How Many Pikachus Would It Take to Power a Lightbulb?

How many daily calories would you need to feed a Charizard?Could the Death Star's laser actually blow up a planet?What is the half-life of the Incredible Hulk?And is the meaning of life really ‘42’?Join Dr Tom Crawford on a tour through the real-world maths of the most absurd fantasy universes. Drawing on a decade's research at some of the world's leading universities, he answers all the most bamboozling maths questions raised by Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Star Wars and more: from calculating Frodo Baggins' life insurance premium for his journey to Mordor, to what it would take to make the Weasley family car fly, to how rich Super Mario would be after he'd gobbled up all those coins. The result is both a dizzying compendium of fantastical ‘did you know?’ facts and a guide to the mathematics of life, the universe and everything.

Dr Tom Crawford is a maths fellow at St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford. An expert on applied maths, he holds a PhD in Fluid Dynamics from the University of Cambridge, and is Public Engagement Lead at Oxford’s Department for Continuing Education. In addition to his research and teaching, Tom runs the popular ‘Tom Rocks Maths’ YouTube channel. One of the biggest maths creators on the internet, Tom frequently appears on ‘Numberphile’, the world’s largest online maths channel, and has collaborated with the likes of Matt Parker, Alex Bellos and Hannah Fry. He regularly appears on the BBC explaining mathematical subjects for a popular audience, and his research has been featured in iNews, TED.com and the New Scientist. He lives in Oxford, UK.