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

By:

Munroe, Randall [author]

Material type: Text

TextLanguage: English Publisher: Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014Description: xii, 303 pages : illustrations ; 24 cmISBN:

9780544272996 (hardback)

Subject(s):

DDC classification:

500 23

LOC classification:

Q173 .M965 2014

Summary: "Millions 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 a large and passionate 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 masterpieces 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. What If? will be required reading for xkcd fans and anyone who loves to ponder the hypothetical. "-- Provided by publisher.

Holdings ( 1 )
Title notes ( 2 )

Holdings
Item type	Current library	Collection	Call number	Status	Date due	Barcode
Book	TBS Barcelona	Core Textbooks	Q173 MUN (Browse shelf(Opens below))	Available		B02448

Browsing TBS Barcelona shelves, Collection: Core Textbooks Close shelf browser (Hides shelf browser)

Previous								Next
Previous	PR9510.9 GOL The goal : a process of ongoing improvement	Q172.5.E77 GOL Bad science	Q172.5.E77 GOL Bad science	Q173 MUN What if? : serious scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions	Q334.7 BLA Ethical machines : your concise guide to totally unbiased, transparent, and respectful AI	Q334.7 BLA Ethical machines : your concise guide to totally unbiased, transparent, and respectful AI	Q334.7 DUB The Oxford handbook of ethics of AI	Next

Includes bibliographical references (pages 299-303).

"Millions 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 a large and passionate 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 masterpieces 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. What If? will be required reading for xkcd fans and anyone who loves to ponder the hypothetical. "-- Provided by publisher.