The Physics of Superheroes
On Tuesday, October 17 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the West Dining Room (6th floor) of the James Madison Building (map/metro) at the Library of Congress, Dr. James Kakalios will speak on “The Physics of Superheroes.” The event is co-sponsored by the Science, Technology and Business Division and the Serial and Government Publications Division.
Dr. Kakalios is a professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Minnesota, where he has taught since 1988. His class “Everything I Needed to Know About Physics I Learned From Reading Comic Books,” is a popular freshman seminar. He is the author of “The Physics of Superheroes” (Gotham Books, 2005), and copies of the book will be available for purchase at this event. The book explores everything from energy to thermodynamics, to quantum mechanics, to solid state physics, and Kakalios relates the physics in comic books to such real-world applications as automobile airbags, microwave ovens, and transistors.
The book will be on sale and Dr. Kakalios will be available for signing after the talk.
A display of selected comic books from the Library’s collection will also be featured at this event. For more information you can contact the ST&B Division at 202-707-5664.
Last summer I wrote an article that was published in Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship, called “Ask A Science Librarian: How Does a Spider Walk Across a Ceiling Without Falling?” After Doug read the article he ran across Dr. Kakalios’ book and I then emailed him … eh voila! It should be a lot of fun and the comic books that will be displayed are fantastic.
Wasn’t Kevin Bacon in there somewhere? ;-)
Tape up your horned rimmed glasses kids! This is going to be a good one…
For comic book fans, I just discovered that the International Comic Arts Festival (ICAF) started today and runs through Saturday. Also at the Library of Congress James Madison building, this time in the Mumford Room (also on the 6th floor).