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 Thought-Provoking Star Trek

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All stars
Most relevant  
loved the random what if questions scattered throughout the book. Wil the man as always

interesting book

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It was an interesting listen, I enjoyed the explanations. I've now discovered the website too.

entertaining and educational?

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This book is a fantastic listen. It takes a look at the science behind questions I'm sure we've all considered at some point. Can you swim in the water surrounding spent nuclear fuel? What would happen if a 15 magnitude quake hit New York? What would happen if you had a mole of moles?

These and many other weird and wonderful questions are pondered and answered over the course of this audiobook. The narrator does a great job, adding just enough humour whilst keeping the science bits clear and concise. Its very light on the maths, instead focusing more on the basic concepts behind the questions, so its easy to understand.

Its very entertaining, as well as educational. I recommend it to anyone who has ever pondered the odder questions in life. You may even find an answer

Funny look at the odder questions

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have you ever thought what if? or have you ever seen a film and gone: well that is not possible! the required energy to exolode earth is higher than 3 nuclear weapons!! if you have this is the book for you, all the science behind childrens questions

a nerds dream

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If I could I would give this a 6/5 stars because it is the most interesting thing on Audible (in my opinion.) I hink if you want a scientific audio book but not so hard to understand that you don’t know what they are saying yet not so simple that it becomes boring I would recommend this 100%. Loved it. Have listend to it way to much. 6/5 stars.

6/5 stars

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Well written and brilliantly read 🙌 lost me in the details but still easy and enjoyable to listen to.

Love it

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I was prepared to be entertained and educated I was both but it seemed to be a roller coaster and entertainment and the science seemed to get mixed up in a way that made it sometimes difficult to follow. At times I was laughing or thinking that is really interesting but at other times I was perplexed

Seriously hilarious!

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the answer to all those questions your brain torments you with in the early hours when you can't sleep.

very interesting and funny

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QI in book form but with citations and an actual scientist. Kind of like reading the New Scientist "Last Word" series, but with more references to Star Wars and Pokemon. Wil Wheaton is the perfect narrator for the job and he really delivers on this one. It's so important to have an enthusiastic narrator, something that was sorely lacking in Alec Sand's "The Koran" Audiobook by Trout lake Media. It is not lacking here. For those of you who don't know, this book is written by the creator of webcomic XKCD Randall Munroe, an ex roboticist and scientist from NASA who quit his full time job making space robots to draw stickmen on the internet. When dealing with something outside his field he asked old friends and colleagues from a relevant field, demonstrating the humility of a true scientist.

QI in book form

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an interesting dive into science and the end of the world in many different ways.

science bitches

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