What If? 2
Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
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4.5 • 113 Ratings
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!
An NPR Best Book of 2022
"The questions throughout What If? 2 are equal parts brilliant, gross, and wonderfully absurd and the answers are thorough, deeply researched, and great fun. . . . Science isn’t easy, but in Munroe’s capable hands, it surely can be fun." —TIME
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of What If? and How To answers more of the weirdest questions you never thought to ask
The millions of people around the world who read and loved What If? still have questions, and those questions are getting stranger. Thank goodness xkcd creator Randall Munroe is here to help. Planning to ride a fire pole from the Moon back to Earth? The hardest part is sticking the landing. Hoping to cool the atmosphere by opening everyone’s freezer door at the same time? Maybe it’s time for a brief introduction to thermodynamics. Want to know what would happen if you rode a helicopter blade, built a billion-story building, made a lava lamp out of lava, or jumped on a geyser as it erupted? Okay, if you insist.
Before you go on a cosmic road trip, feed the residents of New York City to a T. rex, or fill every church with bananas, be sure to consult this practical guide for impractical ideas. Unfazed by absurdity, Munroe consults the latest research on everything from swing-set physics to airliner catapult–design to answer his readers’ questions, clearly and concisely, with illuminating and occasionally terrifying illustrations. As he consistently demonstrates, you can learn a lot from examining how the world might work in very specific extreme circumstances.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
There may be no such thing as a dumb question, but there are definitely plenty of weird ones. (Like, “Can someone eat a cloud?”) XKCD cartoonist and general science nerd Randall Munroe happily delivers the answers in this very funny and surprisingly educational book. Munroe takes on questions sent in by his fans, using math and science to solve these oddball queries. How much actual dinosaur is in a plastic dinosaur? How much value can you stuff into a shoebox? How big would a smartphone made with vacuum tubes be? Munroe finds the facts and shows his work, delivering a playful crash course in physics. With this book, you’ll learn almost as much as you did in your high school science classes, and you'll laugh a lot more.
Customer Reviews
Dan Is Wrong
This is a funny and interesting sequel to the first book, “What If?”. What If? 2 is a great read if you liked the first, and will keep you hooked through the whole read.
Don’t listen to Dan
This book is laugh out loud funny. Randall Munroe just knows how to make things interesting. Is any of the information in here useful? Absolutely not. Is it fun and entertaining? Most definitely! I don’t think this is as good as the first “What If” but it is worth a read for sure.
Only geeks could like this book, maybe!
The book is filled with very uninteresting questions. It was probably sent to MIT for review but the physicist/editor fell asleep by the third chapter.
If you read it, people will avoid you at parties — even the geeks.