---
product_id: 99382321
title: "What If? (International Edition)"
price: "€ 54.34"
currency: EUR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.com.cy/products/99382321-what-if-international-edition
store_origin: CY
region: Cyprus
---

# What If? (International Edition)

**Price:** € 54.34
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- **What is this?** What If? (International Edition)
- **How much does it cost?** € 54.34 with free shipping
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- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.com.cy](https://www.desertcart.com.cy/products/99382321-what-if-international-edition)

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## Description

desertcart.com: What If? (International Edition): 9780544456860: MUNROE, RANDALL: Books

Review: Making Science Entertaining with Explosions and Destruction - A reader comes away from Randall Munroe's book, which is subtitled "Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions," with the sense that Munroe likes to blow things up and burn them to the ground, and that may well be the case. Many of his answers are accompanied by the standard disclaimer—do not try this at home—except when says, "If you do do this at home, please send me the video." Munroe is a former robotics expert with NASA who "dropped out" to draw web comics. His most famous creation is xkcd, where three times a week he publishes a new comic, many of them presenting a fascinating—or ludicrous—take on math, physics, technology or life. His drawing style is at once simplistic and instantly recognizable. His people are stick figures, but that doesn't diminish their cleverness. This book is illustrated with similar drawings, often to provide the punch lines to jokes delivered in the text or to demonstrate a point. Since he's obviously very clever and resourceful, and seems willing to tackle enormous questions, his readers and fans often ask him questions. Some of these are, quite frankly, disturbing. These he relegates to interludes between batches of chapters with the appropriate heading "Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Inbox." Usually he answers these questions with a simple NO! or a scream, or a comic of the author reporting the questioner to the police, the FBI or Homeland Security. The other questions are of the sort that college kids might come up with late at night in dorm rooms or geeks would get into heated arguments over at ComicCon. No one asks Munroe who would win in a fight between this superhero and that one, but maybe he's keeping those for the follow-up. Many questions are about a matter of scale. How many of these objects would you need to do that? What would happen if something this big suddenly showed up or plummeted to the earth? A disturbingly large number of them ask what would happen to a person if something cataclysmic happened, like the sudden disappearance of all of their DNA (his answer unexpectedly segues into the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatments for cancer). Some questions have straightforward, simple answers. "What would happen to the Earth if the Sun suddenly turned off?" Everyone would freeze to death. However, Munroe is rarely content to stop there. He expands on these answers, taking them to a logical (or, some might say, illogical) extreme. He ups the ante, going far beyond what the person submitting the question had in mind—far beyond what is even remotely possible, so the answers become thought experiments. Many of his answers end with the extinguishing of life on earth or the destruction of the planet. But there's a method to his madness. He isn't just speculating. Okay, he does occasionally speculate, but he usually relies on hard science, with a few assumptions. While the book is entertaining and laugh-out-loud funny, it is also educational. There are very few formulas (the book does have an extensive bibliography where there are, no doubt, more than enough equations to satisfy those who demand more rigorous proofs), and Munroe takes some numerical shortcuts, but one is left with the impression that he has given these questions a great deal of thought and conducted considerable research. This would be a terrific book to give to someone with a burgeoning curiosity about the nature of things, as it demonstrates how entertaining science can be. Many of the answers are astonishing and counterintuitive, until Munroe lays out the reasoning behind them. What would happen to a glass of water if the lower half of the liquid were suddenly replaced by a vacuum. Not at all what a person might anticipate. If humanity were to die off (there he goes again), what would be the last remaining manmade source of light? Again, he digs deep, pursuing some unexpected avenues. Plus, for people who appreciate Munroe's unique, twisted sense of humor, the book is drop dead funny. But, as humorist Dave Barry often says, don't try to duplicate his experiments at home. By his own admission, he is not an expert on these subjects. Because he is willing to consult true experts, he just sounds like one.
Review: Great book for yourself or gift. Nothing like it! - Absolutely great book, so fun & funny while accurate and informative. Get's ya thinking and chuckling at the same time. So appreciate his humor and diligence in working out the math for us all. Seems the bad reviews are about the condition of the physical book they received. That's not a reflection on the author or content, but on the sellers. So get the book for yourself and gifts, it's great!

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #1,592,046 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.6 out of 5 stars 18,730 Reviews |

## Images

![What If? (International Edition) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71FjRaS5j1L.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Making Science Entertaining with Explosions and Destruction
*by D***T on October 3, 2014*

A reader comes away from Randall Munroe's book, which is subtitled "Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions," with the sense that Munroe likes to blow things up and burn them to the ground, and that may well be the case. Many of his answers are accompanied by the standard disclaimer—do not try this at home—except when says, "If you do do this at home, please send me the video." Munroe is a former robotics expert with NASA who "dropped out" to draw web comics. His most famous creation is xkcd, where three times a week he publishes a new comic, many of them presenting a fascinating—or ludicrous—take on math, physics, technology or life. His drawing style is at once simplistic and instantly recognizable. His people are stick figures, but that doesn't diminish their cleverness. This book is illustrated with similar drawings, often to provide the punch lines to jokes delivered in the text or to demonstrate a point. Since he's obviously very clever and resourceful, and seems willing to tackle enormous questions, his readers and fans often ask him questions. Some of these are, quite frankly, disturbing. These he relegates to interludes between batches of chapters with the appropriate heading "Weird (and Worrying) Questions from the What If? Inbox." Usually he answers these questions with a simple NO! or a scream, or a comic of the author reporting the questioner to the police, the FBI or Homeland Security. The other questions are of the sort that college kids might come up with late at night in dorm rooms or geeks would get into heated arguments over at ComicCon. No one asks Munroe who would win in a fight between this superhero and that one, but maybe he's keeping those for the follow-up. Many questions are about a matter of scale. How many of these objects would you need to do that? What would happen if something this big suddenly showed up or plummeted to the earth? A disturbingly large number of them ask what would happen to a person if something cataclysmic happened, like the sudden disappearance of all of their DNA (his answer unexpectedly segues into the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation treatments for cancer). Some questions have straightforward, simple answers. "What would happen to the Earth if the Sun suddenly turned off?" Everyone would freeze to death. However, Munroe is rarely content to stop there. He expands on these answers, taking them to a logical (or, some might say, illogical) extreme. He ups the ante, going far beyond what the person submitting the question had in mind—far beyond what is even remotely possible, so the answers become thought experiments. Many of his answers end with the extinguishing of life on earth or the destruction of the planet. But there's a method to his madness. He isn't just speculating. Okay, he does occasionally speculate, but he usually relies on hard science, with a few assumptions. While the book is entertaining and laugh-out-loud funny, it is also educational. There are very few formulas (the book does have an extensive bibliography where there are, no doubt, more than enough equations to satisfy those who demand more rigorous proofs), and Munroe takes some numerical shortcuts, but one is left with the impression that he has given these questions a great deal of thought and conducted considerable research. This would be a terrific book to give to someone with a burgeoning curiosity about the nature of things, as it demonstrates how entertaining science can be. Many of the answers are astonishing and counterintuitive, until Munroe lays out the reasoning behind them. What would happen to a glass of water if the lower half of the liquid were suddenly replaced by a vacuum. Not at all what a person might anticipate. If humanity were to die off (there he goes again), what would be the last remaining manmade source of light? Again, he digs deep, pursuing some unexpected avenues. Plus, for people who appreciate Munroe's unique, twisted sense of humor, the book is drop dead funny. But, as humorist Dave Barry often says, don't try to duplicate his experiments at home. By his own admission, he is not an expert on these subjects. Because he is willing to consult true experts, he just sounds like one.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great book for yourself or gift. Nothing like it!
*by L***W on December 8, 2025*

Absolutely great book, so fun & funny while accurate and informative. Get's ya thinking and chuckling at the same time. So appreciate his humor and diligence in working out the math for us all. Seems the bad reviews are about the condition of the physical book they received. That's not a reflection on the author or content, but on the sellers. So get the book for yourself and gifts, it's great!

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Very entertaining read about strange What If's in science and life.
*by K***T on May 8, 2015*

Randall Munroe is the creator of the popular webcomic xkcd. Awhile ago he started a new section on his site called “What If”. This book is a compilation of the What If posts from his site. They are funny, and sometimes absurd, scientific answers to strange questions people post to him. I listened to this as an audiobook. It is narrated by Wil Wheaton and Wil does a great job narrating it. For me it is easier to listen to non-fiction books on audiobook (it just holds my attention better). However, I also own the book in hardcover and being that Munroe is a cartoonist there are a lot of cool pictures in the hardcover book that are funny and help to explain things. So while the audiobook was very well done and engaging, keep in mind you aren’t getting to see the funny drawings. This is the type of book that makes a good coffee table book and is fun to read one scenario at a time. When I listened to a whole bunch of scenarios in a row it all started to blur together a bit. It provides answers to questions like “How long would you live if your cells stopped dividing?” and “What would happen if the moon went away?” The book reminds a bit of the Mythbusters TV show because Munroe always had to take the scenario to the point of ultimate destruction or explosion (which is hilarious and highly entertaining). The book is written in a very humorous and snarky tone (which Wheaton reads perfectly in the audiobook). There are sections throughout called “Weird and Worrying Questions from the What If Inbox” that are also hilarious. These sections feature bizarre and disturbing questions that Munroe provides brief and sarcastic answers to. For example “How many cats yowling would it take to bring down a fighter jet?” Overall this is a humorous scientific read that provides scientific answers to bizarre questions. It reminds at times of the Mythbusters TV series in that nearly every scenario is taken to the point of giant explosions or mass destruction. I would definitely recommend to fans of the Mythbusters TV series, fans of xkcd, and fans of snarky science humor.

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*Product available on Desertcart Cyprus*
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*Last updated: 2026-02-19*