422:
The book also features periodic sections titled "Weird (and
Worrying) Questions from the What If? Inbox", which are short collections of questions Munroe had not answered because he did not "want to think about that". In an interview, Munroe stated that he "never got past the initial mental image" of
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is mainly composed of answers Munroe gives to readers' hypothetical questions on various scientific topics. The questions tend to be rather unusual, assuming an improbable scenario and inquiring a logical conclusion to the situation. The first question Munroe answered for the blog was the following:
534:
Periodic sections labeled "Weird (and
Worrying) Questions from the What If? Inbox" are typically composed of multiple questions. In addition, there are two sections that answer several questions about the same topic, one about lightning and one about orbital speed, as well as a short answer section
228:
In the introduction section of the book, Randall Munroe recounts wondering as a child whether "there were more hard things or soft things in the world", concluding that "the world contained about three billion soft things and five billion hard things". The conversation that was produced by this
229:
question impressed Munroe's mother to such a degree that she wrote it down. Though Munroe later stated that his question was rather meaningless, he used it as an example of how "thoroughly answer a stupid question can take you to some pretty interesting places".
272:, he keeps an eye out for questions in which he can bring it up. Munroe has said that the volume of questions has been high enough that it is impossible to read all of them. Answering a question and writing a post takes him about a day of solid work.
260:, the students became more excited. The entire second half of the class was eventually spent solving mathematical and physics problems. Munroe wrote the first entries a few years before the start of the blog, based on questions he was asked that day.
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approaches its subject matter with a sense of wit and sometimes makes use of approximations to answer questions that seem impossible to solve. Most questions demand assumptions and cross-disciplinary science skills to answer, resulting in
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book contains a selection of questions and answers from the original blog, as well as nineteen new ones. Furthermore, Munroe selected a few unanswered questions from his inbox and collected those in separate sections in the book.
36:
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remarked that "What makes Munroe's work so fantastic is a combination of two elements: his commitment to trying to answer even the weirdest question with solid science, and his undeniable sense of humor." Rhett Allain of
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Because he was delayed in getting the website online, Munroe had a lot of time thinking about the design of the blog. He eventually chose to display his entries as individual pages rather than using an
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gives a view into "Munroe's playful yet existentially-tinged worldview" by contrasting cataclysmic scenarios with more heady ideas, such as examining the effects of a magnitude minus-7
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in which volunteers can teach classes to groups of high school students on any chosen subject. Munroe signed up after hearing about it from a friend and decided to teach a class on
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page, as he considers the latter more difficult to digest. Munroe usually chooses questions he already knows something interesting about, or after reading a
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Using mathematics and physics, Munroe concluded such a situation would result in a large explosion, and that ultimately, the result would be a ruling of
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stated that "it's fun to watch as Munroe tackles each question and examines every possible complication." According to
Gilsdorf,
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the question "How cold would your teeth have to get in order for a cup of hot coffee to make them shatter on contact?"
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because even his 12-year-old son was able to enjoy it, though he found a minor error in one of the sections.
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to the essays in the book to inform or entertain the reader. The cover of the book depicts a
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971:"'What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions' by Randall Munroe"
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1074:"Could You Eat a Cloud? How Randall Munroe Became the Guru of Absurd Science Questions"
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203:. The book contains a selection of questions and answers originally published on his
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702:"What if? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions"
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Since 2012, Munroe has been answering unusual questions sent in by readers of
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673:(hardback). New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. pp.
642:(hardback). New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. pp.
611:(hardback). New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. pp.
354:, was announced in January 2022 and was released on September 13 that year.
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What if? : serious scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions
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What if? : serious scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions
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What if? : serious scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions
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was well-received commercially upon its release and reached the top of the
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Munroe announced in March, 2014 that he had signed a deal with publisher
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582:"'What If' There Were An Entire Book Devoted To Absurd Hypotheticals?"
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What If?: Serious
Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
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What If?: Serious
Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
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What If?: Serious
Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
245:
174:
What If?: Serious
Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
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What would happen if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90% the
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The book was received positively by critics. Ethan
Gilsdorf of the
19:
This article is about the
Randall Munroe book. For other uses, see
361:
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916:"How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems"
816:"Review: What If? Answers All Your (Literally) Burning Questions"
240:. The concept was inspired by a weekend program organized by the
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Best Book of the Month", and was translated into 35 languages.
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comics released in 2009. Munroe released a third book, titled
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867:"'XKCD: Volume 0' is sticking it to traditional publishers"
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noted that the first print run had some issues processing
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758:"A Conversation With Randall Munroe, the Creator of XKCD"
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would eventually be released in September that year.
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943:"'What If? - A Review of Randall Munroe's New Book"
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16:Non-fiction book by Randall Munroe, 2014
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1072:Kluger, Jeffrey (September 24, 2022).
220:, was released on September 13, 2022.
605:Munroe, Randall (2014). "Lightning".
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409:"back-of-the-envelope" calculations
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890:Shankland, Stephen (2015-12-01).
284:to compile a large number of his
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955:from the original on 2016-04-06.
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800:from the original on 2016-04-06.
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742:from the original on 2014-11-08.
594:from the original on 2016-04-06.
567:from the original on 2016-04-06.
969:Gilsdorf, Ethan (2014-09-08).
555:Munroe, Randall (2014-03-12).
193:sent to him by readers of his
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728:Chang, Kenneth (2014-11-03).
994:Allain, Rhett (2014-12-19).
756:Garber, Megan (2012-09-26).
185:in which the author answers
865:Milian, Mark (2009-11-04).
814:Desat, Marla (2014-09-09).
488:is supposed to be printed.
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842:Hewitt, Sam (2014-10-24).
786:Ballard, Ed (2014-03-20).
332:, a curated collection of
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590:. NPR staff. 2014-09-07.
557:"What if I wrote a book?"
282:Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
87:Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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224:Conception of the blog
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257:The Lord of the Rings
482:mathematical symbols
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446:earthquake
351:What If? 2
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217:What If? 2
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427:Reception
370:drawings.
319:Star Wars
306:footnotes
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191:questions
112:320 pages
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316:from
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