Author | Michio Kaku |
---|---|
Language | English |
Genre | Non-fiction |
Publisher | Doubleday Publishing |
Publication date | 2008 |
Media type | Print (hardcover, paperback) |
ISBN | 978-0-385-52069-0 |
OCLC | 157023258 |
530 22 | |
LC Class | QC75 .K18 2008 |
Preceded by | Parallel Worlds |
Followed by | Physics of the Future |
Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration Into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel is a book by theoretical physicist Michio Kaku. Kaku uses discussion of speculative technologies to introduce topics of fundamental physics to the reader.
The topic of invisibility becomes a discussion on why the speed of light is slower in water than in vacuum, that electromagnetism is similar to ripples in a pond, and Kaku discusses newly developed composite materials.
The topic of Star Trek phasers becomes a lesson on how lasers work and how laser-based research is conducted. The cover of his book depicts a TARDIS, a device used in the British science fiction television show Doctor Who to travel in space and time, in its disguise as a police box, continuously passing through a time loop. With each discussion of science fiction technology topics he also "explains the hurdles to realizing these science fiction concepts as reality".[1][2][3]