The Breakfast of Superheroes;
The Evolution of Superpowers;
The Hallmarks of Hulk;
Supervillainy 101;
How to Build a Super Soldier;
The Real World Super Metal;
Is it a Ceramic? Is it Graphene? No it's Vibranium;
The Science of Super Suits;
Why Doesn't the Invisible Woman Bump Into Things?;
The Flash: The Fastest Man on Fire;
You've Got to Learn to be More...Flexible: The Mechanics of
Marvellous;
Big Data, Big Heroes and Bad Computers;
The Wonder-ous Truth: The Workings of Wonder Woman's Lasso;
Super Frequently Asked Questions
In worlds where superheroes exist, I often imagine how such powers
could be possible. These are worlds in which we often have to
suspend belief. But what if we didn’t? The authors — a banded
‘super’ team of scientists — of The Secret Science of Superheroes
aim to explore the many scientific principles underpinning the
superpowers we marvel at. This book is composed of short, concise
chapters that delve into individual superpowers and provide
examples of comparable abilities exercised in the world we live in,
whether they appear in nature or spawn from technology. The reader
is challenged to consider what sort of nutritional intake
Spider-Man would need to kickstart his crime-fighting day, or how
the ins and outs of Batman’s suit allow him to keep Gotham City
safe. Cover-to-cover, the book is short and sweet, an experience
populated with quintessential superheroes and comic history (the
authors’ knowledge is impressive). It introduces a wide range of
topics that can captivate a diverse range of readers — from those
with general science knowledge to comic book and film enthusiasts.
Each chapter is structured similarly and is accompanied by
educational illustrations by Andy Brunning, providing the perfect
blend of entertaining and informative material with plenty of
references for the reader to peruse should he or she want to
explore the science a little more. The sheer diversity of the
content means that not all chapters may appeal to you. However, I
would dissuade against skipping them. On first glance of the
contents page, I had an opinion on what chapters I thought I would
enjoy the most. How wrong I was; do not judge a chapter by its
title. A highlight of the book included an exploration into how
Wonder Woman’s Lasso of Truth could be made from aramid rope — a
type of material made from Kevlar — with an absorbent layer that
allows a truth serum drug, such as sodium pentothal, to permeate
the skin of the captive. What I enjoyed most about this book was
how well it made difficult concepts understandable. For example,
one chapter focuses on the Hulk and his transformation from Bruce
Banner as a model to explain the biological processes of cancer.
These types of discussions — based on our present understanding of
disciplines such as genetics, materials science and physics, among
others — could inspire those interested in comic books and films to
take up the study of science. Superheroes such as Batman and Iron
Man were my exposure and gateway into science; these characters
made science cool, and this is exactly what this book does. It is
hard to read this book and not wonder what ability I would want. I
often overlook the adverse effects and the dark side of power. This
book explores these trade-offs and made me rethink what power I
would want — remember, with great power comes great responsibility.
Those with a keener hawkeye will notice a few mistakes, but these
can be forgiven. After all, the authors embraced the power of The
Flash and wrote this book in just 36 hours. This book does what it
sets out to do: it introduces a wide range of scientific concepts
in a fun, light-hearted and understandable tone. Occasionally, we
have to accept that, sometimes, superpowers are just magic.
However, the world as we know it may be working towards ‘super’,
with advancements in technology and the development of military
supersuits, memory materials and programmable polymers. As one of
the authors states, “The science behind superheroes is not entirely
outside the realms of the physical possibilities that operate
within our world.” Science is a marvellous field that might just
make the impossible possible.
*NATURE REVIEWS | CHEMISTRY*
Much like superheroes, scientists tend to assemble…at conferences
or science festivals. At one such event, the 2016 Manchester
Science Festival to be precise, a team of like-minded scientists
came together to try to suss out the real-world science behind
everything from Wonder Woman’s lasso to the Hulk’s gigantic
transformation. The result is The Secret Science of Superheroes –
an eclectic collection of essays by 15 scientists and science
communicators, edited by Mark Lorch and Andy Miah. While not
explicitly a sequel to James Kakalios’s The Physics of Superheroes,
this book is greater than the sum of its parts and fills many of
the gaps when it comes to other sciences including biology and
chemistry. It is clear from the preface that the book does not aim
to debunk the science (which is easy) – instead, it considers how
science might make the superheroes plausible.
Each section is concise and faster-paced than similar books, as the
authors each had to fit their contributions into 15 or so pages.
Laced with gentle humour, every chapter ends with a list of
references for the interested reader. In biology, the book covers
key issues such as evolution, epidemiology and cancer. Louise
Gentle, from Nottingham Trent University, writes about the
evolution of superpowers but starts with an excellent explanation
of natural selection, before suggesting that X-Men mutants could
originate from a founder population. Embryos develop structures
reminiscent of gills, a testament to life evolving in the oceans.
It is conceivable that an environmental trigger might lead to the
expression of this ancestral characteristic and the appearance
of Aquaman.
Gentle shows that many living creatures possess the superpowers
claimed by our superheroes and this refrain echoes throughout the
book. For example, shape-shifting comes as naturally to the mimic
octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus) as X-Men’s Mystique. By using
muscular hydrostatics to squeeze through an aperture the size of a
pound coin, a 273 kg octopus outdoes Elastigirl. Although she can
stretch any part of her body by 30 m, Elastigirl gets undone by the
effect of turning forces – the further she stretches, the smaller
the force she can apply – one of the few places in the book where
we are confronted with the limits of superheroes.
To a greater or lesser extent, all of the writers strayed from
their superhero brief. For example, Isabel Pires, a life scientist
at the University of Hull, uses the Hulk as a metaphor for how
cancers develop. Paul Coxon, a materials scientist at the
University of Cambridge, talks about lithium, though he cleverly
weaves it into the superhero world by suggesting that we should not
overlook the super elements we already have at our disposal.
Felicity Heathcote-Márcz, at the University of Manchester, tells us
that Wonder Woman’s Lasso of Truth was most likely a comic-book
manifestation of the lie-detector test. After all, William Moulton
Marston, who dreamt up and wrote the first Wonder Woman comics,
also developed the systolic blood pressure test, an integral part
of the polygraph.
Rob Miles, from the University of Hull’s school of engineering and
computer science, writes about big data, computers and artificial
intelligence, but he starts by talking about Tony Stark’s (aka Iron
Man) home computing system “Jarvis” (Just A Rather Very Intelligent
System). Miles then turns his back on superheroes, veering to
“homicidal HAL” in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: a Space Odyssey, before
going into the Turing test, personal assistants such as Apple’s
Siri, and even Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics. Miles closes
by talking about recent, possibly state-sponsored, cyber-attacks
and the dangers of big data.
While Spider-Man is arguably the best superhero vehicle for
explaining physics, the University of Surrey’s Suze Kundu makes a
persuasive case for using Batman and his costume to showcase
composite materials. Kevlar would be a good choice for his suit, as
it is bulletproof. This is because it spreads the force of an
impact over a wide area, and this effect could be enhanced by
incorporating a non-Newtonian material such as D3O. Already used in
beanie hats worn by snowboarders, it stiffens on impact, turning
the hat into a crash helmet and deforms slightly to absorb kinetic
energy. Weaving in carbon nanotubes would enhance its tensile
strength and provide a figure-hugging Faraday cage. Carbon is a
conductor so Batman would be insulated from electric shocks, while
heat would be channelled along the tubes. His cape could be made
from “memory cloth” and the desired shape could be activated by an
electrical current. If it were made of something like Nitinol, it
could pop back into shape. Shape-memory materials are already in
use as arterial stents and underwiring for bras. Of course, all
these superheroes really need crumple zones or an airbag to avoid
injury but this would compromise the visual spectacle and we are
prepared to suspend disbelief for the sake of the story. Meanwhile,
scientists are developing supersuits for soldiers and people with
disabilities, inspired by science fiction.
Brian Mackenwells, of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics,
tries to trip up the Flash, who can run at a maximum speed of
140,000 mph (or just shy of 63 km/s) – an ideal pretext to talk
about the physics of re-entry from space. Mackenwells uses the
“isentropic gas equation” to work out that the temperature of
someone running at Mach 182 would rise by 3.4 million °C. Three
strategies are used for space re-entry vehicles to minimize
heating: ablation, where some material absorbs thermal energy and
changes state; emission, where thermal energy is absorbed and then
emitted as electromagnetic radiation; or using heat sink material
with a high specific heat capacity, which is the only option open
to the Flash. Mackenwells works out the Flash’s specific heat
capacity to be around 7 billion J kg–1 K–1, making him an amazing
human heat-sink. Very few typographical errors sneaked in, though
the book could have benefited from a few tables of data rather than
some of the infographics used. Despite these small niggles, The
Secret Science of Superheroes is quite possibly the best book I
have read that uses science fiction as a vehicle for science
fact.
*Physics World*
The secret science of superheroes is a collection of scientific
essays that were written by a team of science writers over a single
weekend, then compiled and edited by Mark Lorch and Andy Miah.
While there are plenty of equations, diagrams and mind-bending
concepts, it’s definitely not a textbook. It’s far too silly to be
a textbook. In fact, there is a wonderful juxtaposition in using
well-considered logical scientific arguments to explain the (often
ridiculous) comic book world by, for example, predicting and
understanding the physical properties of Captain America’s
vibranium shield or asking how easy it would be for Elastigirl to
give birth. What I loved about this book was the fact that each
chapter was independent and unique, and each had a different
approach – which makes sense as each chapter is written by a
different author talking about their own favourite subject in their
own way. The secret science of superheroes addresses all of those
niggling inconsistencies that hardcore nerds have grumbled about
during movie marathons, but it also breaks the science down in a
fun and easy-to-read way for the comic book novice. I honestly
think this book would appeal to anyone, regardless of their
scientific education. Let’s face it, is there really a better way
to learn about epidemiology than by choosing which virus would best
enslave humanity? The secret science of superheroes is fun,
engaging and suitable for superhero fans of any level. Not to
mention a great way to learn how to laugh like an evil genius.
*Chemistry World*
Cover-to-cover, the book is short and sweet, an experience
populated with quintessential superheroes and comic history (the
authors’ knowledge is impressive). It introduces a wide range of
topics that can captivate a diverse range of readers — from those
with general science knowledge to comic book and film enthusiasts.
What I enjoyed most about this book was how well it made difficult
concepts understandable.
*Nature Reviews Chemistry, Volume 1, 2017, Article Number 0089*
The secret science of superheroes is fun, engaging and suitable for
superhero fans of any level.
*Chemistry World, December 2017*
The Secret Science of Superheroes is quite possibly the best book I
have read that uses science fiction as a vehicle for science
fact.
*Physics World, November 2017*
I found this book very inspirational - I do not think that there
are many books that join fundamental science and popular fiction in
such an engaging way! [A]n illustration of the fact that serious
subjects can be explained in a fascinatingly clear way to which
broader audience can easily relate.
*Darja Lavõgina*
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