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"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. "--… (more)
User reviews
OK, a few of the questions are a bit more, uh, normal-sounding than that (like, "How high can a human throw something?"), but most of them are wonderfully bizarre or even downright insane. (And that's not even counting the "Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Inbox" sections, which mostly feature questions he doesn't even attempt to answer, and which are disturbingly hilarious.) No matter how odd the question may be, though, the answers are carefully thought out and based in real math and science. They're also very, very funny, and illustrated with Munroe's distinctive stick-figure drawings. (Seeing those pictures on the printed page was a weird experience for me, though. I kept wanting to tap them to bring up the hovertext.) Munroe's also a bit like the Mythbusters, in that if the answer he gets isn't terribly interesting, he'll usually keep poking at it and adding new wrinkles until it results in something nifty and absurd. A surprising number of these scenarios end in global cataclysm, but it's all good, clean, nerdy fun.
Rating: 4.5/5, although I admit that's probably me rating the website as much as it is the book. Still, it's a fun and very well-put-together book. Be sure to look inside the dust jacket for an illustration of what would happen if Earth's oceans were allowed to drain out through an inter-dimensional plughole!
The book includes a selection of questions previously published online plus
This is as much about humour as about science, with the selection of theories and mathematics applied part of the geeky joy. However, you don't need much (any?) science or maths to follow along and be amused - that's the joy of stick figures. Randall has done the hard work in terms of research and calculation, and translates it gleefully and accessibly (who knew the US Government had an official line on the sensibility of firing a nuke at a hurricane?)
Highlights for me were his digs at Wikipedia - [citation needed] is applied to some of the most outrageously obvious statements ('space is big'), whereas citations relating to his childhood exploits are sufficient for others ('ships made of Lego can't float'). I was particularly fond of his realisation that if he wanted a technical breakdown of temperatures for cooked meat he should stop looking at scientific papers and just pick up his cookbook :)
Randall Munroe is best known for the xkcd comics (and if you haven't read them then you really
Some of the questions that get answered include
what if you flew an airplane on all the planets in the solar system?
what if you put a wormhole at the bottom of the deepest part of the ocean to drain the water?
what if you dropped a steak from orbit, would it cook?
There are dozens of these questions, and I laughed at the consequences of almost all of them. There were an amazing number of innocent sounding 'what if?' questions that lead to catastrophe. As well as all of those there are bits in the middle where some of the dodgier 'what if?' questions get listed, mainly of the 'asking for a friend' variety. Many of these get illustrated with xkcd style cartoons. This just adds to the enjoyment of it all.
Seriously, you need to read this book, especially if you aren't a scientist. It's entertaining and a little educational, but all fun. Definitely my best book for quite a while.
“Who in their right mind wants to know whether a submarine could survive in space?”
“I am concerned about those who like this guy.”
“The author us smart but clearly a nerd and really not corking.”
“no pictures to make the book more interesting”
“I would not recommend this book to anyone unless they were in prison and it would be used for punishment.”
Favorite Passages:
Our plastic will become shredded and buried, and perhaps some microbes will learn to digest it, but in all likelihood, a million years from now, an out-of-place layer of processed hydrocarbons—transformed fragments of our shampoo bottles and shopping bags—will serve as a chemical monument to civilization.
If humans escape the solar system and outlive the Sun, our descendants may someday live on one of these planets. Atoms from Times Square, cycled through the heart of the Sun, will form our new bodies. One day, either we will all be dead, or we will all be New Yorkers.
So we shouldn’t worry too much about when computers will catch up with us in complexity. After all, we’ve caught up to ants, and they don’t seem too concerned. Sure, we seem like we’ve taken over the planet, but if I had to bet on which one of us would still be around in a million years—primates, computers, or ants—I know who I’d pick.
if an astronaut on the ISS listens to “I’m Gonna Be,” in the time between the first beat of the song and the final lines . . . . . . they will have traveled just about exactly 1000 miles.
Rule of thumb: One person per square meter is a light crowd, four people per square meter is a mosh pit.
Al Worden, the Apollo 15 command module pilot, even enjoyed the experience. There’s a thing about being alone and there’s a thing about being lonely, and they’re two different things. I was alone but I was not lonely. My background was as a fighter pilot in the air force, then as a test pilot—and that was mostly in fighter airplanes—so I was very used to being by myself. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I didn’t have to talk to Dave and Jim any more . . . On the backside of the Moon, I didn’t even have to talk to Houston and that was the best part of the flight. Introverts understand; the loneliest human in history was just happy to have a few minutes of peace and quiet.
“What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions” by Randall Munroe, the creator of a popular webcomic xkcd.com, is a collection of ludicrous Q&As, some of which have been selected from his blog what-if.xkcd.com while others have never been published
THUMBS UP:
1) One of a kind.
Since I’ve never heard about Munroe or his famous webcomic xkcd, I was flabbergasted when I first came upon this book; I’ve never seen anything like this before! It’s not the bizarre questions that impressed me though, nor the surprising answers; it’s the author’s means of obtaining and presenting these answers. Seriously, how do you calculate the Force power of Yoda? Well, Munroe not only accomplishes THAT, he often goes way beyond the original question, taking the situations to extremes. And if he occasionally decides that the question or the answer is not interesting enough, he steers the reader in different direction where the real fun happens.
2) Smart, creative, funny.
I was amazed by the author’s knowledge, researching skills, mathematical abilities, geeky sense of humor and, most of all, by his enviable ability to think outside the box. Just WOW.
3) Fun trivia.
“What If” contains a lot of random information, most of which is not very practical but extremely entertaining.
COULD BE BETTER:
1) Not a light read.
Although “What If” is funny and entertaining, it is also highly scientific. To fully grasp the information in this book requires concentration and brain power (but often even that is not enough), thus it is best to read no more than few chapters at a time.
2) Requires scientific background.
To fully understand the answers and appreciate all the jokes in “What If” requires some kind of scientific background and/or willingness to look up a lot of things. Although I consider myself somewhat proficient in biology and chemistry with a high-school knowledge in physics, I had trouble understanding some explanations and looked up quite a few things.
3) For fans of physics.
The majority of Q&As involves physics, and since I am neither an expert in it nor a fan, I didn’t enjoy the book as much as I hoped I would. In addition, although Munroe attempts to explain things in somewhat less complicated terms, he doesn’t explain absolutely everything and often assumes at least a basic knowledge of physics.
VERDICT:
If you are a fan of Munroe’s webcomic xkcd.com, you will definitely enjoy this book. If you never heard about the webcomic though, your reaction depends on your level of geekiness and love for physics. Check out Munroe’s blog what-if.xkcd.com to see what I mean!
If you just want interesting thoughts about science and
There really isn't much more I can say about this book - except it is awesome.
The subtitle, oddly enough placed above the main title, is “Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions.” I laughed on almost every page, while remembering some of the absurd questions I asked as a youngster. Sadly, my most absurd question is not here: “What would happen to a ball dropped into a hole which went clear through the planet?” It was at a Boy Scout Summer Camp, and the recipient of this question, rolled his eyes and said, “Wait, stop, we are way off target here, we are talking about eclipses of the moon!” I often cut off my students who begin with, “This might be a dumb question…” by telling them “there are no dumb questions, only dumb answers.” I guess now I will have to add No dumb questions, only some pretty funny absurd ones.”
Here are some examples of Munroe’s wit and humor. “What would happen if the Earth and all terrestrial objects suddenly stopped spinning, but the atmosphere retained its velocity?” Answer: nearly everyone would die. Then things would get interesting. At the equator, the Earth’s surface is moving … a little over a thousand miles an hour,” resulting in “a sudden thousand-mile-per-hour wind. […] everyone and everything between 42 degrees north and 42 degrees south …about 85 percent of the world’s population – would suddenly experience supersonic winds. The highest winds would only last for a few minutes near the surface; friction from the ground would slow them down. However, those few minutes would be long enough to reduce virtually all human structures to ruins” (1).
Some of my favorite questions include, “If an asteroid was very small but supermassive, could you really live on it like the Little Prince [from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s novel, The Little Prince?” (102). I wondered about this the first time I read this wonderful ostensibly children’s story. Here’s another, “What if I jumped out of an airplane with a couple of tanks of helium and one huge balloon? Then, while falling, I release the helium and fill the balloon. How long of a fall would I need in order to slow me enough that I could land safely?” (150). Some people obviously have way too much time on their hands! And finally, “If two immortal people were placed on opposite sides of an Earthlike Planet, how long would it take them to find each other?” He did say absurd questions! Spoiler alert: 3,000 years. Other questions involve draining the oceans (204), and guessing on every SAT multiple Choice question (278).
For lots of fun and laughter – and some serious questions – pick up a copy of Randall Munroe’s book, What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions. 5 stars.
--Jim, 10/12/14
Randall Munroe has selected a number of funny yet quite entertaining questions from his site xkcd to answer in this wonderfully entertaining book. As a science teacher myself, I jumped at the funny yet
I really loved Munroe's wit and humor as he attempts to answer some of life's toughest questions. It's written in a way that's extremely accessible to those of us who think scientific principles just don't mesh with their brain. It's got pictures for those visual learners out there. And for those of you that finish and want more to read, you can still visit his site.
Definitely recommend for any science lovers out there. Or question lovers.
Absurd. Yes, truly absurd. The questions posed in this book are truly absurd.
Here’s one: How quickly would the oceans drain if a portal was made at the deepest spot in the ocean?
Another: How many Lego blocks would it take to build a bridge able to
Oh, just one more: From what height would you need to drop a steak for it to be cooked when it hit the ground?
Serious. Yes, these are seriously scientific answers.
Scientific jargon. Mathematical formulas. And clever cartoons.
You need to read this book. Trust me. It’s fantastic.