How Many Pikachus Would It Take to Power a Lightbulb?

byThomas Crawford

The Real Maths of Fantasy Worlds

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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.

© Thomas Crawford 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

Bonkers, but in a brilliant way. Tom Crawford has taken the Venn diagram of all the things he’s passionate about, and the intersection is this fun journey through imaginary worlds via his clever mathematical perspective.

Marcus du Sautoy, author of The Music of the Primes

About Thomas Crawford

Dr Tom Crawford first became interested in the mathematics of fantasy when he calculated that, to keep a Charizard as a pet, he would need to feed it 23,071 calories per day; equivalent to 61 tins of Pedigree’s wet dog food. So began a decade-long journey into whether the mathematics of other fictional worlds made any more sense. (It turns out they don’t.)


Tom is both a fellow at Robinson College, University of Cambridge, from where he holds a PhD in fluid mechanics, and Public Engagement Lead at University of Oxford Lifelong Learning. His work has been featured on the BBC, Channel 4’s Countdown and in the New Scientist, and he is the creator of the popular YouTube channel ‘Tom Rocks Maths’, where he answers important questions like: how many ping-pong balls would it take to raise the Titanic? And can I bake a pi-shaped pie using ingredients only in multiples of pi?


Tom also has a lot of tattoos: fifteen are maths themed but, to his embarrassment, he does not yet have a Pikachu. If this book sells really well he promises to rectify this immediately.
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Details
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • ISBN: 9781804953518
  • Price: £14.00
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