Physics of the Impossible

Teleportation, time machines, force fields, and interstellar space ships—the stuff of science fiction or potentially attainable future technologies? Inspired by the fantastic worlds of Star Trek, Star Wars, and Back to the Future, renowned theoretical physicist and bestselling author Michio Kaku takes an informed, serious, and often surprising look at what our current understanding of the universe's physical laws may permit in the near and distant future. Entertaining, informative, and imaginative, Physics of the Impossible probes the very limits of human ingenuity and scientific possibility.

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

Part I: Class I Impossibilities

1. Force fields

2. Invisibility

3. Phasers and death stars

4. Teleportation

5. Telepathy

6. Psychokinesis

7. Robots

8. Extraterrestrials and UFOs

9. Starships

10. Antimatter and anti-universes

Part II: Class II Impossibilities

11. Faster than light

12. Time travel

13. Parallel universes

Part III: Class III Impossibilities

14. Perpetual motion machines

15. Precognition

Epilogue: The future of the impossible

Notes

Bibliography

Index