Book Review: What If?

What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I haven't enjoyed a book.. I mean ENJOYED.. this much in a long time. It's a fun read, each chapter is independent of one another, and is really a collection of thought experiments. One chapter talks about if meat would be cooked if you dropped it high enough from the earth. Another chapter discusses how far away one human has been from civilization.. and if they were lonely. Another chapter was about building a bridge made of LEGO bricks.

The science in the book is.. frankly.. above my head. Randall Munroe could tell me that he figured everything out by taking the square root of Pi and multiplying it by 3 and I would just believe that it makes sense because I don' know any better. That being said, the book isn't about the math, it's about having a combination of 50% (physics, geometry, calculus, astronomy, geology, sociology) and 50% humor.

And that is the magic of this book. I remember hearing a long time ago that Michael Jordan was *that good* because he made everything look so easy. When you can achieve success and make it look effortless, it shows what kind of expert you are. Randall Munroe makes solving the mundane look effortless.. and it's fun to read.

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