The Physics of Superheroes: Spectacular Second Edition (62 page)

Page 342
“Before long he was lifting . . .” See
Superman: The Man of Tomorrow Archives Volume 1
(DC Comics, 2004) for a selection of feats of superstrength.

Page 342
“even hold up a mountain...”
Secret Wars # 4
(Marvel Comics, Aug. 1984), reprinted in
Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars
(Marvel Comics, 2005). Written by Jim Shooter and drawn by Bob Layton.

Page 342
World’s Finest # 86
(National Comics, Jan.-Feb. 1957), reprinted in
World’s Finest Comics Archives Volume 2
(DC Comics, 2001). Written by Edmond Hamilton and drawn by Dick Sprang.

Page 343
Fantastic Four # 249
(Marvel Comics, Dec. 1982), reprinted in
Essential John Byrne Volume 2
(Marvel Comics, 2004). Written and drawn by John Byrne.

Page 344
“two mathematicians, Euler and LaGrange, proved . . .” Euler, Acta Acad. Sci. Imp. Petropol., pp. 163-193 (1778); G. Greenhill, Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc. 4, p. 65 (1881);
On Growth and Form,
D’Arcy Thompson (Cambridge University Press, 1961).

Page 345
“Just such a fate inevitably befell Stilt-Man . . .”
Daredevil # 8
(Marvel Comics, June 1965), reprinted in
Essential Daredevil Volume 1
(Marvel Comics, 2002). Written by Stan Lee and drawn by Wallace Wood.
Daredevil # 26
(Marvel Comics, Mar. 1967), reprinted in
Essential Daredevil Volume 2
(Marvel Comics, 2004). Written by Stan Lee and drawn by Gene Colan.
Daredevil # 48
(Marvel Comics, Jan. 1969), reprinted in
Essential Daredevil Volume 2
(Marvel Comics, 2004). Written by Stan Lee and drawn by Gene Colan.

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).

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 Sixtie
s (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.

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 several “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.

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

Allen, Holless

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
, ,

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