How Many Pikachus Would It Take to Power a Lightbulb?

The weird and weirdly compelling real maths behind Pokemon, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Nintendo and more. 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.