How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems by Randall Munroe [Book Review]
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
How to explain how to: absurd scientific advice for common real-world problems is probably “don’t try this at home!” How to is a follow on to What if… There’s a fantastic set of well-researched out of the box suggestions for alternative solutions to things we’ve probably all done, wondered about, or will need to do sometime in our lives.
How to…
The science is very real, and plausible, and totally absurd. I laughed out loud a lot when reading How to. Another fab book from Randall Munroe, the genius behind xkcd. It’s a perfect follow on to What if…
I think my favourite set of advice was the chapter on moving house. It offered some advice on packing, and then on what you needed to do to pick the house up and move it. After considering wide loads, there was then a treatise on attaching jet engines to the house and flying it to the new location. Including how much fuel and the range you could expect. That’s sort of typical of the chapters, which come internally referenced in places. Another interesting feature is that Munroe has enlisted some real experts to answer questions. Chris Hadfield helped with some really absurd questions on space and Serena Williams on whether a tennis pro could knock down a drone. There were a lot of people willing to help, which makes it even better. I don’t think there’s a bad chapter in there (although, seriously, don’t try this at home).
That wasn’t the only bit though. There were chapters on winning at Tag, powering your house, having a lava moat, winning an election, making money, and a load more. Each chapter is well referenced (to an academic extent) and there’s an index in case you just want to find something quickly…
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