Physics of the Impossible

A Scientific Exploration into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel

1st ed.
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  • 4.00 ·
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Last edited by dcapillae
January 24, 2022 | History

Physics of the Impossible

A Scientific Exploration into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel

1st ed.
  • 4.00 ·
  • 6 Ratings
  • 68 Want to read
  • 5 Currently reading
  • 9 Have read

A fascinating exploration of the science of the impossible—from death rays and force fields to invisibility cloaks—revealing to what extent such technologies might be achievable decades or millennia into the future.

One hundred years ago, scientists would have said that lasers, televisions, and the atomic bomb were beyond the realm of physical possibility. In Physics of the Impossible, the renowned physicist Michio Kaku explores to what extent the technologies and devices of science fiction that are deemed equally impossible today might well become commonplace in the future.

From teleportation to telekinesis, Kaku uses the world of science fiction to explore the fundamentals—and the limits—of the laws of physics as we know them today. He ranks the impossible technologies by categories—Class I, II, and III, depending on when they might be achieved, within the next century, millennia, or perhaps never. In a compelling and thought-provoking narrative, he explains:

  • How the science of optics and electromagnetism may one day enable us to bend light around an object, like a stream flowing around a boulder, making the object invisible to observers “downstream”
  • How ramjet rockets, laser sails, antimatter engines, and nanorockets may one day take us to the nearby stars
  • How telepathy and psychokinesis, once considered pseudoscience, may one day be possible using advances in MRI, computers, superconductivity, and nanotechnology
  • Why a time machine is apparently consistent with the known laws of quantum physics, although it would take an unbelievably advanced civilization to actually build one

Kaku uses his discussion of each technology as a jumping-off point to explain the science behind it. An extraordinary scientific adventure, Physics of the Impossible takes readers on an unforgettable, mesmerizing journey into the world of science that both enlightens and entertains.
(source)

Publish Date
Publisher
Doubleday
Language
English
Pages
352

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Previews available in: English German

Edition Availability
Cover of: Physics of the Impossible
Cover of: Physics of the Impossible
Cover of: Physics of the Impossible
Cover of: Physics of the Impossible
Physics of the Impossible
2008, Peguin Books
Cover of: Physics of the Impossible
Cover of: Physics of the impossible
Cover of: Physics of the Impossible
Cover of: Die Physik des Unmöglichen
Die Physik des Unmöglichen: Beamer, Phaser, Zeitmaschinen
2008, Rowohlt Taschenbuch
in German - 2. Auflage, Novermber 2010

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Book Details


Published in

New York

Table of Contents

Force fields
Invisibility
Phasers and death stars
Teleportation
Telepathy
Psychokinesis
Robots
Extraterrestrials and UFOs
Starships
Anti-matter and anti-universes
Faster than light
Time travel
Parallel universes
Perpetual motion machines
Clairvoyance
Future of the impossible.

Edition Notes

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Genre
Miscellanea.

Classifications

Dewey Decimal Class
530
Library of Congress
QC75 .K18 2008

The Physical Object

Format
Hardcover
Number of pages
352
Dimensions
9.5 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
Weight
1.2 pounds

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL20947605M
Internet Archive
physicsofimpossi00kaku
ISBN 13
9780385520690
LCCN
2007030290
OCLC/WorldCat
157023258
Library Thing
3429501
Goodreads
1168341

Links outside Open Library

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History

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January 24, 2022 Edited by dcapillae Merge works
August 5, 2021 Edited by New York Times Bestsellers Bot Add NYT bestseller tag
August 2, 2020 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
February 13, 2020 Edited by MARC Bot remove fake subjects
December 7, 2009 Created by WorkBot new work