Science can be Cool, and Funny
Randall Munroe’s ‘What If’ is a collection of answers to the interesting and/or weird questions users posted on his wildly popular Web comic, XKCD (www.xkcd.com). A physics graduate and former NASA employee, Munroe is a rock-star in the world of science, tech and all things geek. As he says in his introduction, trying to answer to a stupid question can take you to some pretty interesting places. What would happen if everyone on earth jumped at the same time? How long could a nuclear submarine last in space? From what height do you need to drop a steak so that it is cooked when it hits the ground? The answers take science, curiosity, math and humour and take you on a journey of creativity and imagination. The book is peppered with jokes, funny stick cartoons and hilarious asides, including footnotes! The answers make you think and you end up learning something new in every page. This is the kind of book that shows you how cool science is and if you didn’t already agree, it gets you interested.