About this title: Renowned physicist Kaku explores to what extent technologies and devices deemed impossible today might become commonplace in the future. From teleportation to force fields, Kaku uses the world of science fiction to explore the fundamentals--and the limits--of the laws of physics.
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Your search:Books»Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration Into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel(47 available copies)
Description: New. 0307278824 NEW: NEVER READ...! ! ! ! . (may have faint shelf wear from bookstore). ALL ORDERS SHIP SAME OR NEXT BUSINESS DAY, FREE POSTAL DELIVERY CONFIRMATION FOR U.S. ORDERS, TOP CUSTOMER SERVICE! ! ! ! read more
Description: New. Orders placed after Dec. 7 cannot be guaranteed delivery before Christmas. GREAT BUY. Brand New From US Distributor. WE ARE A 5 STAR SELLER with OVER 3, 500, 000 BOOKS SOLD. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Anchor Books
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780307278821ISBN:0307278824
Description: New. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 352 p. Audience: General/trade. Brand New-Just Arrived from Publisher-Ships with tracking # read more
Description: Like New. Book appears unread, but may have a publisher's mark or minor shelf wear. We are the Twin Cities' largest independent book store. read more
Edition: Reprint
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Random House Inc
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9780307278821ISBN:0307278824
Description: New. 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. read more
Description: New. 0307278824 *NEW BOOK! * RETURNS ARE NO PROBLEM! We LOVE happy customers. All our orders sent with tracking information. ALIBRIS. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Doubleday Books
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9780385520690ISBN:0385520697
Description: Fine in very good dust jacket. Jacket shows light edge wear. Clean and unmarked inside. Tightly bound. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 329 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Anchor Books
Date Published: 2009-04-07
ISBN-13:9780307278821ISBN:0307278824
Description: NEW. Softcover. From an inventory that is 100% brand-new, 100% direct from the publishers' distribution channel. We carry NO pre-owned, NO remaindered. We pack in CARDBOARD to ensure the pristine quality is maintained. (Bubble-wrap alone is NOT sufficient to protect from USPS equipment. ) Guaranteed brand-NEW, protected with CARDBOARD, your satisfaction is guaranteed. BKLUVID: 9780307278821. read more
"This book would be great for all the geeks and sci-fi fans out there.
It probably would have been better still had I understood half of what the author was describing. And the author dumbed down his explanations. (Dammit, what's my deal?)
Out of fifteen crazy ideas (time travel, parallel universes, teleportation, etc.), this book argues that only two are impossible - precognition and perpetual motion machines. The rest of the crazy ideas are possible on a speculative time scale.
The best part of this book is the humility with which the author carries his argument. Even the truly "impossible" physics, he admits, could potentially be true; existence requires a fundamental change our current understandings.
To think that someone living on Earth -right now- holds within his/her mind the way to travel through time is mindbottling."
"I think this is a 3.5 star book, but I am grading on the low side today. :)
This is a fascinating book about many of the "impossible" things portrayed in various sci-fi books and movies. The author does a very good job of making the outer edge of physics as we know it accessible to the average reader to the extent that it might be needed to achieve these supposedly impossible things.
I was interested to learn how many "impossible" things are difficult but not inconsistent with the laws of physics. In the whole book there are only 2 things Kaku notes as being outside our current understanding of the laws of physics: perpetual motion machines and precognition.
If you like Hawking's lighter works, you will like this book as well."
"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 fiction writers are often visionary scientists. They build the imagination, that sometimes drives real scientists to find real discoveries.
It is really great also if you plan to write a science fiction novel one day, it gives you the scientific background necessary.
I would have to say, however, that the book started getting out of hand for me when it started discussing the more impossible stuff and how to attain them, and it started taking more stretches before actually getting to the point. If the author had taken more time in these parts and explained them more thoroughly, it'd have been more entertaining and beneficial."
"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 with a firm belief in human progress and has a way of reaching to the kid in all of us by showing how marvels such as teleportation, interstellar travel and time travel are perfectly acceptable in the realm of modern physics. He is also very careful to caution us by giving realistic timetables for humanity's ability to harness and create such fabulous inventions.
Kaku divides all of his discussions on the "impossible" into three categories:
Class I impossibilities: Things that do not violate the known laws of physics, but require a technological leap in our capacity to manipulate energy. These impossibilities have a strong chance of becoming reality by at the latest, the end of the century.
Class II impossibilities: Things that do not violate the known laws of physics but are impossible for our level of civilization (his categorization of types of civilizations classified by their use of energy is interesting in its own right). These things may become possible if we make the leap from a type 0 civilization to a type 1 civilization (more on this below).
Class III impossibilities: Things that violate known laws of physics, but that may be possible if we expand our knowledge and find ways to create conditions or environments that violate these laws and create new ones (sounds crazy, but Kaku insists this would be possible for a type 3 civilization).
Before I forget, Kaku explains (based on the work of noted physicist Freeman Dyson) we are a type 0 civilization because we use dead plant and animal matter as our chief source of energy, which is extremely limited and inefficient. A type 1 civilization has mastered terrestrial energy - they can manipulate the weather, mine the oceans and tap energy at the core of their planet. A type 2 civilization has mastered stellar energy - their energy consumption is so vast they need to extract it from a star. A type 3 civilization are galactic, they consume and can manipulate the energy of multiple stars in multiple solar systems. We are on the verge of breaking through to a type 1 civilization. Depressing right? The leap between levels of civilizations, however, is predicted to occur at faster and faster rates, much like computer speeds doubling and doubling where growth becomes exponential. The hardest part is starting out. ;)
Anyway, the most interesting thing is that most of the bizarre and seemingly magical technology discussed in Physics of the Impossible Kaku classifies as Class 1 impossibilities. As crazy as it may sound, teleportation, cloaking devices, robots and the harnessing of anti-matter are all possible by the end of the century. This is more than wishful thinking. Kaku presents sound science to back up his claims, which is enormously exciting and makes me anxious for the future.
Sadly, things like faster-than-light interstellar travel and time travel are class 2 impossibilities that we will never see in our lifetimes.
A great book for the kid in all of us, and a sound introduction to the world of theoretical physics for all people."
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