A curious person’s guide to the age of the internet, written by one of the biggest personalities of the digital era.
A NASA prodigy, Randall Munroe became famous for his iconic webcomic series XKCD, which he began publishing online in 2005. Since then, millions of people have visited xkcd.com every week for his stick-figure drawings and his witty observations about science, technology and love. Munroe doesn’t exactly have readers — he has a devoted following of passionate fans.
But XKCD fans often ask Munroe some very strange questions. What would happen if you hit a baseball back at 90% of the speed of light? What is the fastest you could drive over a speed bump without dying? If robots caused the apocalypse, how long would humanity survive? In an effort to satisfy his readers’ curiosity, Munroe created the immensely popular “What If?” blog, dedicated to solving these and other great questions of humanity.
To find the answers, Munroe creates complex computer simulations, reads dozens of military documents, solves differential equations and consults nuclear power plant operators. His answers are masterpieces of clarity and humour. They generally end with the annihilation of humanity, or at least a very large explosion.
A bestseller even before its publication, What If? presents questions that have never been answered before, along with expanded and updated versions of the most popular questions from the blog. A must-read not only for fans of XKCD, but for anyone who has ever found themselves contemplating absurd and ridiculous hypothetical scenarios. Randall Munroe is here to help.