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What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions Audiobook
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Publisher Description
From the creator of the wildly popular webcomic xkcd comes this hilarious and informative book of answers to important questions you probably never thought to ask.
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 of the speed of light? How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live? If there were 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? is required listening for xkcd fans and anyone who loves to ponder the hypothetical.
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“Who better than Wil Wheaton, formerly of Star Trek, to narrate this romp through the world of Randall Munroe…Wheaton’s ambitious performance meshes perfectly with the perspectives and humor of the author.”
— AudioFile
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“Required reading across the world.”
— New York Times -
“Munroe applies reason and research to hypothetical conundrums…It’s the rare combination of edifying and fun.”
— Amazon.com
Awards
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A #1 New York Times bestseller
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A USA Today bestseller
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A #1 NPR bestseller
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One of Barnes & Noble's Biggest Books, September 2014
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A #1 Publishers Weekly bestseller
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An AudioFile Best Audiobook of the Year for 2014
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An Amazon Best Book of 2014
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A Library Journal bestseller
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A 2014 Entertainment Weekly Best Book for Fiction
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A 2016 YALSA Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults in Nonfiction
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An Audible Editors Top Pick of Favorite Audiobooks
What If? Listener Reviews
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Steven Archer, 4/23/2025
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kunihiko morita, 6/20/2023
About Randall Munroe
Randall Munroe is the author of the popular webcomic xkcd and the science question-and-answer blog What If? Randall was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, and grew up outside Richmond. After graduating with a degree in physics from Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia, he got a job building robots at NASA’s Langley Research Center. In 2006 he left NASA to draw comics on the Internet full time, supporting himself through the sale of xkcd t-shirts, prints, posters, and books. He likes candlelight dinners and long walks on the beach—very long walks. Lots of people say they like long walks on the beach, but then they get out on the beach, and after just an hour or two, they say they’re getting tired. Bring a tent. He lives in Massachusetts.
About Wil Wheaton
Wil Wheaton is an award–winning actor, voice artist, author, and audiobook narrator. Among his movie credits are Stand by Me and Toy Soldiers. His many television credits include Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Big Bang Theory, and Generator Rex. As a narrator of more than a dozen audiobooks, he has twice won the prestigious Audie Award, twice been a finalist for the Audie, and earned an Earphones Award from AudioFile magazine.