You could never fit all the ridiculous, but curiously intersting questions about the universe in one book. That's why a second book is necessary! Randall Munroe is a physicist who once worked at NASA. Then he moved on to something even better: Comics! He uses his webcomic, XKCD, to explain the absurdities of life and sheds light on extremely complex algorithms and mathematical situtions. His What If books reveal humorous explanations and answers to some of the most ludicrous questions he has recieved. What would happen to you if the the Earth suddenly stopped spinning? Far more than you would ever guess. I mean death would happen, obviously, but in a FAR more interesting way than you would ever imagine! Munroe's books are like David Macaulay'S How Things Work series, but leveled up and with stick cartoons to illustrate. You won't make it past a chapter without laughing, shaking your head in wonderment, and learning something new.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

This book is one of my favorite to recommend to reluctant Teen readers as a vehicle to learn and laugh while doing so

I love these books. After previously reading What If and How To, I sold a lot of these titles to customers looking for books to give as gifts. Simple drawings and absurd questions make this the perfect coffee table book for all ages.

An enjoyable follow up to the original What If? Book. On mobile the photos were hard to read but that s nothing against the book itself. Funny and thought out well. I'm also amazed at the questions people think to ask!

Just like the previous book, this one is a delight. I hope that Mr. Monroe makes all the books he wants and he has Will Wheaton read them all. If I taught high school science, I would use this book as my road map.

Randall Munroe is hilarious. What If? 2 is such fun to read. You learn new things and laugh while doing it. I have already bought copies of this book for so many people as presents. Anyone who is at all interested in how the world works or has ever wondered "what if" people did incredibly stupid things.

A neat premise weighted down by boring, overly-scientific, over-explanation to questions that are not that interesting in the first place.

What if Mercury were made of Mercury and Pluto Plutonium? Weird but not nearly as bad as Neptune made of Neptunium! Fireman's pole from the moon to earth? Not nearly as fun as it sounds. Want to fill a swimming pool with saliva? You're not going to be swimming in it for a long, long time. Half the marvel of this book is how people come up with the very strange questions. Then comes the joy of having the questions taken very seriously with detailed answers and quirky diagrams. The first volume of What If was an immediate hit and memorable experience for me, and this second volume is every bit as laugh out loud wonderful.

Thanks to NetGalley and Riverhead Books for making an advance copy of this title available for an honest review.

Randall Munroe is back with even more answers to What If questions that readers have submitted. Once again he works on providing understandable answers to some very weird questions such as what would happen if you shrank the sun down to the size of a house and set it next door? A very bad idea as he explains in detail the disaster this would inflict on your neighborhood. And then the was the Chemistry class/teacher that he was worried about. Just like Lays potato chips, you are not likely to stop at just one. Read, learn, enjoy and pass it on to a friend.

Thank you @riverheadbooks and @xkcd the author Randall Munroe for the gifted copy
of What If 2: Additional Serious Scientific Absurd Hypothetical Questions
📅: 9/13 (Out now!!)

Thoughts 💭: When I opened the Randall’s book, I was immediately transported back to my childhood days. My dad would travel around the world due to work - often gone for days. In order to make up for the time lost, he would bring us gifts including chocolates and books. One of the books that gave me a love of reading was 500 Questions and Answers, where I learned about events like the tragedy of Pomepeii due to the destruction of Mount Vesuvius.

⁉️ This book was such a pleasure to read. Given the author’s background of working with NASA, as a physicist building robots 🤖, and then leaving his career to draw comics full time, the “what if” questions were answered with brilliant, light, and accessible manner often punctuating his responses with humor and images. Now, I am not into science 🧬 as much but I breezed through this book. My favorites were “One-Second Day,” “Airline Catapult”, “Star Ownership”, and so many others thought-provoking questions which he has correctly categorized as “weird and worrying”! I enjoyed reading this brilliant book, and for anyone who wants to take a break from their usual genres and see the questions people ask if given a chance for their imagination to run wild - what if…?

I will always be grateful for a chance to read Randall Monroe, he is a brilliant humorist and scientist and these forays into long-form writing are nothing short of thrilling. Thank you for the ARC.

I really enjoyed this book!!! It was so well researched and I love the different questions that were asked. I will have to check out other books by this author. I know I will be referring to this one many times in the future.

I beg of you, feed all the footnotes. Munroe's second volume of silly questions taken seriously is an ongoing delight. The whole thing reads like someone just wanting to play and enjoy that we can figure out some pretty odd stuff. The science is solid, the comics are giggle inducing, and it kind of made me want to eat a small cloud of cotton candy, so it definitely encourages good choices.

This is a great book of outrageous questions that Munroe provides in-depth, scientific answers for - except for the hilarious "short answer" sections, which (as the name suggests) are short and oh so sweet, and the "weird & worrying" sections, which have some definite off-the-wall questions even for a book full of off-the-wall questions. The stick figure drawings throughout are delightful as they help explain the scientific concepts or provide funny do's & dont's of the questions. Several answers made me laugh out loud, especially the ones about the T. Rex, losing weight amid the force of gravity, and a question about Mario that I shared with anyone I could! Thank you so much to Riverhead Books, Penguin Random House, and NetGalley for the review copy in return for my honest review. Heading out now to find a copy of the original What If? for more laughs that make you feel smarter!

I love how the scientific process is broken down and used to explain concepts to a broad audience. The humor is spot on and the hypothetical questions are fun to think about.

Answers to funny/weird/interesting science questions with even more SCIENCE! So funny, interesting and informative. Give this a read.

What would happen if entire planets are turned into different forms of matter? Could you have a lava lamp with real lava? (Answer: not really.) Could you climb a pole from the Moon to Earth? Munroe takes fun, funny, odd, and imaginative questions from his fans and spins them into mini stories with scientific explanations. You can learn some physics and other random science in these thoroughly explored scenarios.

XKCD’s Randall Munroe is up to his usual no good fun science in each hypothetical situation. Like in the original What If?, the scenarios from kids tend to be worse, even when adults try to come up with crazy things.

The stick figure illustrations simultaneously cement educational points of info along with being joke punchlines, asides, and references to other things to research. The humor is inclusive and the science and stories are for everyone in this fun sequel.

I wish the book had been given a different title, because while fans of Munroe, and his previous work, will be delighted by this new installment, I fear the "2" in the title will dissuade new readers. I believe this book is brilliant enough that, My sincere wish is for new readers to discover the intelligent wit with this book and enjoy it so much they would then seek out the previous books. This is the kind of book that annoys those around me due to my constant chuckling, at which point I happy read passages aloud for them, or even thrust the book (or tablet) into their hands and say "Here, just read this..."

I have really enjoyed this book. I've been reading the webcomic for years and this book has great content too. I love the asking of questions and the process through which they are answered. No question to big, or too small, or too out of this world. Great for the imagination and stimulating problem solving. Would love to have this title in our library along side the first volume.