What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions in Science and Inquiry

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What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions

Randall Munroe

Start date: January 1, 2017

Finish date: January 31, 2017

Discussion: Book Club 2017

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Book Club 2017

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What Members Thought

Mar 07, 2015 David Rubenstein rated it it was amazing

Shelves: humor, science

Randall Munroe is a dangerous guy. Seriously dangerous. He is the author of the online comic strip . It's about math, science, hacking, logic, and a host of wonderfully nerdy subjects. But in this book, Munroe answers a stack of absurd hypothetical questions. Some of the questions are really crazy, like "What would happen if everyone on Earth stood as close to each other as they could and jumped, everyone landing on the ground at the same instant?" Munroe explains that the "thud" as everyone ...more

38 likes · Like · see review

Nov 20, 2016 Jim rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1ebook, 2non-fiction, humor, science

Update: He published a lot more that aren't in this book. Read them for free here:

So... I love xkcd & some of these questions were really interesting - funny on the face with some really interesting science & math backing up the answer. For instance, the bullet being hit by lightning got into quite a few interesting facts about lightning. Who wouldn't want to know if a machine gun jet pack would work including discussions on caliber, barrel burn out, & fire rates? Update: He published a lot more that aren't in this book. Read them for free here:

So... I love xkcd & some of these questions were really interesting - funny on the face with some really interesting science & math backing up the answer. For instance, the bullet being hit by lightning got into quite a few interesting facts about lightning. Who wouldn't want to know if a machine gun jet pack would work including discussions on caliber, barrel burn out, & fire rates? Cooking a steak via a high altitude drop wasn't nearly as crazy as a mole of moles, but they would make an interesting planetoid. I never would have thought of that on my own.

This isn't a book to just sit down & read. The questions & answers often require contemplation. Yoda powered houses probably won't catch on, but discovering just what his maximum power output was when he picked Luke's X-wing out of the swamp got into equations about power & how many Yodas it would take to power our civilization. Sure, I learned them in 9th grade physics, but the refresher was a whole lot more interesting than Ms. Hummel's class ever was. (Sorry, Ms. Hummel. Your class was interesting & figuring out horsepower by running up a flight of stairs was great, but... well... Yoda. Yes, I know your class was long before even the first Star Wars movie, but... Yoda-power. How green can you get?)

And then there are the Weird & Worrying Questions sections that dotted this odd amalgamation.
Would it be possible to get your teeth to such a cold temperature that they would shatter upon drinking a hot cup of coffee? is fairly horrifying, but whatever turns you on.
Is it possible to cry so much you dehydrate yourself? is sad, but they're still pure entertainment for me.

If I were Munroe & had to worry about the people sending those emails, I might well disconnect from society & move to the middle of northern Alberta, Canada. You think I exaggerate?
How many houses are burned down in the United States every year? What would be the easiest way to increase that number by a significant amount (say, at least 15%)?
How fast would a human have to run in order to be cut in half at the bellybutton by a cheese-cutting wire? Eeek! There are some scary people out there!

Highly recommended in small doses!
...more

31 likes · Like · see review

Mar 21, 2017 Mitchell Friedman rated it really liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, science, library, liked-reviews, published-2014

Cool but exhausting. Sure I like books that show the world to be analyzable, explainable. But this book might take that too far. Or something. Perhaps reading this straight through was the wrong approach, perhaps an answer a day would have been better. Seems like this would be a good one to have lying around the house for kids to consider. But I have to admit some of the entries caused my eyes to glaze over and my head spin. 3.5 of 5.

4 likes · Like · see review