What If?

What If?

By Randall Munroe
Unabridged
100% overall 2 ratings. Go to reviews
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“Who better than Wil Wheaton, formerly of Star Trek, to narrate this romp through the world of Randall Munroe…Wheaton’s ambitious performance meshes perfectly with the perspectives and humor of the author.”

AudioFile

A 2016 YALSA Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults in Nonfiction

An Audible Editors Top Pick of Favorite Audiobooks

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.

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2 reviews

  1. Ninjacorn 9
    Overall Liked it

    Weird Science

    “I like it when things catch fire and explode, which means I do not have your best interests in mind” and “Needless to say, this is not a good idea” are apparently awesome hooks--for an amazing book with bad ideas, explained brilliantly. What a surprisingly delicious treat this audiobook turned out to be! Here’s the skinny: Randall Munroe, creator of the popular science/nerd website xkcd.com answers random, absurd questions that are related to science, complete with stickman drawings and seriously spot-on humor. The “What If” questions pile up on each other, growing to ridiculousness and insanity with each new section, and I kept thinking to myself “I can’t believe we’re going to break this all down at some point and answer it scientifically—this will be crazy”. But Munroe always does. Holy wow! I eat up science experiments like good old boys consume bacon. I grew up watching Mr. Wizard, am a huge fan of Bill Nye the Science Guy, and have tossed around the idea of being Neil Degrasse Tyson for Halloween on multiple occasions (but could never find a mustache bushy and awesome enough). If you’ve never heard of these knowledge ninjas stop reading now and go watch UFC. Geeks unite…and listen to this book!

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  2. Holly
    Overall Liked it
    Verified listener

    So so good

    This is one of the most entertaining books I've read (and listened to—yes, I did both) in a long time. Both hilarious and informative, it kept me wanting to read more. I found myself doing the classic "just one more chapter" thing over and over. Wil Wheaton was an excellent choice to narrate this audiobook. He perfectly captures the tone and feel of the book, doesn't stumble, and has a nice, clear voice. It doesn't matter if you're familiar with physics or not, this book will keep you interested and have you laughing out loud.

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