What If?
Books | Fiction / Satire
4.2
(952)
Randall Munroe
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 a large and passionate following.Fans of xkcd ask Munroe a lot of strange questions. What if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90 percent the speed of light? How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live? If there was a robot apocalypse, how long would humanity last?In pursuit of answers, Munroe runs computer simulations, pores over stacks of declassified military research memos, solves differential equations, and consults with nuclear reactor operators. His responses are masterpieces of clarity and hilarity, complemented by signature xkcd comics. They often predict the complete annihilation of humankind, or at least a really big explosion.The book features new and never-before-answered questions, along with updated and expanded versions of the most popular answers from the xkcd website. What If? will be required reading for xkcd fans and anyone who loves to ponder the hypothetical.
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More Details:
Author
Randall Munroe
Pages
303
Publisher
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Published Date
2014
ISBN
0544272994 9780544272996
Ratings
Google: 4
Community ReviewsSee all
"So interesting! It was a great bedtime read with my kids. The illustrations are incredible as well. "
Siara_C
"It took me a while to finish this book, but I finally did it! It was a little out of my comfort zone and I didn't understand everything he was saying but I still enjoyed it. I loved how it was humorous at the same time it was being informative. Very entertaining ⭐️⭐️⭐️"
July
"who knew science could be so funny? no but seriously READ THIS. incredibly witty and informative (if you need information on really weird topics, such as machine gun jet packs.)"
squid
"Explores theoretical science in such an entertaining way that I didn’t think it was possible until I read it."
Chardis
"So /very/ cool! This book was educational, incredibly funny, and so well researched!<br/><br/>Some of it went way over my head, but I'm not sure if that's a comment on the book's digestibility or my own intellectual limitations.<br/><br/>I would (and already have) strongly recommend this book--especially to those with inquisitive minds!"
Katherine Itacy
"A good book to pass time and learn some fun facts"
J H
"Fantastic book to leave on a coffee table. Get answers to incredible scenarios you may have thought of!"
Peter B
"Wil Wheaton reads the audio book version. Get that!"
Patrick Berry
"Very fun and nuanced answers to silly questions. Great read."
Infi Knight
""I like it when things catch fire and explode, which means I do not have your best interests in mind."<br/><br/>Whether you like math, science, or whatever, I bet there is something in this book for you. I found some of the chapters were a bit slow, but those were the ones that deviated from the more math and science questions because I understand that better than the history of Manhattan. Some of the answers completely flew over my head, too, but even if then, I still enjoyed what I was reading. The author will go to such extremes to answer these questions that you never know what the final answer will be.<br/><br/>Like everyone else, the best questions were the Wacky and Weird Questions. <br/>My personal favorite being: <br/>"Would it be possible to get your teeth to such a cold temperature that they would shatter upon drinking a hot cup of coffee?" <br/><br/>The doodles enhance the experience tenfold, providing a great bit of humor. <br/>I will be reading more of these on his blog.<br/>"
Rue
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