What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe - Paperback - Popular Science Humour Book - Adult Non Fiction

Details Condition: BRAND NEW Format: Paperback ISBN: 9781848549562 Publisher: John Murray Overview What If? is Randall Munroe's bestselling collection of scrupulously researched answers to the most absurd hypothetical questions imaginable. Drawing on his background in physics and robotics, and the huge following of his webcomic xkcd, Munroe tackles queries about speed bumps, dead Facebook profiles, T. Rex rampages and nuclear-powered swimming pools with genuine scientific rigour. The result is a book that is equal parts textbook, comedy routine and thought experiment, ideal for curious readers, science fans, and anyone who has ever wondered "what would actually happen if..." About the Book Millions of readers visit xkcd.com every week, and many of them send Randall Munroe strange, often unanswerable questions. In What If?, he takes those questions seriously and does the hard work of actually answering them, using computer simulations, declassified military research, differential equations, and conversations with genuine experts, including nuclear reactor operators. What starts as an absurd premise quickly becomes a genuine physics lesson delivered with dry, deadpan humour. Munroe's illustrations, in his signature stick-figure style, punctuate the text throughout, turning complex explanations into something instantly readable and often laugh-out-loud funny. Many answers spiral, entertainingly, towards the destruction of a city or the annihilation of humankind, which is very much part of the charm. This is popular science writing at its most playful: rigorous where it needs to be, ridiculous where it can be, and never condescending to its reader. It has become a modern classic of accessible science writing, gifted and shared widely for making advanced concepts feel approachable and fun. Real scientific answers to genuinely absurd hypothetical questions Written by the creator of the hugely popular xkcd webcomic Packed with original stick-figure illustrations and diagra