Title: What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
Author: Randall Munroe
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2014
Genre: Nonfiction - Science
Pages: 303
Rating: 5/5 stars
Reading Challenges: Nonfiction Adventure (perpetual); Read Your Freebies; Dewey Decimal - 500s
Fans of xkcd ask Munroe a lot of strange questions. What if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90 percent the speed of light? How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live? If there was a robot apocalypse, how long would humanity last?
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, complemented by signature xkcd comics. They often predict the complete annihilation of humankind, or at least a really big explosion.
As a loyal follower of xkcd, I've been dying to read this book since it was released. And I enjoyed every page of it. I love the seemingly ridiculous questions that Munroe answers seriously. My favorite question involved potentially eradicating the common cold. Fascinating answer! And sprinkled throughout the book are Munroe's famous stick figure cartoons. As times the book really dives into serious math, but Munroe explains everything in such a way and even I understand the crazy math. Awesome read that I sped through in just one day!