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 …
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.
If your cells suddenly lost the power to divide, how long would you survive?
How dangerous is it, really, to be in a swimming pool in a thunderstorm?
If we hooked turbines to people exercising in gyms, how much power could we produce?
What if everyone only had one soulmate?
When (if ever) did the sun go down on the British empire?
How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live?
What would happen if the moon went away?
In pursuit of answers, Munroe runs computer simulations, pores over stacks of declassified military research memos, solves differential equations, and consults with nuclear reactor operators. His responses are masterpieces of clarity and hilarity, studded with memorable cartoons and infographics. They often predict the complete annihilation of humankind, or at least a really big explosion. Far more than a book for geeks, WHAT IF: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions explains the laws of science in operation in a way that every intelligent reader will enjoy and feel much the smarter for having read.
Paperback, 304 pages
English language
Published July 26, 2015 by H&S, imusti.
What If? employs Munroe's signature humour and rigor, famous in his XKCD comics, and delivers them in prose. It's a fun, quick read that I've enjoyed revisiting.
Seriøse svar på useriøse spørsmål. Har du lurt på kva skjer når du svarer seriøst på eit retorisk spørsmål mange gangar? Denne boka er svaret.
Stort sett ei morosam bok, og veldig lettlesen.
Parts of this book went over my head, but I still enjoyed it alot. It is a love letter to science and curiousity, answering questions I never knew I had.
My one problem with this book is the "weird and worrying questions"-sections, as it at times points fun at the questions, and other times just serve as unanswered interesting questions. Where is the fun in that?
I ended up getting the UK version of this, which had a fun preface explaining its use of units. I still would have preferred the metric system.
