Read by Peter Berkrot.

Using examples from science fiction pulp magazines and comic books, James
Kakalios explains the principles of quantum mechanics that underlie the world
we live in.

In the pulp magazines and comics of the 1950s, it was predicted that the future
would be one of gleaming utopias, with flying cars, jetpacks, and robotic
personal assistants. Obviously, things didn't turn out that way. But the world
we do have is actually more fantastic than the most outlandish predictions of
the science fiction of the mid-20th century. The World Wide Web, pocket-sized
computers, mobile phones and MRI machines have changed the world in unimagined
ways. In 'The Amazing Story of Quantum Mechanics', James Kakalios uses examples
from comics and magazines to explain how breakthroughs in quantum mechanics led
to such technologies. The book begins with an overview of speculative science
fiction, beginning with Jules Verne and progressing through the space adventure
comic books of the 1950s. Using the example of Dr. Manhattan from the graphic
novel and film Watchmen, Kakalios explains the fundamentals of quantum
mechanics, and describes nuclear energy via the hilarious portrayals of
radioactivity and its effects in the movies and comic books of the 1950s.
Finally, he shows how future breakthroughs will make possible ever more
advanced medical diagnostic devices - and perhaps even power stations on the
moon that can beam their power to earth.

Download File Size:462.35 MB

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