Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical QuestionsBy Randall MunroeNarrated by Wil Wheaton
Length6h 36m
About this audiobook
From the creator of the wildly popular webcomic xkcd comes this hilarious and informative book of answers to important questions you probably never thought to ask.
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 of the speed of light? How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live? If there were 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. What If? is required listening for xkcd fans and anyone who loves to ponder the hypothetical.
Randall Munroe is
the author of the popular webcomic xkcd and the science question-and-answer
blog What If? Randall was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, and grew up outside
Richmond. After graduating with a degree in physics from Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia, he got a job building robots at NASA’s Langley Research Center. In 2006 he left
NASA to draw comics on the Internet full time, supporting himself through the
sale of xkcd t-shirts, prints, posters, and books. He likes candlelight dinners
and long walks on the beach—very long walks. Lots of people say they like long
walks on the beach, but then they get out on the beach, and after just an hour
or two, they say they’re getting tired. Bring a tent. He lives in
Massachusetts.View all by Randall Munroe
