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What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions book cover by Randall Munroe
Hardcover

What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions

by Randall Munroe

$17.70 / copy at 25+ copies As low as $14.70 at 1,000+Your best volume price

Total $442.50

Hardcover · 352 pages HarperCollins · 2014

Format

Hardcover
Volume pricing

The more copies, the less each one costs

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About the book

What If?

From the creator of the wildly popular webcomic xkcd, a hilarious and informative book of popular science that provides 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 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 for these fascinating thought experiments, 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? will be required reading for xkcd fans and anyone who loves STEM books and pondering the hypothetical.

Randall Munroe’s fully-researched, deeply unserious answers explore:

  • Absurd Science: From draining the oceans to building a periodic table out of the actual elements, discover the often-explosive consequences of taking silly ideas seriously.
  • Hypothetical Questions: What would happen if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90% the speed of light? Or if a robot apocalypse finally happened?
  • Physics Explained: Munroe breaks down complex topics like relativistic physics and thermodynamics with clarity, wit, and detailed computer simulations.
  • Signature Stick-Figure Comics: Each answer is complemented by the iconic xkcd comics that make complex science accessible and hilarious.


The book, What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions [Bulk, Wholesale, Quantity] ISBN#9780544272996 in Hardcover by Randall Munroe may be ordered in bulk quantities. Minimum starts at 25 copies. Availability based on publisher status and quantity being ordered.

Details

Publisher
HarperCollins
Author
Randall Munroe
Format
Hardcover
Published
Sep 2, 2014
ISBN-13
9780544272996
ISBN-10
0544272994
Pages
352
Carton quantity
12 copies
Buying for a group

What If? in bulk: pricing

Volume pricing applies automatically in your cart. No codes, no account needed.

CopiesPrice per copyYou save
25 – 99 $17.70 41% off list
100 – 249 $16.80 44% off list
250 – 499 $15.90 47% off list
500 – 999 $15.30 49% off list
1,000+ $14.70 51% off list
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2
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3
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