July 26–30, 2014
21
Plenary Speakers
The Uncanny Physics of Superhero Comic Books
Monday, July 28, 7:30–8:30 p.m. • Northrop Auditorium
James Kakalios, School of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Minnesota
James Kakalios is the Taylor Distinguished Professor in the University of Minnesota’s School
of Physics and Astronomy. He received his PhD in Physics from the University of Chicago in
1985; worked as a post-doctoral research associate at the Xerox–Palo Alto Research Center; and
then in 1988, having had enough of those California winters, joined the faculty of the School of
Physics and Astronomy at the University of Minnesota. His popular science book
The Physics of
Superheros
was published in 2005 in the U.S. and the U.K., and has been translated into German,
Spanish, Korean, Chinese and Italian.
The Spectacular Second Edition
was published in Novem-
ber 2009, and his latest book
The Amazing Story of Quantum Mechanics
was released in October
2010. Through the National Academy of Sciences’ programThe Science and Entertainment
Exchange, he has done volunteer consulting for Warner Bros. films “Watchmen” and “Green
Lantern,” and Sony’s “The Amazing Spider-Man.” A video he made for the University of Min-
nesota on The Science of Watchmen has been viewed over 1.8 million times, and in 2009 won an
Upper Midwest regional EMMY award and was nominated for a national WEBBY award. His
research interests include nanocrystalline and amorphous semiconductors, pattern formation in
sandpiles and fluctuation phenomena in neurological systems. He has been reading comic books
longer than he has been studying physics.
James Kakalios
University of Minnesota
Meet the Author!
James Kakalios will be available right after the plenary
for a book signing.
Purchase his books in the Exhibit Hall at the AAPT Booth.
