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3.75k reviews for:
What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
Randall Munroe
4.14 AVERAGE
3.75k reviews for:
What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
Randall Munroe
4.14 AVERAGE
funny
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
enjoyable, altho i dnf’d around 80% cus it got pretty repetitive
An interesting listen. Lots of crazy questions and scientific answers. I learned few things!
My only complaint is that the book ended. Luckily, there is the blog to tide me over until he does another volume.
I felt like Lloyd Christmas in the bar scene of Dumb and Dumber through most of this book. “I DONT CAAAAARREEEE.”
4.5 stars
So many good responses to such crazy questions! Randall Munroe is a physicist and a cartoonist. The result of his two crafts is this book. It was such a pleasant read that I would recommend to science enthusiasts!
One of the funniest stories was "What would happen if a hairdryer with continuous power were turned on and put in an airtight 1x1x1-meter box?"
I am studying physics myself and I thought his responses were brilliant and funny! I thought the accompanying cartoons were brilliant too!
If you ever wondered what would happen to you if you swim in a pool with radiation waste, or if you ever ponder with outrageous scenarios you won't be disappointed with what this book will give you!!
So many good responses to such crazy questions! Randall Munroe is a physicist and a cartoonist. The result of his two crafts is this book. It was such a pleasant read that I would recommend to science enthusiasts!
One of the funniest stories was "What would happen if a hairdryer with continuous power were turned on and put in an airtight 1x1x1-meter box?"
I am studying physics myself and I thought his responses were brilliant and funny! I thought the accompanying cartoons were brilliant too!
If you ever wondered what would happen to you if you swim in a pool with radiation waste, or if you ever ponder with outrageous scenarios you won't be disappointed with what this book will give you!!
It's fun and laser focused --for better or for worse-- at geeks. If you like Munroe's XKCD, then you'll probably like What If? too, with the same sorta references and tongue-in-cheek humor. With a little touch of macabre. Spoiler: the answer to most of the questions is 'nothing good, that's for sure.'
There's a lot of really interesting questions. They do kinda melt together (c'mon folks, you know damn well what will happen if the Sun went off). Frankly, it's the side minutae that Munroe learned to answer the questions, often tucked into footnotes, that is actually fascinating-- the apocryphal story behind SCRAM, how many 2x2 LEGO blocks there are, or Michael Collins's feelings of peace on the dark side of the moon.
To be honest...the humor isn't laugh out loud. You grin and smile and move on. Maybe stacking giraffes and Yoda in a smart car doesn't do it for me anymore. I mostly skipped the drawings, because they felt like distractions from the interesting meat.
What If? is like Mythbusters. It's a little fast and loose sometimes with its math, but it gets its audience to think a little more analytically about the world without boring them.
There's a lot of really interesting questions. They do kinda melt together (c'mon folks, you know damn well what will happen if the Sun went off). Frankly, it's the side minutae that Munroe learned to answer the questions, often tucked into footnotes, that is actually fascinating-- the apocryphal story behind SCRAM, how many 2x2 LEGO blocks there are, or Michael Collins's feelings of peace on the dark side of the moon.
To be honest...the humor isn't laugh out loud. You grin and smile and move on. Maybe stacking giraffes and Yoda in a smart car doesn't do it for me anymore. I mostly skipped the drawings, because they felt like distractions from the interesting meat.
What If? is like Mythbusters. It's a little fast and loose sometimes with its math, but it gets its audience to think a little more analytically about the world without boring them.
Loved this book (despite the math being a bit over my head). The sense of humor is fantastic, the questions and answers are thought-provoking and there is an answer that involves a planet made of meat. And that's when things get interesting...
A good bathroom reader. This book might make understanding science easier for some by pondering preposterous questions.