What If? cover art

What If?

Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions

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What If?

By: Randall Munroe
Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
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About this listen

From the creator of the wildly popular xkcd, What If? gives hilarious and informative answers to important questions you probably never thought to ask. Millions visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe's iconic webcomic. Fans ask him a lot of strange questions. How fast can you hit a speed bump, driving, and live? When (if ever) did the sun go down on the British Empire? When will Facebook contain more profiles of dead people than living? How many humans would a T Rex rampaging through New York need to eat a day? In pursuit of answers, Munroe runs computer simulations, pores over stacks of declassified military research memos, solves differential equations and consults nuclear reactor operators. His responses are masterpieces of clarity and hilarity. They often predict the complete annihilation of humankind - or at least a really big explosion.

This audiobook edition is read by geek icon Wil Wheaton (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Stand by Me, The Big Bang Theory) and has been adapted for audio in collaboration with the author.

Shortlisted for the Goodreads Choice Awards

©2014 xkcd inc (P)2014 Blackstone Audio Physics Science Funny Witty Mathematics Cosmology Star Trek
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I thought this book was interesting, I understand a lot of the science, however the questions were fun as is equally the answers. Will Wheaton gives a great performance as usual to all the books Will reads.

interesting

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The lack of images to fit the context of the reading can make it difficult to entirely understand sometimes, otherwise fantastic!

Incredible 😁

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This hilarious romp through a multitude of weird and wonderful scenarios has something for anyone who suspects that science might be stranger than fiction. IT IS. The author's talent for explaining scientific principles in a humorous and memorable way, and applying them to some seriously crazy hypotheticals combines perfectly with Wil Wheaton's entertaining narrative style. So much fun I didn't want it to end. Hoping that Randall is working on his next book ...

Like MythBusters on steroids!

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This was fantastic. Just fantastic. The title says it all.

Sometime it gets a little too scientificky, but that’s ok. The questions and ridiculous and the dedication with which Monroe answers them are just amazing.

I listened to it on audible. This was narrated by the wonderful Will Wheaton who gave a 10/10 performance.

Five charred steaks with a frozen raw centre out of five.

Brilliant - Wheaton is amazing.

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As a lay person, the book was fascinating and interesting and the narrator did an excellent job with his reading and humour.

Not for the faint of heart though - some of his answers to questions are necessarily scary (e.g. what happens when sun dies out, enthropy, death by vacuum in space …)

Awesome content - not for the faint of heart though

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one of the funniest books I have ever read. no books make me laugh except randall's

awesome

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I enjoyed this book a lot, it was recommended to me by my Dad. The narration was probably the best of all the audible books I’ve listened to and the content was interesting and engaging. Highly recommend.

Recommended to me and fully worth it

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Very easy to listen to while doing multiple tasks. The facts presented in the book are fun and quirky. The author presents the questions from his community which they have sent in from a mailing list on his website.

The author picks questions out of a list and dives deep into them by getting a hypothetical answer. As an audiobook its an easy listen, and you can take your time and start and stop between the short questions and answers.

It's a light-hearted book that continues at a constant pace, not heavy and concludes rather abruptly. All n all, it's a nice book and would recommend it to those who want an easy but fun listen.

Humorous take on Facts

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Randall Munroe? genius, XKCD? awesome, What if? brilliant, bring those together with Will Wheaton? nothing can compare.

Loved it

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Loved it . very funny and informative at sametime liked the way it was presented.

funny and interesting

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