For some people, scientific progress is all about doom and gloom. For Michio Kaku, the famed theoretical physicist and co-founder of string field theory, it is about inventing a better future.
Kaku, a joint professor at the City College of New York and the Graduate Center at CUNY, has appeared on many television programs and networks, including BBC, ABC, CNN, the Discovery Channel, the Science Channel, and the History Channel. He hosts two weekly radio programs, “Science Fantastic” and “Explorations in Science.” He is also the author of many bestselling books: Hyperspace (1994), Beyond Einstein (1995), and, most recently, Physics of the Impossible, which was released in paperback earlier this month.
Physics of the Impossible, currently ranked no 23 on The New York Times paperback non-fiction bestseller list, discusses everything from teleportation to time travel and robots to black holes, as well as the likelihood of their occurrence given our laws of physics. Kaku divides his material into three categories of technological impossibilities: Class I—technologies that are impossible today but do not defy our current laws of physics, Class II—technologies that, if possible, may take millennia to realize, and Class III—those that violate our present-day understanding of the laws of physics.
What makes Kaku’s book so enthralling is not merely its dazzling scientific genius, but also its accessibility. He relates his material to popular science fiction movies, TV shows, and books that most people have at least heard of. Who wouldn’t want to read a chapter entitled “Phasers and Death Stars”?
But fantasy should not be conflated with impossibility, Kaku argues, since 80 percent of science fiction is grounded in some sort of truth: “The bread and butter of science fiction is in the realm of possibility.”
Kaku sees this connection between pop culture and science as an integral step in the process of making science popular again. Children interested in science in our day and age are called “dorks,” but Kaku grew up during the Sputnik era, when American children were encouraged to develop an interest in science in order to counter the Soviets. “It was part of our patriotic duty to be at the forefront of science,” Kaku explained.
Presently, according to Kaku, physicists have lost touch with the general public. He attributed Congress’ cancellation of the super-collider in 1993 to two interconnected phenomena—the end of the Cold War, and the inability of physicists to reach out to the public and make science relevant and interesting. In Kaku’s eyes, it is the job of scientists like him to do just this.
Besides, he added, “We scientists have an obligation to reach out to the public, because they pay taxes that fund our research.”
At 62, Kaku shows no signs of slowing down. He continues Einstein’s search to discover the “Theory of Everything,” which would combine the four fundamental forces of nature: the strong force, the weak force, electromagnetism, and gravity. Currently, he is on his book tour for Physics of the Impossible, for which he will be stopping by CUNY this Thursday. A 12-episode miniseries based on the book is also being filmed by the Science Channel and is set to air in November.
Kaku’s longetivity is what makes being a scientist more appealing to him than, say, being a baseball player. Baseball stars and physicists both get to do what they love, but as Kaku aptly noted, “Baseball stars retire.”
Kaku sees the future of scientific discovery as far from complete. When asked whether he was an optimist or a pessimist about the future of scientific study, Kaku said he was a realist. “Impossible does not mean impossible forever,” he said. “It means impossible today.”
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