What If: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe

What If this or that happened?  What are the consequences?  If you have an active imagination and you like to ask "what if" - this is the book for you.  I started this on August 10 and finished it on September 2.

I love a book that starts with a disclaimer!

"Do not try any of this at home.  The author of this book is an Internet cartoonist, not a health or safety expert.  He likes it when things catch on fire or explode, which means he does not have your best interests in mind.  The publisher and the author disclaim responsibility for any adverse effects resulting, directly or indirectly, from information contained in this book."

So, yeah.  Don't try the things in this book, no matter how much you might want to.  As a lifelong learner, an avid reader, and being curious by nature, this book was right up my alley.  I like the absurd, the off-kilter, the super random shit, and I like to know what would happen if... and why.

Some of the absurd questions that Munroe answers, often with hilarious cartoons accompanying the text are:

• What if I took a swim in a typical spent nuclear fuel pool? Would I need to dive to actually experience a fatal amount of radiation?  How long could I stay safely at the surface?
• Bottom line - you'll probably be ok as long as you don't dive to the bottom or pick up anything

• One of my faves:  What would happen if you made a periodic table out of cube-shaped bricks, where each brick was made of the corresponding element?
• Bottom line - very, very bad things would happen.  "Unfortunately for our project, the transuranic elements don't vanish quietly.  They decay radioactively.  And most of them decay into things that also decay.  A cube of any of the highest-numbered elements would decay within seconds, releasing a tremendous amount of energy... It wouldn't be a chain reaction - just a reaction.  It would happen all at once.  The flood of energy would instantly turn you - and the rest of the periodic table - to plasma."

• If you suddenly began rising steadily at 1 foot per second, how exactly would you die?  Would you freeze or suffocate first?  Or something else?
• For you chefs out there, from what height would you need to drop a steak for it to be cooked when it hit the ground?
• For you road warriors, which US state is actually flown over the most?  Eager for the answer - it's Virginia.
• What would happen to the Earth if the Sun suddenly switched off?  
• Some good things like reduced solar flares, improved satellite service, better astronomy (it's darker, duh), cheaper trade (no more time zones).  And, some bad things - we'd all freeze and die.
• And for you baseball fans: What would happen if you tried to hit a baseball at 90% the speed of light?
• You guessed it - very bad things would happen.  I wouldn't want to be anywhere near the stadium where this happens.

This book is hilariously entertaining, and chock full of quite interesting and accurate science.

If you want to be entertained and learn something, definitely read this book!  And enthusiastic two thumbs up!

And, if you like this, you might want to check out The Thing Explainer.

This is from "A mole of moles" - I love anything having to do with animals, especially strange animals

This is from "High Throw" - I love anything about balls and Giraffes