What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions

by Randall Munroe

 Munroe, R. (2014). What if? Serious scientific answers to absurd hypothetical questions. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

From what height would you need to drop a steak for it to be cooked when it hit the ground?  How many Lego bricks would it take to build a bridge capable of carrying traffic from London to New York?  Scientist, comic creator, and author Randall Munroe attempts to answer these and other absurd questions submitted to his website using mathematical and scientific properties.  Did you know that while swimming around in a nuclear fuel pool you would actually be exposed to less radiation than the normal background dose you get walking around?  Or that it is actually possible to build a jetpack using downward-firing machine guns?  Readers are treated to all kinds of unbelievable and surprising facts that will have them viewing the world around them just a little bit differently.  The table of contents lists the question topics with their corresponding page numbers, along with 4 special featured sections on Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Inbox.  A list of references for each question is included at the back of the book.  Listed as one of YALSA's Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, this humorous and informative book would be a wonderful addition to a high school math or science classroom, as well as a fantastic read for those students with inquisitive minds.

What If? Book Trailer