An edition of What If? (1980)

What if?

serious scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions

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  • ★★★★ 4.3 (102 ratings) ·
  • 406 Want to read
  • 29 Currently reading
  • 134 Have read
Cover of: What if? by Randall Munroe, Randall Munroe
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  • ★★★★ 4.3 (102 ratings) ·
  • 406 Want to read
  • 29 Currently reading
  • 134 Have read
Notes

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Last edited by John Williams249
February 22, 2025 | History
Edit
An edition of What If? (1980)

What if?

serious scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions

by

  • ★★★★ 4.3 (102 ratings) ·
  • 406 Want to read
  • 29 Currently reading
  • 134 Have read

Millions of people visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe's iconic webcomic. His stick-figure drawings about science, technology, language, and love have a large and passionate following. 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. The book features new and never-before-answered questions, along with updated and expanded versions of the most popular answers from the xkcd website.

Publish Date
Publisher
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Language
English
Pages
303

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Previews available in: English Italian

Subjects

Mathematics, Statistics, Miscellanea, Science, Questions and answers, Physics, Long Now Manual for Civilization, SCIENCE / Physics, Science, miscellanea, New York Times bestseller, Home economics, back-of-the-envelope calculations, human endurance, extreme circumstances, space travel, Science/Mathematics, Scienze

People

Galileo Galilei (implicitly)

Places

the solar system, the universe

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Book Details

Table of Contents

Global windstorm
Relativistic baseball
Spent fuel pool
Weird (and worrying) questions from the What if? inbox, #1
New York-style time machine
Soul mates
Laser pointer
Periodical wall of the elements
Everybody jump
A mole of moles
Hair dryer
Weird (and worrying) questions from the What if? inbox, #2
The last human light
Machine-gun jetpack
Rising steadily
Weird (and worrying) questions from the What if? inbox, #3
Orbital submarine
Short-answer section
Lightning
Weird (and worrying) questions from the What if? inbox, #4
Human computer
Little planet
Steak drop
Hockey puck
Common cold
Glass half empty
Weird (and worrying) questions from the What if? inbox, #5
Alien astronomers
No more DNA
Interplanetary Cessna
Weird (and worrying) questions from the What if? inbox, #6
Yoda
Flyover states
Falling with helium
Everybody out
Weird (and worrying) questions from the What if? inbox, #7
Self-fertilization
High throw
Lethal neutrinos
Weird (and worrying) questions from the What if? inbox, #8
Speed bump
Lost immortals
Orbital speed
FedEx bandwidth
Free fall
Weird (and worrying) questions from the What if? inbox, #9
Sparta
Drain the oceans
Drain the oceans : part II
Twitter
Lego bridge
Longest sunset
Random sneeze call
Weird (and worrying) questions from the What if? inbox, #10
Expanding Earth
Weightless arrow
Sunless Earth
Updating a printed Wikipedia
Facebook of the dead
Sunset on the British Empire
Stirring tea
All the lightning
Loneliest human
Weird (and worrying) questions from the What if? inbox, #11
Raindrop
SAT guessing
Neutron bullet
Weird (and worrying) questions from the What if? inbox, #12
Richter 15.

Edition Notes

Includes bibliographical references (pages 299-303).

Copyright Date
2014

Classifications

Dewey Decimal Class
500
Library of Congress
Q173 .M965 2014, Q173.M965 2014

The Physical Object

Pagination
xii, 303 pages :
Number of pages
303

Edition Identifiers

Open Library
OL26327044M
ISBN 10
0544272994, 0544456866
ISBN 13
9780544272996, 9780544456860
LCCN
2014016311
OCLC/WorldCat
872620028, 2014016311
Wikidata
Q105845479

Work Identifiers

Work ID
OL17095301W

Source records

Internet Archive item record
marc_openlibraries_phillipsacademy MARC record
marc_openlibraries_sanfranciscopubliclibrary MARC record
Better World Books record
Library of Congress MARC record
Internet Archive item record
Better World Books record
harvard_bibliographic_metadata record
marc_columbia MARC record
marc_nuls MARC record

Community Reviews (2)

Pace 1 Medium paced 100% Enjoyability 1 Exciting 100% Clarity 1 Clearly written 100% Genres 1 Humor 100% Impressions 1 Recommend 100% Length 1 Medium 100% Features 1 Tables, diagrams, and figures 100% Purpose 1 Entertainment 100%

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History

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON / OPDS | Wikipedia citation
February 22, 2025 Edited by John Williams249 //covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/14845773-S.jpg
March 29, 2023 Edited by Ruslana Binko Edited without comment.
March 7, 2023 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
January 2, 2023 Edited by Radwik //covers.openlibrary.org/b/id/13124540-S.jpg
June 22, 2017 Created by ImportBot Imported from Internet Archive item record