Randall Munroe
Author of What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
About the Author
Randall Munroe was born in Easton, Pennsylvania on October 17, 1984. He received a degree in physics from Christopher Newport University. He got a job building robots at NASA Langley Research Center. In 2006, he left NASA to draw comics on the internet full-time. He is the author of the popular show more webcomic xkcd, the science question-and-answer blog What If, and the New York Times bestseller What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Randall Munroe [credit: Wikimedia Commons user Petehume]
Series
Works by Randall Munroe
What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions (2022) — Author — 883 copies
xkcd: Time 14 copies
Randall Munroe Collection 3 Books Bundle (Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words [Hardcover],Xkcd: Volume… (2016) 1 copy
Radiation Dose Chart 1 copy
Associated Works
Machine of Death: A Collection of Stories About People Who Know How They Will Die (2010) — Contributor — 974 copies
The Design and Engineering of Curiosity: How the Mars Rover Performs Its Job (Springer Praxis Books) (2018) — Foreword — 45 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Munroe, Randall
- Legal name
- Munroe, Randall Patrick
- Birthdate
- 1984-10-17
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Country (for map)
- USA
- Birthplace
- Easton, Pennsylvania, USA
- Places of residence
- Somerville, Massachusetts, USA
- Education
- Christopher Newport College (BS|2006 - Physics)
Chesterfield County Mathematics and Science High School - Occupations
- webcomic artist
roboticist
programmer
cartoonist
Members
Discussions
What if?-type thought experiments, physics, NF in Name that Book (August 2015)
Reviews
Incredibly interesting, but not always attention-grabbing (hence the fact that it took over two months for me to finish). Many of the chapters in this book were great, but there were a few that would be best described as meh.
Not as good as the first What If? book, but still entertaining. I would have preferred more outer space and explosions.
xkcd Volume 0 is a collection of comics from the xkcd webcomic, with added notes and doodles. Munroe states upfront that you're not really getting much that you couldn't read for free online - this is definitely intended for xkcd diehards.
It's xkcd, so it's generally at least decent, although I am not smart/nerdy enough to understand a good half of the jokes and references in this volume. Still, there were a few of my favorites, including the kitty graph, and I appreciated the DRM ones (which are, sadly, still applicable).
If you're interested in the history of xkcd and how it got started, Munroe's introduction is worth a read.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)… (more)
It's xkcd, so it's generally at least decent, although I am not smart/nerdy enough to understand a good half of the jokes and references in this volume. Still, there were a few of my favorites, including the kitty graph, and I appreciated the DRM ones (which are, sadly, still applicable).
If you're interested in the history of xkcd and how it got started, Munroe's introduction is worth a read.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)… (more)
Lists
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 12
- Also by
- 4
- Members
- 12,338
- Popularity
- #1,900
- Rating
- 4.1
- Reviews
- 359
- ISBNs
- 127
- Languages
- 21
- Favorited
- 12
2nd read: February 2024
Original review:
I absolutely loved this book. The author did a great job writing things so that I could understand the science and enjoy the sheer ridiculousness described in this book. I'm so excited for the sequel, which is expected in September. (Yay!)