Talks at Google

Ep294 - Randall Munroe | What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions


Listen Later

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.

 

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Talks at GoogleBy Talks at Google

  • 4.1
  • 4.1
  • 4.1
  • 4.1
  • 4.1

4.1

117 ratings


More shows like Talks at Google

View all
HBR IdeaCast by Harvard Business Review

HBR IdeaCast

265 Listeners

The McKinsey Podcast by McKinsey & Company

The McKinsey Podcast

375 Listeners

TED Business by TED

TED Business

1,112 Listeners

TED Tech by TED Tech

TED Tech

398 Listeners

a16z Podcast by Andreessen Horowitz

a16z Podcast

994 Listeners

The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving by FirmsConsulting.com & StrategyTraining.com

The Strategy Skills Podcast: Strategy | Leadership | Critical Thinking | Problem-Solving

109 Listeners

Cold Call by HBR Presents / Brian Kenny

Cold Call

192 Listeners

Masters of Scale by WaitWhat

Masters of Scale

3,970 Listeners

Women at Work by Harvard Business Review

Women at Work

1,408 Listeners

HBS Managing the Future of Work by Harvard Business School

HBS Managing the Future of Work

109 Listeners

Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques by Matt Abrahams, Think Fast Talk Smart

Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques

773 Listeners

Me, Myself, and AI by MIT Sloan Management Review and Boston Consulting Group (BCG)

Me, Myself, and AI

97 Listeners

How to Be a Better Human by TED

How to Be a Better Human

1,342 Listeners

ReThinking by TED

ReThinking

611 Listeners

The So What from BCG by Boston Consulting Group BCG

The So What from BCG

222 Listeners