What If? by Randall Munroe Narrator: Wil Wheaton
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on 2014
Length: 6 hours 36 minutes
Genres: Humor, Physics, Science, Trivia
Pages: 303
Format: Audiobook
Goodreads
From the creator of the wildly popular webcomic xkcd, hilarious and informative answers to important questions you probably never thought to askMillions of people visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe's iconic webcomic. His stick-figure drawings about science, technology, language, and love have an enormous, dedicated following, as do his deeply researched answers to his fans' strangest questions.The queries he receives range from merely odd to downright diabolical:• What if I took a swim in a spent-nuclear-fuel pool?• Could you build a jetpack using downward-firing machine guns?• What if a Richter 15 earthquake hit New York City?• Are fire tornadoes possible?His responses are masterpieces of clarity and wit, gleefully and accurately explaining everything from the relativistic effects of a baseball pitched at near the speed of light to the many horrible ways you could die while building a periodic table out of all the actual elements.The book features new and never-before-answered questions, along with the most popular answers from the xkcd website.What If? is an informative feast for xkcd fans and anyone who loves to ponder the hypothetical.
Lynn’s Review:
Science nerds rejoice, What If? is the audio book for you!
What If? is available through Audible Channels. This is my first experience with Channels. If you have a Prime account, these books are free! We all know that free books are the best kind of books. I’ll definitely be checking out the other selections available through Channels.
The sarcasm is strong with this book. The book is written as a series of questions and answers. Yes, they are completely absurd questions, like what would happen if a baseball was thrown at the speed of light or if everyone on earth aimed a laser pointer at the moon. Mr. Munroe uses his science background to answer the questions, usually through not just the basics like regular laser pointers, but amped up to extreme Tim Taylor heights.
Wil Wheaton does a great job with the narration. Mr. Wheaton’s narration really showcases the sarcasm and humor in What If? I really think the narration increased my enjoyment of this book immensely. I’ve listened to other books narrated by Mr. Wheaton, and, like the other narrations, he has mastered the humor and inflection in What If?
Overall, a great science book with high points for humor and sarcasm. Highly recommended!
