What If?

Books | Fiction / Satire

4.2

(954)

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!"

K I

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!"

P B

Peter B

"Wil Wheaton reads the audio book version. Get that!"

P B

Patrick Berry

"Very fun and nuanced answers to silly questions. Great read."

I K

Infi Knight

"There is not much to say about this book that the blurb doesn't already say. This a collection of crazy what if scenarios with answers derived from scientific data. I chipped away at this book and did not read it all in one go, which seemed to make things easier to digest, and maybe even a little funnier. I really enjoyed Munroe's humor and intelligence (the footnotes and drawings are the real stars of the show). This book is perfect for inquisitive people."

N F

Nicole Falche

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