“What If?” Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions

Please join for what is sure to be the most fun-filled hour of the day as we chat online with Randall Munroe about his new book What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions.

The millions of people around the world who read and loved What If? still have questions, and those questions are getting stranger. Thank goodness xkcd creator Randall Munroe is here to help. Planning to ride a fire pole from the moon back to Earth? The hardest part is sticking the landing. Hoping to cool the atmosphere by opening everyone’s freezer door at the same time? Maybe it’s time for a brief introduction to thermodynamics. Want to know what would happen if you rode a helicopter blade, built a billion-story building, made a lava lamp out of lava, or jumped on a geyser as it erupted? Okay, if you insist.

Before you go on a cosmic road trip, feed the residents of New York City to a T. rex, or fill every church with bananas, be sure to consult this practical guide for impractical ideas. Unfazed by absurdity, Randall consults the latest research on everything from swing-set physics to airplane-catapult design to clearly and concisely answer his readers’ questions. As he consistently demonstrates, you can learn a lot from examining how the world might work in very specific extreme circumstances.

Filled with bonkers science, boundless curiosity, and Randall’s signature stick-figure comics, What if? 2 provides his best answers yet to the weirdest questions you never thought to ask.

Not able to attend live? You can access the recording for this event and all Online Author Series events on our website shortly after they conclude.

About the Author: Randall Munroe is the creator of the webcomic xkcd and author of What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words, How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real World Problems, and What if? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions. Randall was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, and grew up outside Richmond, Virginia. After studying physics at Christopher Newport University, he got a job building robots at NASA Langley Research Center. In 2006 he left NASA to draw comics on the internet full time and has since been nominated for a Hugo Award three times. In 2013, the International Astronomical Union named an asteroid after him: asteroid 4942 Munroe is big enough to cause mass extinction if it ever hits a planet like Earth.

This program is made possible by the generous support of the Friends of the Mountain View Library.