Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Tele...
Teleportation, time machines, force fields, and interstellar space ships-the stuff of science fiction or potentially attainable future technologies...
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May 07, 2008
Servius Heiner
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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 form. 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 form. More...
Apr 23, 2008
Doug
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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.
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Mar 26, 2010
Tom
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They speak only the truth when the haters call string theorist Michio Kaku desperately nutty but none who believes 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 Bria
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Oct 22, 2010
John
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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...
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Jul 16, 2008
Eric
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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.
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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.
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Feb 05, 2009
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 culture—from Star Trek to Terminator 3—that clarify his fringe physics. (Those wishing to explore the topic fur
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Oct 19, 2011
Vladimir
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¿Qué significa Imposible?
En Fisica de lo imposible, el Doctor Michio Kaku se vale de conocidas series de televisiĂłn y de pelĂculas con temática de ciencia ficciĂłn, como Volver al Futuro, Star Trek y Star Wars, para presentarnos historias clásicas de la ciencia y darnos su opiniĂłn sobre el posible desarrollo de la ciencia en el futuro.
El autor intenta redefinir el concepto que nuestra sociedad actual posee de “Lo Imposible” y trata de ponernos en perspectiva en comparaci More...
En Fisica de lo imposible, el Doctor Michio Kaku se vale de conocidas series de televisiĂłn y de pelĂculas con temática de ciencia ficciĂłn, como Volver al Futuro, Star Trek y Star Wars, para presentarnos historias clásicas de la ciencia y darnos su opiniĂłn sobre el posible desarrollo de la ciencia en el futuro.
El autor intenta redefinir el concepto que nuestra sociedad actual posee de “Lo Imposible” y trata de ponernos en perspectiva en comparaci More...
Jul 31, 2011
David
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A good book for fans of Stephen Hawking’s “A Brief History of Time,” POTI takes several concepts from the world of science fiction and speculates on the possibility of their eventual existence in real life. He explores the technology of force fields, invisibility, phasers, light speed, multiple/parallel dimensions, etc., all through the eyes of a physicist, and then, using the logic and tools of a physicist (while keeping in mind the layman audience) classifies each of these "impossibiltie
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Jul 29, 2011
A cracker of a topic. This is not just a vision of what the world may look like a few centuries hence but literally a discussion on what is possible in science. We are not going to be around to see it so the book provides a great fodder to create one's own impressions of what a human society may look like some time in distant future.
The book is not an easy one, though. Neither does it have any concrete answers. There are many scientific details and surely - like it would be the case for almost More...
The book is not an easy one, though. Neither does it have any concrete answers. There are many scientific details and surely - like it would be the case for almost More...
Jul 24, 2011
NJMetal
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Dr. Michio Kaku's "Physics of the Impossible" is the type of book that blows you mind open with the possibilites. Dr. Kaku is one of the most prolific physicists on the modern age. In "Physics of the Impossible" he explores the realistic possibilities of the science fiction of today becoming the science fact in the not too distant future.
In fact, for the most part, the stuff of sci-fi novels will not only become the fodder for tomarrow's non-fiction novels but the fiction m More...
In fact, for the most part, the stuff of sci-fi novels will not only become the fodder for tomarrow's non-fiction novels but the fiction m More...
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Dec 15, 2010
Owen
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Michio Kaku is an interesting guy- I first heard him talk on one of the Royal Society for the Arts podcasts (free online, worth looking into, but I repeat myself). In the podcast he didn't mention that he was the first name in string theory (from the 70s. If memory serves there are 9 dimensions in string theory, 10 in M theory, but I could be wrong. And I can't be bothered to check). He did say that he built a particle collider in his garage using wiring donated by a failing Westinghouse corpora
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Aug 09, 2009
Trevor
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There is no denying that this is an interesting book and one that presented many of the problems of physics in a way that is comprehensive, comprehensible and engaging. I think other people (people with a greater interest in science fiction, particularly) will find this book even more interesting than I did and more accessible than your standard pop science book on physics. I hadn’t realised I knew quite so little about science fiction – I hadn’t ever really thought about the fact that I hadn’
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Aug 07, 2009
Khalid
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This book is one of the best books in science. The approach the author follows is really interesting. He would take things that are available in science fiction, and discuss how they can be possible in real life, using real physics. He starts with attainable things, until he gets to the really impossible things.
This book gives you a very interesting perspective on physics, and is definitely worth reading for any science fiction enthusiast. Part of what I read from it is that science More...
This book gives you a very interesting perspective on physics, and is definitely worth reading for any science fiction enthusiast. Part of what I read from it is that science More...
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May 30, 2009
John
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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...
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May 27, 2009
Kate
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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
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Jul 29, 2011
I really enjoyed this one, he tackles pretty much every science fiction invention you could think of. So for light sabres for example, he explains how they are portrayed, the history of the science behind them, what we currently have that could be a bases, and what we require to actually achieve the item.
Unlike some books like this, Kaku explains and informs some incredibly abstract ideas and complex physics in such a way that you never feel like your getting bogged down, it's pretty easy to More...
Unlike some books like this, Kaku explains and informs some incredibly abstract ideas and complex physics in such a way that you never feel like your getting bogged down, it's pretty easy to More...
Apr 12, 2010
Simon
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I won't pretend to have properly understood more than a quarter of the theoretical physics covered in this book but you'd have to have a heart of stone not to enjoy a book that discusses topics such as nuclear fired x-ray lasers, ramjet fusion engines and nanobots.
What this book does brilliantly is to introduce the basics of theoretical physics (eg quantam theory, Newtonian mechanics, Maxwell's theory of light, how a laser works etc) and to survey the keenest cutting-edge of contemp More...
What this book does brilliantly is to introduce the basics of theoretical physics (eg quantam theory, Newtonian mechanics, Maxwell's theory of light, how a laser works etc) and to survey the keenest cutting-edge of contemp More...
Dec 08, 2011
Mangoo
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There are people that turn to computer science because when young they were compulsive videogamers. And there are people who turn to be physicists because when young they wanted to believe in science fiction. Michio Kaku belongs to the latter, perhaps rarer, case and this book represents his attempts to check the status of technologies depicted in the likes of Star Trek or Star Wars according to the current scientific knowledge and outlook.
Kaku presents a rather wide range of topics in a fo More...
Kaku presents a rather wide range of topics in a fo More...
Aug 04, 2009
Nicholas
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I like Michio Kaku. It's amazing that someone as intelligent and lost in the world of physics and mathematics to co-create something as complicated as string field theory can write lay science books that are interesting, relevant and funny. In this book, Kaku uses science fiction to explore the realms of physics and as a jumping-off point for the discussion of theoretical physics. A sucker for science fiction myself, I found Kaku's discussions enlightening and heartening. Kaku is an optimist
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Sep 06, 2011
John
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This is a good book for understanding where we are in terms of making some of science fiction's wildest technological advances into reality. It's a difficult read, but easy to get into because Kaku is obviously a science fiction buff who is very passionate and knowledgeable about his topic. I'm only giving it three stars, though, partly because so much of it is wildly speculative and therefore not very practical, and partly because Kaku, like so many other scientists along with him, sometimes
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Jun 16, 2011
Eric
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My history with physics is not a pleasant one. In my senior year of high school, I took honors physics—since I was in honors pretty-much-everything-else. The teacher was a drug addict and was only there about half the time until he got fired (effective the end of the school year), after which we saw him occasionally. I had to try to learn physics pretty much on my own for the state’s Regents exam—which I barely passed.
Then I went to Virginia, where I had to take three semesters of p More...
Then I went to Virginia, where I had to take three semesters of p More...
Dec 19, 2008
Jeff
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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...
Jan 21, 2009
Matt
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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...
Jul 07, 2011
Lews
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This was the first book I have read by Kaku, but it will definitely not be the last. I am not very knowledgeable about math or science in general, but he was extremely easy to understand (for most of the book) and this book was a very enjoyable page turner. He has clearly read a lot of Sci-Fi novels, as all of the "impossible" things he discusses are taken from things like Star Wars or Star Trek, which makes it even more interesting to read (at least for a lover of Sci-Fi like myself).
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Jan 23, 2012
Tripp
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This is the best sort of popular science. It educates and entertains and builds the desire to learn more. The book takes ideas from science fiction are impossible now, like invisibility and even time travel, but that could become possible as physics advances. In short chapters, Kaku takes each concept, explains what scientists have attempted to date and what might come in the future. His style is brisk, modest and aimed at making the lay reader feel smart enough to understand.
The downs More...
The downs More...
Jun 02, 2010
Katya
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Jun 15, 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...
Nov 14, 2009
Pedro
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The author starts by picking sci-fi technology from Star Wars, Star Trek, etc and figuring how soon humankind will have access to them, based on the actual knowledge on physics. He goes on to classify them into 3 classes of impossibilities (I - understandable through the current physic theories, therefore achievable in a century or two; II - on the verge of our currently knowledge of physics, so achievable in centuries or millenia and finally III - imply a rewriting of the current known law of p
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Jun 29, 2011
Tim
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This read was an experiment - not normally my type of reading for pleasure, rather truly meant as a read for growth and expansion. After all, who is against trying to expand the sphere of the subjects they read, and as a bonus, perhaps they'll learn something of value - science wise.
Thus, Physics of the Impossible, written by a nice looking guy (back cover), Michio Kaku, who is the Henry Semat Professor of Theoretical Physics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. More...
Thus, Physics of the Impossible, written by a nice looking guy (back cover), Michio Kaku, who is the Henry Semat Professor of Theoretical Physics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. More...
May 28, 2010
Travis
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This kind of drags along in the beginning. The first three chapters are interesting, but seem a little tough to get through. After that the book seems to pick up.
I'm sure most of us that have read this have seen Kaku on one of his eighteen billion television appearances. Regardless, he is a fascinating man and truly makes you believe that what we see displayed across the television and movie screens. The science behind all these possibilities is at times a little hard to grasp but it More...
I'm sure most of us that have read this have seen Kaku on one of his eighteen billion television appearances. Regardless, he is a fascinating man and truly makes you believe that what we see displayed across the television and movie screens. The science behind all these possibilities is at times a little hard to grasp but it More...
