Physics of the impossible : a scientific exploration into the world of phasers, force fields, teleportation, and time travel /

Kaku, Michio.

Physics of the impossible : a scientific exploration into the world of phasers, force fields, teleportation, and time travel / Michio Kaku. - 1st ed. - New York : Doubleday, - xxi, 329 pages ; 25 cm

Includes bibliographical references (pages 317-318) and index.

Part I: Class impossibilities. Force fields ; Invisibility ; Phasers and death stars ; Teleportation ; Telepathy ; Psychokinesis ; Robots ; Extraterrestrials and UFOs ; Starships ; Antimatter and anti-universes -- Part II: Class II impossibilities. Faster than light ; Time travel ; Parallel universes -- Part III: Class III impossibilities. Perpetual motion machines ; Precognition -- Epilogue: The future of the impossible.

One hundred years ago, scientists would have said that lasers, televisions, and the atomic bomb were beyond the realm of physical possibility. Here, 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. He uses his discussion of each technology as a jumping-off point to explain the science behind it.--From publisher description.

9780385520690 0385520697 9780307278821 0307278824

2007030290


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QC75 / .K18 2008

530

530 K13p