What If?What If?
Score Modern
What it's about
Randall Munroe, a former NASA roboticist who draws the webcomic xkcd, gives serious scientific answers to absurd questions from readers: What would happen if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at nearly the speed of light? How many Lego bricks would it take to build a bridge from London to New York? What if everyone on Earth aimed a laser pointer at the Moon?
Why it's worth reading
It hit #1 on the New York Times list. It's very funny, illustrated with stick figures, and it sneaks in a lot of real science.
You'll love it if you liked
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyGood to know
It's perfect for dipping into, one question at a time. Many answers end in a cheerful apocalypse.
By the numbers
- Readers68 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics0 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Bestseller77 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
- #36 of the 119 science and ideas books we rank
- #281 of the 1,573 modern books we rank
- #558 of the 2,816 books we rank
Why it made the list
Reads as
True story, Thought-provoking, Funny
If you like this, read next
Dungeon Crawler Carl
Night Watch
Infinite Jest
Good Omens
Men at Arms
The TruthExplore the best-of lists
All 36 best-of lists →
Science and ideas booksTop 25 · 119 ranked
Modern booksTop 25 · 1,573 ranked
Books of the 2010sTop 25 · 736 ranked
Fantasy booksTop 25 · 459 ranked
Mysteries and thrillersTop 25 · 555 ranked
Literary novelsTop 25 · 309 ranked
Memoirs and biographiesTop 25 · 290 ranked
Science fiction booksTop 25 · 313 rankedQuick answers
Is What If? worth reading?
Yes. It hit #1 on the New York Times list. It ranks #558 of the 2,816 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 77.6 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is What If? about?
Randall Munroe, a former NASA roboticist who draws the webcomic xkcd, gives serious scientific answers to absurd questions from readers: What would happen if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at nearly the speed of light? How many Lego bricks would it take to build a bridge from London to New York? What if everyone on Earth aimed a laser pointer at the Moon?
How long does it take to read What If??
About 8 hours (305 pages), or about 2 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after What If??
If you liked it, try A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson or The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.