much different from The Science of Star Trek, but after that it really got rolling and I had so much fun.
One nit picky comment would be that Mr. Kaku is always using the word "theory" when in some cases I think he should be using the word "hypothesis". The only reason I mention this is ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in May, 2009
Just started. Always look forward to his books. Feel like I learn something and that I is smarter after I finish.
Just finished and I enjoyed it. One thing that stood out is that Dr. Kaku treated the subject matter seriously. The book touches on wacky topics like phasers, teleportation, precognition, perpetual motion machines, and faster-than-light travel to name just a few. I remember in a high school science class where the teacher totally dismissed phasers and I recall thinking th...more
Just finished and I enjoyed it. One thing that stood out is that Dr. Kaku treated the subject matter seriously. The book touches on wacky topics like phasers, teleportation, precognition, perpetual motion machines, and faster-than-light travel to name just a few. I remember in a high school science class where the teacher totally dismissed phasers and I recall thinking th...more
Like this review?
yes
3 comments
Read in December, 2008
recommends it for:
anyone who is into this sort of stuff
This book was a lot of fun to read. I learned a lot about the current state of development of some things that, at this point a lot of people would consider science fiction. There were some areas where it seemed the author was stretching things a little too far, though. For instance the chapter on SETI was really good. He went into the methods and technologies used to search for extraterrestrial intelligence, but when he started to offer speculation on what extraterrestrial societies would be li...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2008
These types of books tend to bore the reader with physics 101 and then get into complicated stuff that only a Harvard physics Phd candidate might be able to grasp. There is not too much Physics 101 in this book. It looks like Kaku started to put some in there, but then realized most people interested in this type of stuff have a good grasp of basic nuclear and quantum physics.
Some interesting theories about the evolution and natural selection of universes, but that's about it. You...more
Some interesting theories about the evolution and natural selection of universes, but that's about it. You...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
06/14/09
Wesley
added it
Read in June, 2009
I read this book when I was still stoked about the recent Star Trek movie that was released. The book itself explains the possiblity of many sci-fi inventions (i.e. force fields, hyperspace, telepathy, etc...) The author does a really good job of explaining all these issues in laymens terms and, furthermore, it is really easy to understand because of it.
I enjoyed this books because it taught me a bunch of rather interesting anecdotes. For example, in the next ten years or so, we will actua...more
I enjoyed this books because it taught me a bunch of rather interesting anecdotes. For example, in the next ten years or so, we will actua...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2009
Amazing book that give nice overview of physics and the search for a theory of everything. Some material is difficult to follow, even for someonw like myself with previous lay knowlege of these topics, but it is always interesting. He writes well with a sense of humour and relates interesting historical facts such as patents for perpetual motion machines and so on. I recommend this book for anyone interested in cosmology, quantum mechanics, the next steps for reaearch with the Hadron collider on...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Has a copy to sell/swap
—
Read in November, 2008
recommends it for:
Any Curious Reader
The element I appreciate most about this very engaging work is Kaku's familiarity with, and inclusion of, current work and literature on the topics being discussed. The presence of cutting edge theory and research lifts this from mere intellectual discussion to a real exploration of Kaku's three levels of Scientific Impossibilities. As we see of most of the first level topics, they are just Scientific Improbabilities at the present level of understanding. His handling of topics is both entert...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in March, 2009
I read the author Hyperspace book a while ago and I was somewhat disappointed about the "thinness" - content-wise of it
Reading Physics of the Impossible the same thinness struck me - I kind of read all his arguments about most topics several times over in various books and there was very little new for me in this one, but I admired the clarity of exposition, the forthrightness and the author's optimism.
A great book for people not acquainted with speculati...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Michio Kaku rocks! Not a term normally reserved for physics, but this guy's writng is just absolutely superb! Anyone with an active and curious mind could enjoy his work with just a little effort.
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in April, 2009
recommended to Weavre by:
It's by Michio Kaku!recommends it for: Anyone who loves science, science fiction, or dreaming
It's hard to beat Michio Kaku!
Absolutely fascinating stuff, and backed up with a solid understanding of physics explained in language an interested layperson can readily understand.
Kaku builds a framework to examine fantastic ideas that are currently impossible: Class One impossibilities include things we can't quite do yet, but which current research and technological advances suggest may well be possible within a few years or as much as a century. Class Two impossibili...more
Absolutely fascinating stuff, and backed up with a solid understanding of physics explained in language an interested layperson can readily understand.
Kaku builds a framework to examine fantastic ideas that are currently impossible: Class One impossibilities include things we can't quite do yet, but which current research and technological advances suggest may well be possible within a few years or as much as a century. Class Two impossibili...more
Read in November, 2007
If you like to read physics discribed in a way the average person can understand this is a very good introduction to some very advance concepts.
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in March, 2009
If you don't know a lot about physics but want to know just how impossible the stuff in science fiction is, this is a great way to find out. Kaku gives you a fairly thorough and understandable explanation of the physics and technology involved in things like interstellar travel and visiting parallel universes, and talks about the latest research in physics.
The explanations build on each other, so it's easier to read the book straight through than to skip around. If you're already...more
The explanations build on each other, so it's easier to read the book straight through than to skip around. If you're already...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in April, 2008
They speak only the truth when the haters call string theorist Michio Kaku desperately nutty but none who believe this would then impute him for writing a bad book. And good news for the equation-phobes as Dr. Kaku stays well clear of his pet subject in Physics of the Impossible, excepting a flip riposte to the current backlash against string theory in the final chapter (but if you're interested in the world of vibrating strings after all, I would recommend skipping The Elegant Universe by Brian...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
groups with this book
