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

This is the best non-fiction science book I have ever read in a long while. The theme of the book is to pick topics from pop-culture science books and movies and ponder how impossible the technology to achieve it, is. The impossibility is actually an assessment of how far in the future a form of technology would be available that would achieve, say, cloaks of invisibility or teleportation devices. Along the way, you will read history and tidbits about the personal lives of some great scientists.These wanderings make great reading for the layperson, especially when some topics like wormholes start getting heavy. Hyperspace, higher dimensions, curved space is near impossible to imagine. But Michio Kaku makes the reading interesting and relevant by frequently giving examples of practical applications. This is one reason I lost Bryan Greene (Elegant Universe) after the first 100 or so pages.There are topics I read that really made me think long after the book was over - how deep a foundation would you have to dig for a tower that extends out into space? Implications of time-travel. These are topics I have read in many other books (the ever great Sagan's Cosmos and classic Asimov books), but the coverage here was fascinating.The book never gets too technical. It is the kind of book that may set a young future Einstein's mind aflame. I strongly believe books like this should be mandatory in high school and undergraduate college. Many times, while sitting through Quantum Physics classes in college, I never understood the implications of the math. We memorized Shrodinger's equation without understanding its philosophical implications. Once when I asked the professor what negative mass actually implied, she painstakingly re-traced the math proving mass does become negative, leaving me as clueless as when I started.There are some drawbacks to the book. There are some obvious philosophical questions that are not addressed, except as a note in the appendix. One example is the implication of teleportation of live beings - even if technically possible, what happens to the consciousness. This was covered in the appendix, but it would have been more interesting to address this - even if transporting molecular structure ever becomes possible, what does it really mean to transport life? There were also some glaring typos - 'Shiva, the Hindu goddess with multiple arms', 'galaxies teaming with life'.Otherwise a great book on science for the lay person.

Creed Here.If i could describe this book in just one word, it would be inspiring. Mickio Kaku made me feel like nothing is truly impossible for humanity. He takes all of the awesome technologies that we wish we had, such as time travel and ray guns and invisibility and so forth, and separates them into three categories of impossibility: technologies that are impossible today but might not be within this century, technologies that are impossible today but dont break the laws of physics so might be seen in a thousand or more years, and technologies that are impossible unless the fundamental laws of physics are re-written. Even in the latter, he reminds us all throughout this book that we have technologies today that were declared totally impossible only a hundred years ago, and technologies then that were declared impossible centuries earlier still. In discussing each of the technologies, Kaku gives an in-depth description of how close humanity is to achieving it and gives a great explanation of what we need more to transition a technology from impossible to possible.In talking about all of these complicated things that an average person wouldn't normally understand, Michio Kaku describes everything simply and uses comparisons and stories that help you understand exactly what he is talking about. Not only does this foster a fun atmosphere to let the imagination run wild (like when he references Star Wars and Star Trek), but it makes you feel smarter because you've been given a basic understanding of concepts that normally only the elites of the scientific community understand.I highly recommend this book to anyone that shares the smallest interest in how space and technology work. I think that you will have a lot of fun pondering the possibilities of things like telepathy and force fields, as well as the history behind all of our coolest technologies that we have today like nuclear bombs and cell phones. I sincerely hope Michio Kaku writes another book like "Physics of the Impossible Volume 2".

This novel explores the possibilities or non-possibilities of inventions found in our popular science fiction books, television, and movies. Will we be able to join Harry Potter and run about town with an invisibility cloak? You'll be surprised. Then how many times, when you are driving, would having a force field protecting your vehicle save you ulcers? Better yet, let's teleport to work!The above subjects plus time travel and parallel worlds beckon our imagination but what if it is possible? For me, I was fascinated by the Space rockets etc. Or perhaps you dream of Robots. For those of us that wonder how all this could work, Dr. Kaku explains in clear and literal language how these inventions follow the laws of physics as we know them today. Some projects might require updated laws.Come into the future and see what is possible and enjoy a chuckle with memories of the Jetsons, and Doc of Star Trek, or dream of going Back to the Future!Do not be afraid of the science as Dr. Kaku walks us through history, the science, and the application of same works to create these dreams! This book is the background of Dr. Kaku's Science Channels "Sci Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible."Now I'm off to begin Dr. Kaku's "Physics of the Future," which will take us up to a day in our lives in the year 2100. Meet you there?