The Physics of Superheroes: Spectacular Second Edition (60 page)

Page 209
Amazing Spider-Man Annual # 1
(Marvel Comics, Feb. 1964), reprinted in
Marvel Masterworks: Amazing Spider-Man Volume 2
(Marvel Comics, 2002). Written by Stan Lee and drawn by Steve Ditko.

Page 210
“a comic-book writer would generate a script . . .”
Man of Two Worlds, My Life in Science Fiction and Comics,
Julius Schwartz with Brian M. Thomsen (HarperEntertainment, New York), 2000.

Page 210
“in 1965, to pick a particular year . . .”
Comic Book Marketplace # 99
(Gemstone Publishing, Feb. 2003).

Page 210
“With so many stories being created every month . . .”
Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book,
Jordan Raphael and Tom Spurgeon (Chicago Review Press, 2003);
Tales to Astonish: Jack Kirby, Stan Lee and the American Comic Book Revolution,
Ronin Ro (Bloomsbury, 2004).

Page 212
Daredevil # 2
(Marvel Comics, June 1964), reprinted in
Marvel Masterworks: Daredevil Volume 1
(Marvel Comics, 2004). Written by Stan Lee and drawn by Joe Orlando.

Page 213
“a perfect illustration of one of the fundamental . . .”
Amazing Spider-Man # 9
(Marvel Comics, Feb. 1963), reprinted in
Marvel Masterworks: Amazing Spider-Man Volume 1
(Marvel Comics, 2003). Written by Stan Lee and drawn by Steve Ditko.

Page 214
“This phenomenon, termed the Ampere effect, . . .”
Electric Universe: The Shocking True Story of Electricity,
David Bodanis (Crown, 2005).

Page 215
Daredevil # 2
(Marvel Comics, June 1964), reprinted in
Marvel Masterworks: Daredevil Volume 1
(Marvel Comics, 2004). Written by Stan Lee and drawn by Joe Orlando.

Page 215
“I’ll use a nice argument . . .”
Discovering the Natural Laws: The Experimental Basis of Physics,
Milton A. Rothman (Dover Press, 1989).

Page 216
“The test charge therefore sees . . .”
Electricity and Magnetism—Berkeley Physics Course
Vol. 2, Edward M. Purcell (McGraw Hill, 1963).

Page 217
Superboy # 1
(National Comics, Mar.-Apr. 1949). Written by Edmond Hamilton and drawn by John Sikela and Ed Dobrotka.

Page 220
X-Men # 1
(Marvel Comics, Sept. 1963), reprinted in
Marvel Masterworks: X-Men Volume 1
(Marvel Comics, 2002). Written by Stan Lee and drawn by Jack Kirby.

Page 221
Footnote.
Atom # 3
(DC Comics, Oct.-Nov. 1962), reprinted in
Atom Archives Volume 1
(DC Comics, 2001). Written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Gil Kane.

Page 222
“Hemoglobin is a very large molecule . . .”
The Machinery of Life,
David S. Goodsell (Springer-Verlag, 1998).

Page 222
Footnote. I thank Prof. E. Dan Dahlberg of the University of Minnesota and Dr. Roger Proksh of Asylum Research for demonstrating this low-tech “magnetic force microscope.”

Page 224
“Materials that form magnetic domains . . .”
Magnets: The Education of a Physicist,
Francis Bitter (Doubleday, 1959).

Page 225
“It is through our diamagnetism” “Everyone’s Magnetism,” Andrey Geim,
Physics Today
51, p. 36 (Sept. 1998); “Magnet levitation at your fingertips,” A. K. Geim, M. D. Simon, M. I. Boamfa, and L. O. Heflinger.
Nature
400, p. 323 (1999).

Page 225
See the web page for the High Field Magnetic Laboratory at the University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands:
http://www.hfml.ru.nl/levitate.html
for some great images of levitating objects.

Page 227
“Magnetism is, at its heart, . . .”
Discovering the Natural Laws: The Experimental Basis of Physics,
Milton A. Rothman (Dover Press, 1989).

Page 229
The Dark Knight Strikes Again # 1
(DC Comics, 2001). Reprinted in
The Dark Knight Strikes Again
(DC Comics, 2003). Written and drawn by Frank Miller.

Page 229
“Nearly all commercial power plants . . .”
Energy: Its Use and the Environment,
Roger A. Hinrichs and Merlin Kleinbach (Brooks/Cole, 2002), Third Edition.

Page 231
“help keep comic-book publishers solvent”
Seal of Approval, The History of the Comics Code,
Amy Kiste Nyberg (University of Mississippi Press, Jackson, Mississippi), 1998.

Page 231
Western comics at DC and Marvel . . .
Comic Book Culture: An Illustrated History,
Ron Goulart (Collectors Press Inc., 2000);
DC Comics: Sixty Years of the World’s Favorite Comic Book Heroes,
Les Daniels (Bulfinch Press, 1995);
Marvel: Five Fabulous Decades of the World’s Greatest Comics,
Les Daniels (Harry Abrams, 1991).

Page 232
“It was the Scottish physicist . . .”
The Man Who Changed Everything: The Life of James Clerk Maxwell,
Basil Mahon (John Wiley & Sons, 2003).

Page 235
“600 million tons of hydrogen nuclei every second . . .” “The Evolution and Explosion of Massive Stars,” S. E. Woolsey and A. Heger,
Rev. Modern Physics
74, p. 1015 (Oct. 2002).

Page 235
“light generated from a nuclear fusion reaction . . .” “How Long Does It Take for Heat to Flow Through the Sun?” G. Fiorentini and B. Rici,
Comments on Modern Physics
1, p. 49 (1999).

Page 236
“While his shattered spine may have left him . . .”
X-Men # 20
(Marvel Comics, May 1966), reprinted in
Marvel Masterworks: X-Men Volume 2
(Marvel Comics, 2003). Written by Roy Thomas and Drawn by Jay Gavin.

Page 236
“The role of nerve cells . . .”
Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are,
Joseph LeDoux (Penguin, 2002); I of the Vortex, R. R. Llinas (MIT Press, 2001).

Page 238
“Fish use these organs as a form of radar,” “The Shark’s Electric Sense,” R. Douglas Fields,
Scientific American
, Aug. 2007.

Page 238
More Fun Comics # 77
(National Comics, Mar. 1942) Written by unknown and drawn by Paul Norris.

Page 238
X-Men # 7
(Marvel Comics, Sept. 1964), reprinted in
Marvel Masterworks: X-Men Volume 1
(Marvel Comics, 2002). Written by Stan Lee and Drawn by Jack Kirby.

Page 239
“Television signals consist of . . .”
See The Way Things Work,
David Macaulay (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1988), for an accessible, graphical illustration of the mechanisms underlying television broadcasts and reception, and
How Does It Work?
Richard M. Koff (Signet, 1961), for a more technical discussion.

Page 240
“A sensitive antenna placed near this monitor . . .” “Electromagnetic Radiation from Video Display Units: An Eavesdropping Risk?,” Wim Van Eck,
Computers and Security
4, p. 269 (1985).

Page 240
Footnote. “Electromagnetic Eavesdropping Risks of Flat Panel Displays” Markus G. Kuhn, presented at the
Fourth Workshop on Privacy Enhancing Technologies
, Toronto, Canada, May 2004.

Page 241
“Neuroscientists have developed a research tool . . .” “Experimentation with a Transcranial Stimulation System for Functional Brain Mapping,” G. J. Ettinger, W. E. L. Grimson, M. E. Leventon, R. Kikinis, V. Gugino, W. Cote et al.
Med. Image Analysis
2, p. 133 (1998); “Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and the Human Brain,” M. Hallett, Nature 406, p. 147 (2000). A technical overview can be found in
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation: A Neurochronometrics of Mind,
Vincent Walsh and Alvaro Pascual-Leone (MIT Press, 2003).

Page 245
Fantastic Four # 5
(Marvel Comics, July 1962), reprinted in
Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Volume 1
(Marvel Comics, 2003). Written by Stan Lee and drawn by Jack Kirby.

Page 246
Fantastic Four # 10
(Marvel Comics, Jan. 1963), reprinted in
Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Volume 1
(Marvel Comics, 2003). Written by Stan Lee and drawn by Jack Kirby.

Page 246
Fantastic Four # 16
(Marvel Comics, July 1963), reprinted in
Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Volume 2
(Marvel Comics, 2005). Written by Stan Lee and drawn by Jack Kirby.

Page 246
Fantastic Four # 76
(Marvel Comics, July 1968), reprinted in
Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Volume 8
(Marvel Comics, 2005). Written by Stan Lee and drawn by Jack Kirby.

Page 247
Atom # 5
(DC Comics, Feb./Mar. 1963), reprinted in
Atom Archives Volume 1
(DC Comics, 2001). Written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Gil Kane; Atom # 4 (DC Comics, Dec./Jan. 1962), reprinted in
Atom Archives Volume 1
(DC Comics, 2001). Written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Gil Kane;
Atom # 19
(DC Comics, Jun./Jul. 1965), reprinted in
JLA: Zatanna’s Search
(DC Comics, 2004). Written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Gil Kane; Justice League of America # 18 (DC Comics, Mar. 1963), reprinted in
Justice League of America Archives Volume 3
(DC Comics, 1994). Written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Mike Sekowsky;
Brave and the Bold # 53
(DC Comics, Apr.-May, 1964). Written by Bob Haney and drawn by Alexander Toth.

Page 248
“At the end of the nineteenth century, . . .”
Thirty Years That Shook Physics: The Story of Quantum Theory
, G. Gamow (Dover, 1985).

Page 249
“This is how the surface temperature of the sun . . .”
Temperatures Very Low and Very High,
Mark W. Zemansky (Dover, 1964).

Page 251
“The fact that the energy of electrons...”
The New World of Mr. Tompkins
, G. Gamow and R. Stannard (Cambridge University Press, 1999).

Page 254
“Imagine an electron orbiting a nucleus . . .”
The Quantum World,
J. C. Polkinghorne (Princeton University Press, 1984).

Page 256
“The lighter-than-air element Helium . . .”
Helium: Child of the Sun
, Clifford W. Seibel (University Press of Kansas, 1968).

Page 259
Showcase # 4
(National Comics, Oct. 1956), reprinted in
Flash Archives Volume 1
(DC Comics, 1996). Written by Robert Kanigher and drawn by Carmine Infantino.

Page 259
Flash # 123
(DC Comics, Sept. 1961), reprinted in
Flash Archives Volume 3
(DC Comics, 2002). Written by Gardner Fox and drawn by Carmine Infantino.

Page 261
“The crossover meeting between the Silver Age and Golden Age Flash . . .”
Man of Two Worlds, My Life in Science Fiction and Comics,
Julius Schwartz with Brian M. Thomsen (HarperEntertainment, 2000).

Page 261
“So popular was this meeting of the two superteams . . .” See, for example,
Crisis on Multiple Earths
Volumes One, Two, Three (DC Comics, 2002, 2003, 2004).

Page 262
“Billy Batson, who could become a superhero by shouting ‘Shazam!’”
DC Comics: Sixty Years of the World’s Favorite Comic Book Heroes
, Les Daniels (Bulfinch Press, 1995).

Page 262
“The yearlong miniseries”
Crisis on Infinite Earths
(DC Comics, 2000). Written by Marv Wolfman and drawn by George Perez.

Page 263
“more like those described in the Marvel comic universe”
What If Classics
(Marvel Comics, 2004).

Page 263
“After a great deal of effort”
Thirty Years That Shook Physics: The Story of Quantum Theory
, G. Gamow (Dover Press, 1985).

Page 264
“two points about mathematics”
Euclid’s Window: The Story of Geometry from Parallel Lines to Hyperspace
, Leonard Mlodinow (Touchstone, 2001).

Page 265
My
Greatest Adventures # 80
(DC Comics, June 1963), reprinted in
Doom Patrol Archives Volume 1
(DC Comics, 2002). Written by Arnold Drake and drawn by Bruno Premiani.

Page 265
X-Men # 1
(Marvel Comics, Sept. 1963), reprinted in
Marvel Masterworks: X-Men Volume 1
(Marvel Comics, 2002). Written by Stan Lee and drawn by Jack Kirby.

Page 266
“research of comic-book historians” See, for example,
Comic Book Marketplace # 64
(Gemstone Publications, Nov. 1998).

Page 266
“Another publishing synchronicity”
Back Issue # 6
(TwoMorrows Publishing, Oct. 2004).

Page 267
“While we may not know how Schrödinger”
Schrödinger: Life and Thought,
Walter Moore (Cambridge University Press, 1989).

Page 268
“Given that the average values are the only quantities . . .” The notion that quantum mechanics is a complete theory that always provides accurate predictions of experimental observations, but does not necessarily describe an external reality, is not universally accepted among physicists. The growing body of experiments on macroscopic quantum behavior would, however, tend to support this interpretation (see “The Quantum Measurement Problem,” A. J. Leggett,
Science
307, p. 871 (2005)).

Page 270
“They posed the following situation . . .”
Schrödinger’s Rabbits: The Many Worlds of Quantum,
Colin Bruce (Joseph Henry Press, 2004).

Page 271
JLA # 19
(DC Comics, June 1998). Written by Mark Waid and drawn by Howard Porter.

Page 271
“In 1957, Hugh Everett III argued . . .”
The Many-Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics,
edited by Bryce S. DeWitt and Neill Graham (Princeton University Press, 1973). Contains a reprint of Everett’s Ph.D. thesis and a longer discussion of his ideas, along with articles by other physicists. Interestingly, Everett referred to his theory as involving “Relative States,” and it was DeWitt who coined the expression “Many Worlds.”