Book Review - xkcd What If? by Randall Monroe
I have this terrible habit, when I like a book, of reading chunks of it out to my friends, family, anyone foolish enough to give me their phone number. When I started reading this, I read the entire preface down the phone to my poor unfortunate mother.
It is that good!
(cleoselene, you'll enjoy the baseball-related answers. Actually, that's the thing, it's one of those books where you go, "ooh, x will really love that," or "y is going to flip their lid".
It's a pleasing mixture of funny, accurate and that peculiar fire-bugginess that you find in scientists of all stripes.
The cartoons made me giggle, and the rest of it made me think. Definitely recommended.
I think that I might have found an explanation for how the Moon escaped in Space: 1999 (and a bit of Sapphire and Steel).
I mean, I am going to ignore the idea that Charles II was the last Habsburg because I do not expect an American author to know that the Spanish Habsburgs were not the be all and end all of the Habsburgs. No matter how miffed I become each time.
Also, mild humblebrag hiding as a conflict of interest statement, I have exchanged emails with the book's chemistry advisor.
Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words by Randall Munroe
Can Elephants Swim? Unlikely Answers to Improbable Questions by Robert M. Jones
More Random Walks in Science by R. L. Weber
Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened by Allie Brosh
Brain Fuel: 199 Mind-Expanding Inquiries into the Science of Everyday Life by Joseph A. Schwarcz
The Martian by Andy Weir
The Big Book of What, How, and Why by Bob Strauss
Absolute Zero Gravity: Science Jokes, Quotes and Anecdotes by Betsy Devine
Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances by Neil Gaiman
Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World by Mark Miodownik
I have two of those books, even if I haven't got round to reading them yet.
It is that good!
(cleoselene, you'll enjoy the baseball-related answers. Actually, that's the thing, it's one of those books where you go, "ooh, x will really love that," or "y is going to flip their lid".
It's a pleasing mixture of funny, accurate and that peculiar fire-bugginess that you find in scientists of all stripes.
The cartoons made me giggle, and the rest of it made me think. Definitely recommended.
I think that I might have found an explanation for how the Moon escaped in Space: 1999 (and a bit of Sapphire and Steel).
I mean, I am going to ignore the idea that Charles II was the last Habsburg because I do not expect an American author to know that the Spanish Habsburgs were not the be all and end all of the Habsburgs. No matter how miffed I become each time.
Also, mild humblebrag hiding as a conflict of interest statement, I have exchanged emails with the book's chemistry advisor.
Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words by Randall Munroe
Can Elephants Swim? Unlikely Answers to Improbable Questions by Robert M. Jones
More Random Walks in Science by R. L. Weber
Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened by Allie Brosh
Brain Fuel: 199 Mind-Expanding Inquiries into the Science of Everyday Life by Joseph A. Schwarcz
The Martian by Andy Weir
The Big Book of What, How, and Why by Bob Strauss
Absolute Zero Gravity: Science Jokes, Quotes and Anecdotes by Betsy Devine
Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances by Neil Gaiman
Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World by Mark Miodownik
I have two of those books, even if I haven't got round to reading them yet.