what if?: the book(s)

A special 10th anniversary edition of the million-copy bestseller What If? from the creator of the wildly popular webcomic xkcd—revised and annotated with brand-new illustrations and answers to important questions you never thought to ask.

Fans of xkcd ask Munroe a lot of strange questions: What if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90 percent the speed of light? How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live? If there was a robot apocalypse, how long would humanity last? What if everyone only had one soulmate? What would happen if the moon went away?

In pursuit of answers, Munroe runs computer simulations, pores over stacks of declassified military research memos, solves differential equations, and consults with nuclear reactor operators. His responses are masterpieces of clarity and hilarity, complemented by his signature xkcd comics. (They often predict the complete annihilation of humankind, or at least a really big explosion.)

In celebration of 10 years of unusual insight, Randall Munroe has revised his classic blockbuster to ask what if? x 10. The result is 10x the adventure of scientific inquiry. Featuring brand-new 2-color annotations and illustrations, this special anniversary edition is far more than a book for geeks, What If? explains the laws of science in operation in a way that every intelligent reader will enjoy and feel much smarter for having read.

out soon!

United States | Harper Collins

On sale November 26, 2024!

available to order from:

UK, Commonwealth & Ireland | John Murray

14 November 2024

available to order from:

Australia | John Murray

26 November 2024

available to order from:

New Zealand | John Murray

26 November 2024

available to order from:

Germany | Penguin Verlag

27 November 2024

available to order from:

Netherlands | Spectrum

26 November 2024

available to order from:

What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions is a collection of many of the blog's most popular answers, along with brand new weird and wonderful questions. Available now in the US! Scroll down for international pub dates.

out now from publishers worldwide!

United States | Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

September 2, 2014

available to order from: Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Indie Bound, BAM! [Books-a-million], Google Play, iBooks.
Audiobook from Blackstone Audio available to order from: Downpour, Amazon, Barnes & Noble

UK & Commonwealth | John Murray

04 September 2014

available to order from: Waterstones, Amazon.co.uk

German | Knaus

8 September 2014

available to order from: Randomhouse

Portuguese (Brazil) | Companhia das Letras

October 2014

available to order from: Livraria Cultura, Saraiva, Submarino, Travessa.

Dutch | Unieboek

October 2014

available to order from: Bol.com.

Hungarian | Athenaeum

November 2014

available to order from: Könyv City

Swedish | Volante

December 2014

available to order from: Adlibris and Dito.

Simplified Chinese (China) | United Sky New Media

available to order from: Amazon China, DangDang, and JingDong.

the books

Thing Explainer

Complicated Stuff in Simple Words

more info >

How To

Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems

more info >

What If? 2

More Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions

more info >