
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


Randall Munroe visits Google to discuss his book "What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions." The millions of people around the world who read the first "What If?" book still have questions, and those questions are getting stranger. Thank goodness xkcd creator Randall Munroe is here to help. Planning to ride a fire pole from the moon back to Earth? The hardest part is sticking the landing. Hoping to cool the atmosphere by opening everyone's freezer door at the same time? Maybe it's time for a brief introduction to thermodynamics. Want to know what would happen if you rode a helicopter blade, built a billion-story building, made a lava lamp out of lava, or jumped on a geyser as it erupted? Okay, if you insist. But before you go on a cosmic road trip, feed the residents of New York City to a T. rex, or fill every church with bananas, be sure to consult this practical guide for impractical ideas. Unfazed by absurdity, Randall consults the latest research on everything from swing-set physics to airplane-catapult design to clearly and concisely answer his readers' questions. As he consistently demonstrates, you can learn a lot from examining how the world might work in very specific extreme circumstances. This book is filled with bonkers science, boundless curiosity, and Randall's signature stick-figure comics. Randall Munroe is the author of the number one New York Times bestsellers "How To", "What If?", and "Thing Explainer"; the science question-and-answer blog "What If?"; and the popular web comic xkcd. A former NASA roboticist, he left the agency in 2006 to draw comics on the internet full time.
Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.
By Talks at Google4.1
122122 ratings
Randall Munroe visits Google to discuss his book "What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions." The millions of people around the world who read the first "What If?" book still have questions, and those questions are getting stranger. Thank goodness xkcd creator Randall Munroe is here to help. Planning to ride a fire pole from the moon back to Earth? The hardest part is sticking the landing. Hoping to cool the atmosphere by opening everyone's freezer door at the same time? Maybe it's time for a brief introduction to thermodynamics. Want to know what would happen if you rode a helicopter blade, built a billion-story building, made a lava lamp out of lava, or jumped on a geyser as it erupted? Okay, if you insist. But before you go on a cosmic road trip, feed the residents of New York City to a T. rex, or fill every church with bananas, be sure to consult this practical guide for impractical ideas. Unfazed by absurdity, Randall consults the latest research on everything from swing-set physics to airplane-catapult design to clearly and concisely answer his readers' questions. As he consistently demonstrates, you can learn a lot from examining how the world might work in very specific extreme circumstances. This book is filled with bonkers science, boundless curiosity, and Randall's signature stick-figure comics. Randall Munroe is the author of the number one New York Times bestsellers "How To", "What If?", and "Thing Explainer"; the science question-and-answer blog "What If?"; and the popular web comic xkcd. A former NASA roboticist, he left the agency in 2006 to draw comics on the internet full time.
Visit YouTube.com/TalksatGoogle to watch the video.

389 Listeners

2,687 Listeners

108 Listeners

166 Listeners

1,104 Listeners

398 Listeners

195 Listeners

3,990 Listeners

1,377 Listeners

9,167 Listeners

106 Listeners

800 Listeners

219 Listeners

81 Listeners

167 Listeners