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If you are going to enjoy a superhero movie you need to be able to suspend disbelief, especially if you are scientifically inclined. There is just too much that is just plain impossible. If we moaned about every little detail that wasn’t quite correct by some law of physics, then we’d ruin the film for almost anyone who has the misfortune of being within shouting distance. This is why The Secret Science of Superheroes doesn’t try to pick holes in movies or comic book stories. We don’t spend time explaining why spaceships don’t need wings, or why starships always have the same orientation when they meet in space. We don’t quibble over the fact that lasers beams can’t be seen from the side, unless there is something around to scatter the light, or why they don’t make ‘puchu puchu’ noises when fired. Neither do we point out that Iron Man’s armour is no use to him in a crash, since what he requires is something more like a crumple zone or an air bag, instead of a suit constructed from inflexible titanium. We don’t discuss why being hit by a bullet won’t throw you backwards, because of something we call momentum.

These are all great examples of reality being suspended for the sake of drama and we’re cool with that, because good movies rely on presenting the impossible, even if the improbable is frowned upon. So we are fine with faster than light travel, fiery explosions in space (no oxygen = no fire), and laser sound effects. However, indestructible metals, web-slinging humans and invisibility leave us pondering how science might explain them. So, this book is about trying to suspend the improbable. It is about the missing scenes (and the missing science) that could be in movies and comics if what actually were shown to us had some scientifically feasible explanation.

Now, we could have taken a typical solitary, leisurely approach to penning this book, holed up in an office writing over months and years. But if we’ve learnt anything from superhero flicks it’s that all the best stories have teams: X-Men, The Justice League and the Fantastic Four trump the lonely Spider-Man or Batman any day. Secondly, faster is better. You never hear of a hero travelling slower than a plodding tortoise or proclaiming to be the most ponderous man alive.

No, a book about heroes needs a more rapid fire, heroic approach. Which is why we assembled a league of extraordinary scientists and set them the Herculean task of writing this book in just 36 hours. Plonked in the middle of the Manchester Science Festival and Salford University’s Science Jam, in a blur of flying fingers worthy of the Flash we cranked out over 200 pages. We delved into all the nitty gritty science that fascinates us but seems to have been overlooked by movie makers.

During our frenetic weekend of typing – punctuated with regular trips down rabbit holes, comic strips out of context caused much mirth, google it – a means of charting superpowers emerged. Our diagram categorizes powers depending on whether they are passive (are they working all the time, like The Thing’s armoured skin) or active (they need to be invoked such as Spider-Man’s web slingers). Another dimension to the chart indicates whether the power is intrinsic to the hero (i.e. it can’t be removed) or is extrinsic (meaning it’s something that is associated with them, think of Captain America’s shield). Finally, the reach of the power is indicated from the distance from the centre of the chart. So something that only affects the hero themselves appears in the middle, whilst a power that can affect something anywhere on the globe (or beyond) appears on the edge. The superhero, intrinsic, extrinsic, location diagram (otherwise known as The SHIELD) also turned out to be a rather neat alternative to the conventional contents page.

As a collection, the book covers everything from the intricacies of individual superpowers and what they might require of the real world in order to be possible, while also examining where examples of superhumanness are found within the capacities of other species. Together, the essays show how superheroes are born out of a place where we have a remarkable number of natural precedents, even if their use of these powers goes far beyond what is expected of the average individual. In this respect, it seems more the super-virtues of the heroes rather than simply their functional capacities which elevates them beyond simply super-ness into a world of heroic deeds. It may turn out that we can also find a way to design superhuman virtues to make us more heroic, but this would be the subject of another book.

Before we get stuck in, a few thanks are necessary, as this book relied on some great support. First, thank you to the University of Salford and the team at Media City, for its hosting of the Book Sprint and bringing together authors to think through ideas and work through words. One of the reasons for why we do this is to re-think the way in which edited volumes are created and the sprint allowed us to forge new relationships which we hope will last. We are also grateful to Manchester Science Festival, which serves as the inspiration for this project. Thanks also to the illustrators who accompanied us on the weekend, namely Syeda Khanum and Romica Spiegl-Jones. In the end we are sorry that your delightful images didn’t make it into the book, but your input and inspiration was very much appreciated. A special thanks to Andy Brunning for the fabulous infographics that appear throughout the book; be sure to check out his incredible chemistry graphics at http://www.compoundchem.com/. And a final thanks to The Conversation (www.conversation.com); most of the authors were found by searching through their fabulous back-catalogue of writers.

Mark Lorch and Andy Miah

graphic

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