The Science of Superheroes

By: Lois Gresh, Robert Weinberg, Dean Koontz - introduction

Narrated by: Oliver Wyman

Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

The Science of Superheroes takes a lighthearted but clear-headed look at the real science that underlies some of the greatest superhero comic books of all time, including Spider-Man, Batman, Fantastic Four, and many more. Each chapter presents the story of the origin of one or more superheroes and asks intriguing questions that lead to fascinating discussions about the limits of science, the laws of nature, and the future of technology.

If gamma rays can’t turn a 128-pound weakling into the Incredible Hulk, what could? Are Spider-Man’s powers really those of a spider? Could a person ever breathe water like a fish? From telepathy to teleportation, from cloning to cosmic rays, this vastly entertaining romp through the nexus of science and fantasy separates the possible from the plausible and the barely plausible from the utterly ridiculous.

With an introduction by author Dean Koontz.

©2002 by Lois Gresh and Robert Weinberg
(P)2002 Random House Inc.

Critic reviews

"Weinberg and Gresh tell it like it is - and how it would be, if our favorite comic book characters actually existed. The Science of Superheroes is a fascinating and entertaining examination of everything from astrophysics to genetic biology to the evolution of the 'superhero.'" (Mark Powers, editor, X-Men and Uncanny X-Men)

Beautifully done!

A grand mix of comic history, trivia, and science. Using the superheroes by nature or origin, they jump on subjects like black holes, relativity, genetics, evolution, probability of alien life, and more. As a follower of comics for decades, I was surprised at the detailed stories that were referenced and compared, some only a few years old. Whether a lover of DC or Marvel, you'll find something to interest you here. Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Xmen -they're all here to some level or not.

Super Discussion

The Science of Superhereos proved to be outstanding in two respects. First, it is a great history of comics for anyone who grew up reading comics.

But more than that, it excels ar discussing the science behond the fiction. Topics from many arreas of science are covered, including physics, astronomy, biology, evolution, and chemistry. The explanations are clear and easy to follow, even for someone with no background in science at all. It was also very entertaining. I particularly enjoyed the discussion of black holes and stellar evolution.

This book is highly recommended.

Great Book Except a Little Inaccurate

I love the concept of this book. As a hardcore superhero fan I was delighted to find out that someone had gone through the trouble of answering the questions I had always wanted to know. The narrator was top notch and kept things interesting.
The only real problem I have with this book is the last chapter. Listening to the book, things kept building and getting better, I was actually on the edge of my seat trying to guess what the final question would be. Seriously on the edge of my seat over an educational science book - WEIRD!
The thing is that the last chapter was about Donald Duck comics. And while Donald Duck had a great comic I am sure, he is in no way, shape, or form a superhero or anything that resembles a superhero.
How could the authors get it so wrong. It should have been called the Science of Comics not of superheroes.
This small complaint last them a star but it is still a great book.

The One, Two Punch of Heroes!

Would you listen to The Science of Superheroes again? Why?

I think I will!

Any additional comments?

This is just a fun book. I even enjoyed the Donald Duck part. I have been looking for Heroes in modern books and sadly have found few. This book allowed me to spend some quality time with some true heroes. Thanks Audible!

Fun read

This is an interesting book and answers a number of questions that just aren't relevant when you're deep into comic book reading. It's a good step back from the fantasy world and provides intriguing explanations on how each superhero is able to do the things they do. I wish there were more analysis on other superheroes. Superman, Flash, Aquaman, Green Lantern, and Batman were either inadequate or just plain boring. Spiderman, Atom, and Submariner explanations were ok. Maybe the author will write a second version with analysis on characters from the Avenger, Xmen, Ironman, and DareDevil.

This first book is too long on the history of comic books and short on analysis of the superpowers. Hopefully version 2 (if it comes out) will jump directly into the analysis of each superhero's powers and analyze more Marvel characters.

The Science of Superheroes

This is the second best Audible Book I've listened too! I highly recommend!

For comic book geeks only

If you're the sort of comic book geek that can listen to arguments about whether Superman could beat up Hyperion, this one is for you. If not--- well, no.

There's some cool comics history in here, and a lot of fairly good science used to split hairs.

The authors tackle Superman, Green Lantern, the Atom, Aquaman, Spider-Man, Batman, and many more. The premise of the book is actually pretty weak, as you KNOW Superman is just a comic book. And sometimes you wonder if they really needed to bother analysing a particular power. But these are times where you learn something... and it's startling to see what actually holds up.

Comics & Useful Science

This was actually a wonderful listen. The only downsides for me were that the ratio of science to superhero is well in favor of the science (although there is quite a bit of comic history, it certainly is not the books focus), and some of the "points" that come across are fairly obvious. On the other hand, there are many quite complex explanations that the authors boil down so that they are easy to understand even for a layman. The reader has a good voice and keeps a great pace throughout some of the longer explanations, which only enhances the learning experiance. While most of the information isn't useful on a day to day basis, it certainly couldn't hurt to know it!

This is fun

This book, I admit, took me a few listens before I realised how good it was. To begin with, I found it boring, then I really listened to it. It's full of information that's both informative and funny (although some of it may be out of date by now). The narration is good and the prologue is particularly funny, having been written by Dean Koontz. It gets a bit boring again towards the end when the authors questions cartoonists about the future of comic books. All in all though, it's a good listen, showing where the story of a comic book very often neglects the science in preference to the storyline. For fans of both comics and science, it's illuminating.

Loved it

Very interesting, funny, informative, entertaining.
You have to have a slightly open mind, but most of the stuff was justified. This book attempts to explain and theorise at the same time, and it does well. There is a tonne of useful scientific knowledge to gain, and there are some interesting facts that are brought to light. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, even though I'm not a HUGE comic book fan. Before the theory comes out for each superhero, there is a brief history which I liked. Nicely done over all.