What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions in 2016 Hub Reading Challenge

Jan 30, 2016 Natalie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: hubchallenge2016

This book had me in a crazy state of thinking almost throughout the entirety! It's a great platform for higher thinking and conversation starters
Some of the 'what-ifs' ended up a little boring and seemed sort of inconsequential. Plenty of them were crazy-in a great way (what would a literal physical periodic table look like????). I would recommend this audio over and over. ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Jan 30, 2016 Ellie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: adult-fiction, 2016-hub-challenge

It's basically a geeky kid's dream: a book of absurd questions, researched and answered seriously by the creator of XKCD and narrated by Wil Wheaton. I love the pop culture (or is it geek culture?) references, and the answers are so serious it's both fascinating and comical all at once. The only pitfall is that it's a long audiobook... I wound up taking a couple of months to finish it because I need strong characters to keep me engaged in a book, and this one just doesn't have any. I would proba ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Mar 04, 2016 Amy! marked it as didn-t-finish · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, science, yalsa-hub-challenge-2016

I was less than 10 minutes into this before I wanted to nope right the fuck out again. Too much Science.

1 like · Like · see review

Feb 11, 2016 Julie Trapp rated it liked it · review of another edition

Wil Wheaton is a great narrator, hence the 3 rating. Otherwise it was a 2. However, who is their right mind comes up with these stupid/who cares? questions? Maybe I cared about 2 of them. Reminded me of my ex-husband (a scientist) when the kids asked him a question. They wanted a short/sweet/to-the-point answer and he gave them answers like these. Too detailed with information only a handful of people care about. The people who asked these questions need to get a life.

Like · see review

Mar 26, 2016 Ann rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2016, hub-challenge-2016

I'm just clearly not the audience for this book because, though I love the XKCD cartoons, this was just WAY too much math and physics (in specific, agonizing detail) for me. Listened to the audiobook read by Wil Wheaton because, well, it's Wil Wheaton and his humorous, well-read performance kept me from totally falling asleep. ...more

Like · see review

Apr 16, 2016 Kyna rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I could listen to Wil Wheaton talk about science all day. He was delightful to listen to. This was a really fun way to explain sciences like physics and chemistry that I typically run from.

Like · see review

Jan 11, 2016 Anna Chappell rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks

The book is a lot of fun, with laugh-out-loud moments (at least for me!). Wil Wheaton's narration of the audiobook is great, and the science behind all the weird questions is awesome to listen to. ...more

Like · see review

Sep 23, 2015 Heydi Smith rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: words-on-words-library, adult-non-fic

Absurd Hypothetical Questions is right; but oh what fun! I was so geeking out on all the questions and the outrageous answers!

You have to read it to believe it!

Like · see review