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Chasing Captain America: How Advances in Science, Engineering, and Biotechnology Will Produce a Superhuman
Could we create a real-life superhero by changing human biology itself?
The form and function of the human body, once entirely delimited by nature, are now fluid concepts thanks to recent advances in biomedical science and engineering. Professor, author, and comic book enthusiast E. Paul Zehr uses Marvel’s Captain America — an ordinary man turned into an extraordinary hero, thanks to a military science experiment — as an entry-point to this brave new world of science, no longer limited to the realm of fiction. With our ever-expanding scientific and technological prowess, human biological adaptability is now in our fallible human hands. Thanks to the convergence of biology, engineering, and technology, we can now alter our abilities through surgery, pharmaceutical enhancement, technological fusion, and genetic engineering.
Written in an accessible manner, Chasing Captain America explores these areas and more, asking what the real limits of being human are, how far we should bend those limits, and how we may be forced to reshape human biology if we are to colonize planets like Mars.
The form and function of the human body, once entirely delimited by nature, are now fluid concepts thanks to recent advances in biomedical science and engineering. Professor, author, and comic book enthusiast E. Paul Zehr uses Marvel’s Captain America — an ordinary man turned into an extraordinary hero, thanks to a military science experiment — as an entry-point to this brave new world of science, no longer limited to the realm of fiction. With our ever-expanding scientific and technological prowess, human biological adaptability is now in our fallible human hands. Thanks to the convergence of biology, engineering, and technology, we can now alter our abilities through surgery, pharmaceutical enhancement, technological fusion, and genetic engineering.
Written in an accessible manner, Chasing Captain America explores these areas and more, asking what the real limits of being human are, how far we should bend those limits, and how we may be forced to reshape human biology if we are to colonize planets like Mars.
200 pages, Paperback
First published April 17, 2018
20 people are currently reading
592 people want to read
About the author
E. Paul Zehr
9 books29 followersSensorimotor neuroscientist by day, superhero science ninja by night. Check out my neuroscience blog Black Belt Brain at Psychology Today Magazine and my guest blogs on the science of superheroes over at Scientific American Magazine.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 18, 2017
The hook of this book is the non-fiction exploration of the real world creation of the comic book superhero, Captain America.
Chasing Captain America argues that we are in the process of evolving beyond natural selection by taking direct control of selecting our own traits through the convergence of biology, engineering and technology.
Zehr cleverly begins each clearly defined chapter with a relevant quotation from the fictional comic book universe which is generally followed up with an on point quotation by a real person.
Whilst an interesting premise, I found that most of the science relied upon is more in the realms of science speculation than hard science. Often the science mythology and research is prefaced with qualitative disclaimers like "we forsee the extension of concept" or "shown proof of concept". All this means is that this science is still at an embryonic stage and we are far off from actual real world scientific break throughs.
Ultimately a good idea that is irremediably hampered by the lack of hard science.
Chasing Captain America argues that we are in the process of evolving beyond natural selection by taking direct control of selecting our own traits through the convergence of biology, engineering and technology.
Zehr cleverly begins each clearly defined chapter with a relevant quotation from the fictional comic book universe which is generally followed up with an on point quotation by a real person.
Whilst an interesting premise, I found that most of the science relied upon is more in the realms of science speculation than hard science. Often the science mythology and research is prefaced with qualitative disclaimers like "we forsee the extension of concept" or "shown proof of concept". All this means is that this science is still at an embryonic stage and we are far off from actual real world scientific break throughs.
Ultimately a good idea that is irremediably hampered by the lack of hard science.
November 22, 2017
I found this book to be an exceptionally well-written piece of literature enlightening us about today's groundbreaking work (and discoveries) in medical science. Zehr blends awesome comic metaphors with real-life examples, bringing any topic into a candid, seamless understanding of how far we can push our base biology. You can refer to Chasing Captain America as a great source for educational purposes or even just to increase your own knowledge of the advances we have achieved thus far in the 21st century. Without a doubt, this is one awesome book and I can't wait to see what else Zehr writes about.
January 7, 2018
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and ECW Press in exchange for an honest review.
I love superheroes. So seeing a book called Chasing Captain America; mixing my love of science and maths with my love of comics and superhero films was bound to get my attention.
This book explores the fors and againsts, as well as the likelihood that we could create a superhuman - how far has technology come so far, and how far is it yet to go? How long until people contemplate prosthetic/ robotic limbs to gain an advantage in society? How long before brain doping becomes more widescale?
These are just a few of the questions put forward in this book. I particularly liked the superhero metaphors which Zehr included at the beginning of each chapter, as well as throughout the book. This broke up the science theory with a bit of fun, and something I'm sure many in society will be able to recall/ relate to. With this I think the book became accessible to a huge new target audience - those with a love for sci-fi and fantasy heroes and an interest in science as a whole.
Personally I do not have a professional biology/ chemistry background, but I have read other books with this content. Nonetheless, this book was great for me - I sometimes find science books quite heavy-going, and although I enjoy them, it takes a great deal of concentration to get my head around some ideas. This book however, is the perfect blend of a story, and of fact. The author is not biased, and does pose interesting and though provoking questions bound to excite anyone with an interest in the future of science.
Overall I am awarding this book a 4*/5 rating - and after a bit of digging I have found he also wrote books such as Becoming Batman, Inventing Iron Man - having read this book I will now definitely be looking to read these! If you have any kind of interest in science, or want an accessible and fun book to expand your knowledge and get you thinking, this is the one for you!
I love superheroes. So seeing a book called Chasing Captain America; mixing my love of science and maths with my love of comics and superhero films was bound to get my attention.
This book explores the fors and againsts, as well as the likelihood that we could create a superhuman - how far has technology come so far, and how far is it yet to go? How long until people contemplate prosthetic/ robotic limbs to gain an advantage in society? How long before brain doping becomes more widescale?
These are just a few of the questions put forward in this book. I particularly liked the superhero metaphors which Zehr included at the beginning of each chapter, as well as throughout the book. This broke up the science theory with a bit of fun, and something I'm sure many in society will be able to recall/ relate to. With this I think the book became accessible to a huge new target audience - those with a love for sci-fi and fantasy heroes and an interest in science as a whole.
Personally I do not have a professional biology/ chemistry background, but I have read other books with this content. Nonetheless, this book was great for me - I sometimes find science books quite heavy-going, and although I enjoy them, it takes a great deal of concentration to get my head around some ideas. This book however, is the perfect blend of a story, and of fact. The author is not biased, and does pose interesting and though provoking questions bound to excite anyone with an interest in the future of science.
Overall I am awarding this book a 4*/5 rating - and after a bit of digging I have found he also wrote books such as Becoming Batman, Inventing Iron Man - having read this book I will now definitely be looking to read these! If you have any kind of interest in science, or want an accessible and fun book to expand your knowledge and get you thinking, this is the one for you!
October 8, 2017
I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
Probably the least probable of Zehr’s comic trilogy, the science within makes you want to believe that becoming Captain America is a possibility. The book is dry at times, in large part due to the abundance of scientific terminology needed to accurately portray the narrative. If you have a desire to imagine the extremes of science and even a casual like of comic books, you will gain something by reading this book.
Probably the least probable of Zehr’s comic trilogy, the science within makes you want to believe that becoming Captain America is a possibility. The book is dry at times, in large part due to the abundance of scientific terminology needed to accurately portray the narrative. If you have a desire to imagine the extremes of science and even a casual like of comic books, you will gain something by reading this book.
October 4, 2018
This is the second book by Zehr, Becoming Batman was a good read, and Chasing Captain America is solid. Zehr uses his love of comic superheroes to explain some very intricate science (an overview, but still intricate) and presents some very interesting ideas about the direction of human development. He includes the ethics and fears of these changes in our future. Great bibliography as well. I look forward to reading his Ironman book and a number of the books in the bibliography.Check it out.
May 21, 2018
3.5. Similar to Zehr's other books, but I liked this one more since it didn't drag out as long.
July 31, 2018
It was a fun read and I was really enjoying it until a leak from one of the upstairs apartment's toilets rendered the rest of the book unreadable. Blast!
February 10, 2019
At no fault of the author, we are nowhere near the genetic or scientific ability to create a super soldier and the book ends up being amusing speculation
March 13, 2023
I was very much skimming this one, but it's well written. It wasn't too technical, it just didn't hold my interest very well.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews