What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Nov 20, 2017 Abby Johnson rated it really liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, audio, grownup_books

What a fun book! Web comic artist (and former NASA employee) Randall Munroe takes absurd "What if?" questions submitted through his website and does the research to come up with series scientific answers. What if all the rain from a rainstorm fell in one big raindrop? What if you had a mole [number] of moles [mammal]? What if all the people on earth were magically transported into one spot and everyone jumped and their feet hit the Earth at the same time?

Wil Wheaton narrates this audiobook, len ...more

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Jun 02, 2015 Linda Parker rated it it was amazing

Full disclosure, I have only flipped through a few pages of this book because it belongs to my 13 year old. I gave it to him for his birthday a few months back and he loves it. He shares scenarios from the book at dinner and has even taken it to school to show his physics teacher. If you have a curious, geeky, science minded person in your life this makes a great gift.

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Sep 06, 2014 Jennifer rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, science

I started reading this book during the summer, during the weird off-time between when I brought my kids in for camp and when my work shift started. This was Sandy's copy, which she kept at work, partially because she insisted I read it.

This led to lots of me sitting at the lunch break table, giggling fiendishly first thing in the morning. Particular favorites were the periodic table, the mol of moles, and nearly everything involving explosions. Some of the answers seemed a bit narrowly analyzed ...more

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Jul 14, 2017 Alvin rated it liked it · review of another edition

This was very entertaining. I've read only a few xkcd comics in my lifetime, but now am a full on fan. Munroe covers each question ridiculously thoroughly. I loved how he could think up the real world consequences of, say, everyone jumping at the same time...and how it could lead to a post-apocalyptic-like conclusion. It's ludicrous, but somehow based on logic. Be prepared to laugh. ...more

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Oct 28, 2014 Melle rated it really liked it

Shelves: science, nonfiction, illustrated, adult, questions-and-answers, chemistry, copyright-2014, physics

Hilarious and mostly-out-of-my-league brilliant. Perfect for science nerds, armchair scientists, and smart smartasses. Highly recommended as a graduation present.

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