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Hardcover
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9780544272996
Overview
Overview
From the creator of the wildly popular webcomic xkcd, hilarious and informative answers to important questions you probably never thought to ask Millions of people visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe's iconic webcomic. His stick-figure drawings about science, technology, language, and love have an enormous, dedicated following, as do his deeply researched answers to his fans' strangest questions. The queries he receives range from merely odd to downright diabolical: - What if I took a swim in a spent-nuclear-fuel pool? - Could you build a jetpack using downward-firing machine guns? - What if a Richter 15 earthquake hit New York City? - Are fire tornadoes possible? His responses are masterpieces of clarity and wit, gleefully and accurately explaining everything from the relativistic effects of a baseball pitched at near the speed of light to the many horrible ways you could die while building a periodic table out of all the actual elements. The book features new and never-before-answered questions, along with the most popular answers from the xkcd website. What If? is an informative feast for xkcd fans and anyone who loves to ponder the hypothetical.
- Format: Hardcover
- Author: Munroe, Randall
- ISBN: 9780544272996
- Condition: Used
- Dimensions: 9.00 x 1.40
- Number Of Pages: 320
- Publication Year: 2014
Customer Reviews
Rating Snapshot
5 ★
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Quirky science
Nik W. - 3 years 7 months agoWhat If is subtitled Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions; it provides just that. Randall Munroe is the author of the webcomic XKCD and he brings to this book the same unusual viewpoint, sense of humor, and logic that makes that strip so popular. Among the questions answered here are: --fastballs pitched at near light-speed What if everyone on earth pointed a laser pointer at the moon? Which flyover state is actually flown over the most? What would happen if the sun switched off? How airplanes would fly on every planet and major moon Needless to say, the Absurd part is very strong; fortunately, the scientific part is very strong as well, and the whole thing is done with a great sense of humor. Highly recommended.
HPB Staff Review -
A Curious Collection of Hilariously Hypothetical Questions with (Somewhat) Real Solutions
Michelle d. - 6 years 3 months agoWhen I told a family friend that I was pursuing a B.S. in physics, they said "stop right there, I'll be right back" and disappeared for a few minutes before returning with this wonderful tan book, a large smile across their face and glitter in their eyes. I was given a month to borrow it and was I glad I did. What if? captures the ingenuity and impracticalness of physics problems while giving mysteriously logical solutions. Randall Munroe focuses on grandiose questions of science and progress that have plagued the young mind of blossoming physicists and engineers for years with rejuvenating energy. Some of these include "What would happen if you hit a ball at the speed of light?". These absurd questions mixed in with Munroe's nerdy humor, quippy sticky figures, and (wouldn't you believe it) real-world physics makes for a fascinating read. It also manages to make physics concepts widely accessible to all ages and math backgrounds. You do not have to be a physicist to enjoy this book, you just have to be open-minded to the wildness of theoretical calculations. This is the book my lectures whip out when they finish lectures early or my peers and I stay up late reading after a stressful test. Physics can be hard, but it can also be a whole ton of fun. #SummerReading
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What if you found a most clever book? Would you pick it up? I hope so.
Jael P. - 6 years 5 months agoIt takes a lot for me to get into any book, so Randall Munroe had his work cut out for him. How was it? I absolutely loved it. He is truly an expert at taking the absurd and making it both educational and memorable. I couldn't wait to read each chapter, and my wife actually enjoyed hearing me read topics to her on long car drives (which is a big deal for me). If you have any experience with his web comic xkcd, then you already know how clever he is, but even if you haven't, I encourage anyone who has any interest in science to give this book a look. And if you're not science-oriented, check it out anyway; you might find yourself a whole new appreciation for how things work.
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A culmination of Munroe's incomprehensible amounts of knowledge and endless wit.
Carly P. - 8 years 2 months agoRandall Munroe is a genius. That's not stating the obvious, as much as it seems so, even if you are vaguely familiar with his work. Coming from the creator of the webcomic xkcd' and former NASA roboticist, it is very clear that this is a smart and incredibly scientific mind at work. His comics reflect that, often about complicated topics simplified into stick figures and pop culture references. His genius, though, goes beyond the scientific, into something some might say is even harder. Comedy. Hilariously funny, Munroe writes with all the seriousness of a scholar, and the irreverence of a child at play. His book, What If?, is a culmination of his incomprehensible amounts of knowledge, his endless wit, and his ability to draw stick figures in hats. He had fans of his webcomic submit ridiculous, science and math based questions and he endeavored to answer them as factually and scientifically as possible, which resulted in some of the most laugh out loud funny reading I've had in ages. It is an easy book to pick up and look through, despite the seemingly complicated questions, but I recommend sitting down with it and reading it cover to cover.
HPB Staff Review