What If? is written by Randall Munroe, the writer of the website XKCD, a website where people post absolutely absurd what if? questions. Some of the questions reminded me of the questions that toddlers ask repeated all day every day. Except these are, presumably, written by grown people. IF
Here are some of the examples:
If everyone on the planet stayed away from each other for a couple of weeks, wouldn't the common cold be wiped out?
What would happen if a hair dryer with continuous power were turned on and put in an airtight 1x1x1-meter box?
If every person on Earth aimed a laster pointer at the Moon at the same time, would it change color?
How quickly would the oceans drain if a circular portal 10 meters in radius leading into space were created at the bottom of Challenger Deep, the deepest spot in the ocean? How would the Earth change as the water was being drained?
Randall Munroe is a former NASA roboticist, but he's also a comic writer. He brilliantly combines both his humorous comics with truly fascinating science.
Like I said, nonfiction is not something that I normally read, but this actually made me change my mind. The book was funny and actually held my attention. I wasn't reading as some sort of discipline or goal to read something nonfiction. I was just reading for the pure fun of it, which is something that I don't frequently do with nonfiction.
So I really enjoyed this book. If you're looking for a place to dip your toes into nonfiction writing or just are looking for an informative, yet funny book, this is a great place to start. I highly recommend it.
Here are some of the examples:
If everyone on the planet stayed away from each other for a couple of weeks, wouldn't the common cold be wiped out?
What would happen if a hair dryer with continuous power were turned on and put in an airtight 1x1x1-meter box?
If every person on Earth aimed a laster pointer at the Moon at the same time, would it change color?
How quickly would the oceans drain if a circular portal 10 meters in radius leading into space were created at the bottom of Challenger Deep, the deepest spot in the ocean? How would the Earth change as the water was being drained?
Randall Munroe is a former NASA roboticist, but he's also a comic writer. He brilliantly combines both his humorous comics with truly fascinating science.
Like I said, nonfiction is not something that I normally read, but this actually made me change my mind. The book was funny and actually held my attention. I wasn't reading as some sort of discipline or goal to read something nonfiction. I was just reading for the pure fun of it, which is something that I don't frequently do with nonfiction.
So I really enjoyed this book. If you're looking for a place to dip your toes into nonfiction writing or just are looking for an informative, yet funny book, this is a great place to start. I highly recommend it.
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