Randall Munroe
Books
What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions -- Randall Munroe - Hardcover
In the New York Times best-selling book from the creator of the wildly popular webcomic xkcd, Randall Munroe gives hilarious and informative answers to important questions you probably never thought to ask.
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? What if everyone only had one soulmate? What would happen if the moon went away?
In pursuit of answers, Munroe ran computer simulations, pored over stacks of declassified military research memos, solved differential equations, and consulted 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.)
Far more than a book for geeks, What If? explains the laws of science in operation in a way that every intelligent reader will enjoy and feel much smarter for having read
Author: Randall Munroe
Publisher: Dey Street Books
Published: 09/02/2014
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 2.04lbs
Size: 9.00h x 7.30w x 1.40d
ISBN: 9780544272996
Review Citation(s):
Entertainment Weekly 09/05/2014 pg. 69
People Weekly 09/15/2014 pg. 52
Discover 10/01/2014 pg. 74
Library Journal 10/01/2014 pg. 107
Entertainment Weekly 12/12/2014 pg. 75
People Weekly 12/22/2014 pg. 46
BookPage 09/01/2014
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? What if everyone only had one soulmate? What would happen if the moon went away?
In pursuit of answers, Munroe ran computer simulations, pored over stacks of declassified military research memos, solved differential equations, and consulted 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.)
Far more than a book for geeks, What If? explains the laws of science in operation in a way that every intelligent reader will enjoy and feel much smarter for having read
Author: Randall Munroe
Publisher: Dey Street Books
Published: 09/02/2014
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 2.04lbs
Size: 9.00h x 7.30w x 1.40d
ISBN: 9780544272996
Review Citation(s):
Entertainment Weekly 09/05/2014 pg. 69
People Weekly 09/15/2014 pg. 52
Discover 10/01/2014 pg. 74
Library Journal 10/01/2014 pg. 107
Entertainment Weekly 12/12/2014 pg. 75
People Weekly 12/22/2014 pg. 46
BookPage 09/01/2014
About the Author
RANDALL MUNROE, a former NASA roboticist, is the creator of the webcomic xkcd and the author of xkcd: volume 0. The International Astronomical Union recently named an asteroid after him; asteroid 4942 Munroe is big enough to cause a mass extinction if it ever hits a planet like earth.
Product Attributes: Dey Street Books, Form, Hardcover, Humor, Physics, Randall Munroe, Science, Trivia