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What if? : serious scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions / Randall Munroe.

Munroe, Randall, (author.).

Summary:
Millions of people visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe's webcomic. His stick-figure drawings about science, technology, language, and love have a large following. Fans of xkcd ask Munroe a lot of strange questions. What if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90 percent the speed of light? How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live? If there was a robot apocalypse, how long would humanity last? In pursuit of answers, Munroe runs computer simulations, pores over stacks of declassified military research memos, solves differential equations, and consults with nuclear reactor operators. His responses are a mix of clarity and hilarity, complemented by signature xkcd comics. They often predict the complete annihilation of humankind, or at least a really big explosion. The book features new and never-before-answered questions, along with updated and expanded versions of the most popular answers from the xkcd website.

Record details

  • ISBN: 0544272994 (hardback)
  • ISBN: 9780544272996 (hardback)
  • ISBN: 0544456866 (international pbk.)
  • ISBN: 9780544456860 (international pbk.)
  • Physical Description: xii, 303 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
  • Publisher: Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, [2014]

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:
Includes bibliographical references (pages [299]-303).
Formatted Contents Note:
Global windstorm -- Relativistic baseball -- Spent fuel pool -- Weird (and worrying) questions from the What if? inbox, #1 -- New York-style time machine -- Soul mates -- Laser pointer -- Periodical wall of the elements -- Everybody jump -- A mole of moles -- Hair dryer -- Weird (and worrying) questions from the What if? inbox, #2 -- The last human light -- Machine-gun jetpack -- Rising steadily -- Weird (and worrying) questions from the What if? inbox, #3 -- Orbital submarine -- Short-answer section -- Lightning -- Weird (and worrying) questions from the What if? inbox, #4 -- Human computer -- Little planet -- Steak drop -- Hockey puck -- Common cold -- Glass half empty -- Weird (and worrying) questions from the What if? inbox, #5 -- Alien astronomers -- No more DNA -- Interplanetary Cessna -- Weird (and worrying) questions from the What if? inbox, #6 -- Yoda -- Flyover states -- Falling with helium -- Everybody out -- Weird (and worrying) questions from the What if? inbox, #7 -- Self-fertilization -- High throw -- Lethal neutrinos -- Weird (and worrying) questions from the What if? inbox, #8 -- Speed bump -- Lost immortals -- Orbital speed -- FedEx bandwidth -- Free fall -- Weird (and worrying) questions from the What if? inbox, #9 -- Sparta -- Drain the oceans -- Drain the oceans : part II -- Twitter -- Lego bridge -- Longest sunset -- Random sneeze call -- Weird (and worrying) questions from the What if? inbox, #10 -- Expanding Earth -- Weightless arrow -- Sunless Earth -- Updating a printed Wikipedia -- Facebook of the dead -- Sunset on the British Empire -- Stirring tea -- All the lightning -- Loneliest human -- Weird (and worrying) questions from the What if? inbox, #11 -- Raindrop -- SAT guessing -- Neutron bullet -- Weird (and worrying) questions from the What if? inbox, #12 -- Richter 15.
Subject: Science > Miscellanea.
Physics.
Mathematics.
Questions and answers.
Genre: Statistics.

Available copies

  • 45 of 49 copies available at SPARK Libraries.

Holds

  • 1 current hold with 49 total copies.
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Albright Memorial Library 500 MUNROE (Text) 50686014720242 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Altoona Area Public Library 500 MUN 1 (Text) 33240004378330 Display Readbox Available -
Annie Halenbake Ross Library 500 Mun (Text) 00130430 ADULT Non-Fiction Available -
Boone Area Library 500 MUN (Text) 33249021668201 Non-fiction Available -
Brandywine Community Library 500 MUN (Text) 33249021067578 Non-fiction Available -
Cambria County Library 500 M968w (Text) 85131001426882 CACM Non-Fiction For Use in Library Only -
Dalton Community Library 500 MUNROE (Text) 50689010375524 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Degenstein Community Library NF 500 MUNROE (Text)
Memorial: Smeltz In Memory Of Rae Smeltz By Virginia Treas
35031300927250 Adult Non-Fiction Available -
Dover Area Community Library Adults 500 MUN Nonfiction (Text) 34217000614800 Adult Area Available -
DuBois Public Library 500 MUNROE (Text)
Memorial: In Memory of Mary Frankie Liddle Ritzie
30041001123395 Adult NonFiction Available -


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