Posted on 07/08/2006 7:44:54 AM PDT by america4vr
It is the flying that seems to baffle everyone. How, exactly, does Superman fly? Or does he, really? With the release of the "Superman Returns'' movie this week, you can bet there will be plenty of discussion (at least half-serious) about the limits and scope of the Man of Steel's super powers. Rather than engage in uninformed speculation, we went to the experts -- physics scholars at Cal and Stanford. Unfortunately, a lot of them are baffled, too. "The flying always bothered me,'' admits Richard Muller, a professor of astrophysics at Cal and a Superman fan. "I think what he really does is leap and guide himself along the air currents. Or, if you can't really rule out flying, maybe he has a mechanism for somehow forcing air backward -- what if the pores on his skin eject microscopic amounts of excess moisture, like sweat?'' Uh, OK. The real point is that the physicists get it. They understand, as Stanford senior and physics student Andy Leifer says, "If all these movies abided by the rules of physics, it would be a lot more like real life, and it would be a lot more boring." But that doesn't mean that they aren't thinking about it. And, despite what you may have heard, physics majors do have a sense of humor. A pretty good one, according to Ed Marti, listed as "Minister of the Interior'' on the Cal Society of Physics Students Web site. Or, as the Cal chapter sometimes calls itself, "the Uberdorks.'' "I think the physics department tends to be a little more humorous," Marti says. "A little kooky." When asked if it is possible for Superman to have X-ray vision, this is not a group that scoffs at the idea. Well, they may scoff a little bit.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
The need to explain the science of Superman and his source of power misses the point of what Superman represents in our culture.
As far as I'm concerned Superman transcends the natural, not by being supra-natural, that is, performing in a manner that seems to defy scientific principle that really only exploits it, the same way advanced alien civilizations would appear to defy scientific principle by travelling from one end pf space to another,but by being supernatural, a (supreme) being endowed with the powers of (a) god, without the need for any empirical substantiation.
The way I see it, Superman is a god, whose powers are supernatural, that is, powers that transcend the laws of science/ physics, powers that can not be explained but even more so, powers (of a god) that need not be explained.
None of the myriad, innumerable gods of ancient idol-worship nor any of the omnipotent, onminiscient, monotheistic God(s) (Yahweh, Jehovah, Allah) of the Bible or the Quoran, had to be rationalize their status as all-powerful diety by conforming to any principles of the natural world/ science.
Of course in those days there were no scientific principles to speak of but that's part of my point. Superman's powers are inexplicable. His powers are real because they exist. That's all anyone needs to know.
It's exactly like the case of the bumble bee. According to scientific principle, bumble bees should not exist. Their bodies are too large, their wings too stubby and short to support aerodynamic lift for flight. You'd think that once the bumble bee was found to be sceintifically unfeasible, POOF! it would cease to exist. But, it seems, the bumble bee won out over science by its mere existence.
Superman's powers work on the same principle. He can fly through time and space, violate whatever cosmological, Einstienian law he pleases,be invulnerable, impervious, do all the wonderful incredible, amazing things he does becausehe is after all, a god.
All I need to know that Superman's powers exist, the dynamics of which are mysterious, enigmatic, awesome and amazing, and that don't fortunately require any one of us to fathom how they work to know why they work.
Let me add an interesting historical footnote to all of this. Superman's creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster, were both Jewish. Superman's Kryptonian family name is -El. El in hebrew means God. His surname 'Kal' also happens to be another synonym for God in hebrew.
Well, even if you don't subscribe to Superman's jewish theme, the Nazis certainly did. You've got to see this to believe it. Follow the links to see a reproduction of Superman Action Comicwritten during WWII where Superman captures Hitler and Stalin dumpin them at the League of Nations. And then read the incredibly surreal official Nazi response to the Siperman's capture of Hitler in their local newpaper.
Superman and the Nazis. Background: Early in World War II, the Superman comic book published an episode in which Superman demolished part of the German West Wall with France. A copy found its way to Das Schwarze Korps, the weekly newspaper of the SS. It naturally was not pleased. The original article included excerpts from the comic book. Thanks to Ilpo Lagerstedt from Helsinki, who sent me the photocopy of the article, and to Eric Wilson, who informed me of this link to comic book referred to in the article. http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/superman.htm
The Superman episode referenced here is enttiled "How Superman Ends the War" February 27, 1940 http://superman.ws/tales2/endsthewar/?page=1
How does he fly? Super Bean induced rocket propulsion.
It must be sad to be so bright that you can't believe in fantasy or have any imagination at all. This guy doesn't believe in Peter Pan either.
If you ask me, Spiderman is the ones with the real cajones. Superman didn't require any bravery, Spidey knew he could be killed and he faced danger anyway.
Evol-Doer ping.
Nigh invulnerable? Oh yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about. Granted, I don't even know what nigh invulnerable means. Pert' near invincible? Who knows!
Spoooooon!
Superman and his creators NEVER said he could FLY!
He was ". . able to leap tall buildings with a single bound!"
Since our gravity was so weak compared to his Krypton home, he could jump very far here, just like lunar astronauts could jump very far on the moon.
Superman did not "fly" New York to San Francisco, he jumped there with the force from his Krypton-developed legs just like a cannon or ballistic missile can hurl things long distances.
This misunderstanding shows the disastrous lack of scientific knowledge being taught in our schools. We are becoming scientific illiterates.
Every one of Superman's powers can be scientifically explained (OK, the X-ray vision I'm still working on).
What is difficult to understand is what ever happened to those clothes he left in telephone booths? I know - for a lot of you the question is "what's a telephone booth?"
Scientifically, his feats are impossible. Period. There is no was ANY of them could be real. Unless we suspend disbelief long enough to focus on the hypothesis -- the "what if" -- instead of the details. Then, credibility becomes a non-issue, and the story unfolds as an imaginary journey, which is all a freakin' comic book is supposed to be anyway.
A god? No. Superman has no religious overtones. And he is, in fact, vulnerable to many of the same emotional weaknesses that humans are. Even if his body is steel, his heart isn't. Which adds another dimension to the story, by the way.
Makes for a boring hero, doesn't it? A hero who cannot lose isn't a hero at all.
Dude...the same way Peter Pan does. Next question?
My bean theory explains that too! I shall call it "The Grand Unified Bean Theory".
Your theory stinks. But it does explaine Peter Pan and every other super hero flying so you may be on to something.
Personally I always attributed Peter Pan's flight as being the result of being light in the loafers.
Yes, yes it does. But, and I haven't worked out all the details yet, I think it provides an elegant explanation as to why the universe is expanding.
I want to know how Superman changed directions in space.I think it has something to do with the String theory.
Superman eventually realized that he could not eliminate evil and retired to his under-ice farm in Antarctica, the Cave of Repose becoming the Cave of Permanent Retirement.
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