From cooling the atmosphere by opening everyone's freezer doors to making a lava lamp out of actual lava, the gleefully eccentric author of What If? tackles more absurd questions from the public using sober and level-headed science.
What if... one man decided to answer all the unanswerable questions, using science. The Sunday Times-bestselling author and xkcd creator, Randall Munroe is here to provide the best answers yet to the important questions you probably never thought to ask.
The millions of people around the world who read and loved What If? still have questions, and those questions are getting stranger. Planning to ride a fire pole from the moon back to Earth? The hardest part is sticking the landing. Hoping to cool the atmosphere by opening everyone's freezer doors at the same time? Maybe it's time for a brief introduction to thermodynamics. Want to know what would happen if you rode a helicopter blade, built a billion-storey building, made a lava lamp out of lava, or jumped on a geyser as it erupted? Okay, if you insist.
Welcome (back) to the mind-blowing world of What If ?
Unfazed by absurdity, Randall consults the latest research on everything from swing-set physics to airplane-catapult design to clearly and concisely answer his readers' questions. As he consistently demonstrates, you can learn a lot from examining how the world might work in very specific extreme circumstances.
Filled with bonkers science, boundless curiosity, and Randall's signature stick-figure comics, What If? 2 is sure to be another instant classic adored by inquisitive readers of all ages.
Publisher: John Murray Press
ISBN: 9781473680623
Number of pages: 368
Weight: 680 g
Dimensions: 240 x 184 x 34 mm
PRAISE FOR WHAT IF?
Nerd royalty - BEN GOLDACRE
Brilliant - Rolling Stone
With this book you're a kid with a chemistry set all over again...required reading for grown-ups - Register
Smart answers to silly questions: Randall Munroe reveals all - Guardian
PRAISE FOR WHAT IF? 2
Randall Munroe [is] the guru of absurd science questions . . . What If ?2 is stuffed with questions that are fanciful in the asking, but perfectly - and playfully - informative in the answering. The questions throughout are equal parts brilliant, gross, and wonderfully absurd and the answers are thorough, deeply researched, and great fun. Do you need any of this information? No. Are you happy - indeed, delighted - to have it? Almost certainly yes. Science isn't easy, but in Munroe's capablehands, it surely can be fun. - Jeffrey Kluger, Time Magazine
One of my favourite books of the year. - Tim Harford, Financial Times
Head-scratching . . . seemingly simple conundrums lead to the most fascinating of rabbit holes. - WIRED
Staff's Favourite Books of 2022* A dense litany of thoroughly researched explanations of intensely silly hypotheticals. Perfect if you enjoy it when stuffy figures of authority crack a smile. Or if you like it when black holes form. That happens a lot. - Newsweek
One of my favourite books of the year - Tim Harford
The second what if? book is great fun. It again answers silly, ridiculous questions in a (semi) serious way. I found this an interesting book for the science which is very good and a fun one for the humour which is... More
This book is utterly bonkers and stupid and also infinitely clever all at the same time.
Some questions are relatively sane and sensible (if a little bizarre) ...
- How much of the Earth would you need to get rid of...
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I never read the first book, however, I was glad when the second one came onto a daily deal, enabling me to pick it up for 99p, rather than the £11.99 regular price.
For 99p, it was a bargain, and thoroughly...
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