Jim Kakalios - Physics Professor

CONvergence is pleased to welcome physics professor Jim Kakalios as a Guest of Honor at CONvergence 2005.

U of M Physics professor James Kakalios uses concepts and characters from comic books to explore basic principles of physics, chemistry, and biology in a course called "Everything I Know About Science I Learned from Reading Comic Books," and is the author of the upcoming book, The Physics of Superheroes.

It's a fitting venture for Jim, whose lifelong love of comic books helped cultivate his passion for science. "As a kid, comic books helped fuel my curiosity," he recalls. In one story, his favorite hero, The Flash, lost his ability to avoid air resistance and friction. "It made me aware [that], aside from the silly notion of superpowers, there were all sorts of secondary issues associated with the ability to run superfast that I hadn't considered."

Convinced that comics could help make science more accessible and appealing to students of any age, Kakalios toyed for years with the notion of creating a class on the science of superheroes.

"Take Superman," says Jim. "In his very first year, he could only leap, not fly. His skin was tough, he had great strength, all because Krypton had larger gravity than Earth. Using the hero's ability 'to leap over tall buildings in a single bound' as a benchmark, the class calculated that Krypton's gravity would have to have been six to eight times that of Earth."

"That means Krypton had to be either six times larger or six times denser than Earth. Assuming that normal matter on Krypton obeys the laws of physics, the planet could not be six times denser than Earth. So Krypton had to be six times larger," explains Kakalios. "But any planet that much larger than Earth would have to be a gas giant like Jupiter. Because Krypton had a solid crust supporting buildings and cities, the only other explanation for its increased gravity would be a super-dense -- and unstable -- material like a neutron star in its core. And that would explain why Krypton exploded."