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"Great book"

Written By: A. Stolworthy

I first saw an interview with Michio Kaku on the Science Channel and was immediately interested in him and his ideas. When the cover caught my eye in the bookstore I just had to read it. Michio clearly and simply lays out a number of theories or inventions that have been deemed impossible and breaks them down into their physical laws and then categorizes them on their actually possibility. A must read for anyone interested in theoretical physics.

"Definitely worth it for the layman."

Written By: J. Henson

Do not listen to the naysayers. Most of the negative comments by above reviewers seem to come from those physics elitists who may (or may not) already know a lot about the discipline. But for those who either don't care or weren't paying attention Dr. Kaku has dedicated a lot just trying to get people to become interested in science. This only goes to show how much he has been paying attention to the social state of affairs regarding lack of interest in science in this country and that he cares enough to try to reach out to people. What better way than to tie in physical theories with all things sci-fi?
No book that I know of has included so many cocncepts that you read about and see on tv in one place, and specifically addresses the issues in concise order, chapter by chapter. Yes, it is true that the book will be somewhat overly basic for those who already have a strong foundation in physics. But then, most of you will have already extrapolated your physics knowledge to much of what he is touching upon, would you not? (Why would you read his book to begin with?)
He does not go into immence detail about hard physics and theory, and pretty much has no mathematics or equations included at all. But he does talk about a broad scope of subjects in the realm of physics, and one of his most basic premises are the stages of civilizations and what he calls classes of physical impossibilities, which he basically rates on scales from 1 to 3. A great method for comparative stages of complexity of science, and level of advancement. Wonderful idea. He piques your interest by introducing a sci-fi concept then, often times, goes into a great explanation of the history of that particular area of physics that have to do with that sci-fi subject and describes how the field has developed and will develop in the future.
I will agree that, at times, the information is relayed in a rather splotchy manner. He jumps around in the timeline of history depending on which sci-fi subject he is discussing, which can give it a somewhat confusing aire at times, having you jump around the book at places so you can tie it in with other info that is related but mentioned several chapters ago. But there's a wonderful thing at the back of the book for that. It's called an index.
Overall this is a wonderful book for those who have an interest about physics or are just curious about it. ESPECIALLY if you have no knowledge of the field, it is a good place to start. And it's a wonderful book for those who love sci-fi and always wondered when you might be able to buy a hoverboard, or teleporter, or laser gun in the near future. Read the book to find out.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go finish building that lightsaber....

"Excellent source of knowledge without killing it"

Written By: Jonathan Zegadlo

Some of these egg heads can get a bit dry (Brief History of Time) but Kaku is interesting, exciting (you can hear it in his voice like a little kid... he loves what he does like the croc hunter guy did) and always moving from topic to topic never sitting on one thing so long that you ever get bored.

A very good read that goes from fundamentals to modern science in a pithy, concise and fun manner!

"Great book for beginners."

Written By: Moon T. Kim

I'm not much for reviews, but I really enjoyed this book. In a crude nutshell, if you're into sci-fi i.e. time travel, star wars, or just curious about what might be possible in terms of physics/quantum theory, this book will leave you wanting more. The first couple of chapters were kind of difficult to follow(mainly because of a lot of the scientific terms. But no worries, it'll get easier and flow much faster.

If you're a fan of history channel's "The Universe" this is definitely a book for you.

"Wherein "impossible" sometimes only means "quite difficult"!"

Written By: Paul Weiss

What do Stephen Hawking, Carl Sagan, Isaac Asimov, Lawrence Krauss, Clifford Pickover, Brian Greene, Douglas Hofstadter and Michio Kaku have in common? Aside from being respected physicists, scientists, mathematicians and theoreticians, they also have the uncanny ability to write at a level that we mere mortals can understand. Happily this allows our workaday world of common non-scientists to participate in at least a rudimentary understanding of the esoteric mysteries of the universe that are fascinating in the extreme and so bizarre as to outstrip the most obtuse imaginings of fiction writers.

Michio Kaku takes us on a grand tour of the modern world of physics by grouping topics that either were or are still considered impossible into three large classes - first, those items that don't appear to violate the currently known laws of science and having been considered as impossibilities in times past are either now realities or are verging on reality as technology and experimentation makes progress with such blinding speed; second, items that also don't appear to break the rules as we know them but await the development of technology that is likely centuries or millennia beyond whatever skills we might even envisage at this point in history; and, finally, those things that our current knowledge of scientific law would suggest are genuinely impossible.

Kaku treats the eager science loving reader with a generous and formidable list of topics - force fields, telekinesis and ESP, faster-than-light travel, time travel, parallel universes, perpetual motion, telepathy, phaser weaponry, precognition, antimatter, negative matter, hyperspace travel, extraterrestrials and much more. His writing style is at once down to earth, scientifically correct without being either esoteric or condescending, and even witty and humorous as he regales us with amusing tales of the correspondence between science and the astonishingly prescient writers of the science fiction genre. As you might well imagine, the brilliant writers and creators of the Star Trek series come up in Kaku's discussion on more than one occasion.

Brilliant, informative and entertaining! Highly recommended. But Class III impossibilities being forever impossible? If I learned anything from this book, I don't think I'll ever say "never" again. Who knows? Stay tuned!

Paul Weiss