Firstly I would like to thank TSR, John Murray press and Randall Munroe for everything they have done!
Best described as the intellectual's 'Horrible Science', 'What If?' is a quirky, light-hearted look at some rather specific scientific situations. Randall Munroe is a former NASA roboticist and the creator of the wildly popular web-comic, 'xkcd', so expectations were high on opening this book for the first time - it did not disappoint. Containing fifty-seven fully realized questions and answers in short chapter form, this is virtually the perfect book for a break in work or a brief journey (unless driving!). As a person who failed miserably at science before begrudgingly accepting defeat and dropping the subject after GCSEs, I was nervous that large parts of this would simply fly over my head, and leave me laughing at the funny cartoons Munroe graciously inserted for us simple folk (make no mistake, I laughed a lot), so upon realizing that almost every answer was written as easily as necessary for most people to understand, I was immediately hooked, allowing myself (for a brief amount of time), to imagine I was a scientist or mathematician.
There is an additional 'Weird and worrying questions' section split into twelve parts, and this has a twofold effect; it acts as a break in the sometimes heavy science and tells you when to put the book down and remember to eat, drink and sleep (a difficult task at some points of reading), and it provides Munroe a chance to respond to otherwise impossible or insane questions, either through cartoons or (more telling) through silence. The cartoons themselves are a masterstroke, as they (miraculously) simultaneously compliment the answer being given through a quaint, simplistic style, and make fun of either the questioner (named and shamed on occasion) or Munroe himself.
Munroe is a naturally passionate individual, and this shines through in his writing. Each question takes us on a journey through time and space, with carefully crafted rambling seemingly drawing us further and further away from the point, only to tie everything together at the end of the answer, and leaving the reader with more trivial knowledge than they bargained for (how else would you find out about the evolutionary history of the pronghorn if not for an answer about New York?) For anyone who wants details on a specific experiment or detail, Munroe provides citations to other studies, or his own website (who says shameless self-promotion doesn't pay, eh!) I will admit, the only issue I have had with 'What If?' is that sometimes the questions can seem a bit of a slog, with overly long answers or simply too much science for my unscientific mind. That being said, I must stress the point that it is only in my rather subjective experience, and is only a small blip in an overall outstanding book.
Recommending Randall Munroe's new book would be an understatement on my part. If I had unlimited financial and legal backing (as well as permission from the authorities), I would force a copy of 'What If?' into every person's hand, only letting them leave when I see they have checked the first page, which I am certain is enough to leave anyone hooked. Combining science with fun, Munroe expertly blends his ability to explore science in a way that anyone can understand with the quirky, charming little drawings that have become an iconic part of 'xkcd', and not forgetting to shove enough advanced material to keep the dedicated and (if his 'Weird and worrying questions' section is anything to go by) deranged fans happy.