The Bottom Line
If you're a movie buff and a physics geek, then this book might just be for you. If you're a nit-picker who frequently asks "Is that even possible?" when watching a movie, then this book might be for you. If you're studying physics and find it boring, but like action movies, then this might be for you. If you don't particularly care about physics, nor do you care whether a movie is realistic, then I'd say you'd find this book incredibly boring.
Pros
- Physical analysis of a wide range of movie action sequences.
- Detailed explanations, along with equations, provided.
- Sequentially presented in a manner consistent with most introductory physics curricula
Cons
- Ruins some of the fun of these movies by over-analyzing them -- but that's kind of the point.
- Author can be snide about some films, especially if they have taken liberties with the physics.
Description
- September 2007, Kaplan Publishing
- paperback, 260 pages
- Appendices include "Fairy-Tale Physics" and "The Cartoon Laws of Physics"
- Adam Weiner is a physics teacher in La Jolla, CA. He has an M.S. in Geophysics and also has worked as an actor.
Guide Review - Don't Try This At Home! The Physics of Hollywood Movies by Adam Weiner
As a movie buff and physics geek, I became enamored with this book as soon as I heard about it. It begins with Kinematics, moves on to Newton's Laws, and then moves on to some Thermodynamics and energy conservation. Throw in some fluid and gas mechanics, electrostatics & electromagnetism, and light/sound, and end with some modern physics, and you get a fairly expansive overview of the realm of physics - all presented through the prism of analyzing movies (primarily action sequences) in the following movies:
- Speed
- Spider-Man
- Superman
- Batman (and Batman Begins)
- The Core
- October Sky
- Mission: Impossible
- Titanic
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind
- Apollo 13
- XXX
- ... and many others
While knowledge of the films are certainly helpful, the fact is that the book is so comprehensive in the topics covered that it could be used as the basis of an introductory physics course. Each chapter ends with a series of "Additional Questions" that can be used to extend understanding of the concepts presented in that chapter.
I think this book has a lot of potential as a supplement to a physics course, providing examples which can be printed off and distributed to a class, or perhaps worked on at home by a diligent student looking for additional help and concepts that they can get their head around.
Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.
