What If?

Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions What If? #1

Hardcover, 303 pages

English language

Published Sept. 1, 2014 by Mariner Books.

ISBN:
9780544272996
Goodreads:
21413662

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4 stars (1 review)

Randall Munroe left NASA in 2005 to start up his hugely popular site XKCD 'a web comic of romance, sarcasm, math and language' which offers a witty take on the world of science and geeks. It now has 600,000 to a million page hits daily. Every now and then, Munroe would get emails asking him to arbitrate a science debate. 'My friend and I were arguing about what would happen if a bullet got struck by lightning, and we agreed that you should resolve it . . . ' He liked these questions so much that he started up What If.

4 editions

Review of 'What if?' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Monroe's book answers that old question, "Is there such a thing as a stupid question?" It turns out the answer is "yes." But that doesn't lessen the enjoyment of the book!

It also is a book that graphically (!) shows that it's not always obvious what happens to something if it is taken to a physical extreme. The results are fascinating!

Monroe is writing "what if? Two: Science Boogaloo." And that's a good thing

Subjects

  • Mathematics
  • Miscellanea
  • Science
  • Questions and answers
  • Physics