What if I wrote a book?

Posted bydavean 1,117 Comments on What if I wrote a book?

For the last couple years, I’ve been answering your science questions on What If.

Today, I’m excited to announce that the What If? book is coming!

What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions will be published September 2nd by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Starting today you can pre-order it from your favorite bookseller (Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Indie Bound).  There are also foreign editions, including a UK and Commonwealth edition and a German edition.

As I’ve sifted through the letters submitted to What If every week, I’ve occasionally set aside particularly neat questions that I wanted to spend a little more time on. This book features my answers to those questions, along with revised and updated versions of some of my favorite articles from the site. (I’m also including my personal list of the weirdest questions people have submitted.)

Preorder today to get a copy as soon as it comes out!

1,117 replies on “What if I wrote a book?”

  2. This book is not listed on Amazon.ca. Is there a plan to list it there and what version will it be?

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  5. This book is not listed on Amazon.ca. Is there a plan to list it there and which version will it be?

    Like

  8. What’s the difference between the UK/Commonwealth edition and the American one? Just spelling localisation or content?

    How many questions will there be?

    Do we lose out on the alt text altogether or will it go into captions?

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  9. Pingback: A Book Based on xkcd’s Science Blog ‘What If?’ Is Coming in September | Bonext.com

  11. Clearly the actual prediction is that by next week you will have several dozen what-if books being published.

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  13. I am really excited to see how Randall got the mouseover text to work over the pictures in his new book!

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  14. Hi. What is different in the UK edition compared to the American edition? I don’t live in either place, so I’m not sure which I should pre-order.

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  17. Will there be an ebook version? I want to read your book but I don’t want to possess another collection of dead trees when my tablet performs admirably at the task of presenting words to my eyes. 🙂

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  18. Pingback: Randall Munroe's New "What If" Book | Twice Cooked - Cooking, Eating, Politics
  20. Pingback: A Book Based on xkcd’s Science Blog ‘What If?’ Scheduled for Release in September | Bonext.com

  21. Roughly when is the book likely to be released? I have a home and university address and would like it to come to the right place 🙂

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  23. Dude, please, please, PLEASE make an epub version of this. Think of all of the fans that read your blog from third-world countries where the shipping costs from the US are prohibitive. Think of me!

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  24. Pingback: What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, A Book Based on xkcd’s Blog ‘What If?’ | Bonext.com

  27. Another call for the Kindle edition – shipping to Italy would be outrageously expensive!

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  28. Is it sad that when I went to the Amazon page, I hovered my mouse over the picture of the book, expecting some alt-text?

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  33. Book?

    Will you also be producing flint arrowheads while wearing pre-columbian garb?

    Will the “book” come with instructions for those who’ve never seen one before?

    Is there a warranty or service agreement on the book? Does it cover the glass?

    Will the book rotate stably about all three of its face-centered axes?

    Is the book rewritable?

    Is ink safe?

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  36. As a Canadian, I’m disappointed that the UK & Commonwealth link doesn’t have Canadian shipping options. Can you hook a Canuck up?

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  38. This is great news! Congrats, I can’t wait.

    I am not privy to any of the details of this deal, but to the questions some other people have asked about different versions of the book, here are some general answers from my experience with Machine of Death:

    • US and Canada are served by the same book publishers, although different distributors. So Canadians can expect to get the same book, but it won’t show up on amazon.ca until the Canadian distributor puts it there, which may take longer.

    • All book publishers these days publish ebook editions. So rest assured there will be a Kindle edition, and it’ll also be on all the other ebook sites (B&N, Kobo, iBooks, etc). It’s very unlikely there will be a straight ePub available for download outside of an ebook reseller (although Calibre will convert a file downloaded from one of those services). This is no fault of Randy’s, it’s just how books are distributed by the industry.

    • UK, Australia, and New Zealand are served by UK publishers. It seems there will be a UK edition, which will probably be identical except potentially with a different cover (about half the time they change the cover to serve a different market). This just means that a UK publisher (possibly a different branch of Houghton, possibly not) got the rights to distribute the book in their market independently of the US publisher.

    • In the same way, Australia/NZ are served by different distributors than other territories, so it may take a little time for the book to show up on all the different sites. The book isn’t due out until September so there’s plenty of time for all that to shake out.

    Congrats again Randy!

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  39. Looking forward to my grandson’s second book! I know it will be a success as was his first book.

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  40. Great news! My Christmas shopping is done (beating my previous record of Dec 19th).

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  41. Why would you get a german version?

    I mean… Even me… As a german doesn’t have the slightest intrest in a translated version of xkcd… Ever…

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  46. Amazon US: 16.97 USD
    Amazon UK: 16.09 GBP = 26.74 USD
    *sigh* i hate this country. Still, when/if the paperback comes out i’ll grab it.

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  48. If this week marks the 87th comic, haven’t you only been doing this for 1.67 years, not “For the last couple years”. Maybe I’m missing something. But that’s cool about the book!

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  49. If the What If book were carved into the face of the moon, in a font large enough to be read on the current highest resolution orbital lunar surface imagery, how long would it remain legible? How much area would it take up? How much material would be excavated, assuming the carving profile is a neat 45-degree “V” shape?

    Honestly, “What If?” is a highlight of my week, something to look forward to about Tuesdays. Excited about the book; will have to remember to keep checking Amazon.ca for the Canadian release.

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  50. I like kindle versions, but illustrations usually suck on Kindle, so I’d settle for a dead tree paper.

    It would make sense to list it under amazon.ca
    Please, please with sugar and a cherry on top?

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