What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions

　　廣受歡迎的xkcd網站作者蘭德爾‧門羅，隆重推出《如果這樣，會怎樣？》為大家解答匪夷所思的重要問題。



　　每星期都有幾百萬人瀏覽xkcd.com網站，專程為了看蘭德爾‧門羅的網路漫畫。眾多粉絲也問了他好多奇奇怪怪的問題：

　　開車撞到減速坡仍安然存活的最快車速是多快？

　　如果某人的DNA憑空消失會怎樣？

　　在紐約市橫衝直撞的雷克斯暴龍，一天要吃掉多少人才吃得飽？



　　為了求出答案，蘭德爾‧門羅進行電腦模擬、挖出已解密的軍事研究紀錄、請教核反應器的操作人員、用碼錶為「星際大戰」電影的場景計時、打電話問他媽媽，還用Google搜尋一些看起來很恐怖的動物。本書從xkcd網站中挑選出最熱門的問題，但也加入很多全新內容（約51％）。



　　由蘭德爾‧門羅來當你的嚮導，科學很快就會變得無厘頭且逗趣。



　　例如，你會知道，

　　以接近光速投出的棒球，可能會夷平整個城區；

　　一莫耳的鼴鼠，可能會使行星窒息於一層肉當中；

　　電影「星際大戰」裡的尤達大師，可以用原力來幫電動Smart車充電。

　　從「遇見你的靈魂伴侶」到「以真正元素來建立週期表的種種死法」，



　　蘭德爾‧門羅都以令人捧腹大笑、佩服不已的答案，

　　為我們解釋一切。

　　歡迎來到《如果這樣，會怎樣？》的異想世界。

From the creator of the wildly popular webcomic xkcd, hilarious and informative answers to important questions you probably never thought to ask.

Millions of people visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe’s iconic webcomic. His stick-figure drawings about science, technology, language, and love have a large and passionate following.

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?

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 signature xkcd comics. They often predict the complete annihilation of humankind, or at least a really big explosion.

The book features new and never-before-answered questions, along with updated and expanded versions of the most popular answers from the xkcd website. What If? will be required reading for xkcd fans and anyone who loves to ponder the hypothetical.

作者簡介
    
蘭德爾．門羅Randall Munroe

　　xkcd網站的創辦人、《xkcd：第0集》的作者。

　　有什麼奇怪的問題，儘管放馬過來，
　　最知名的網路漫畫家，
　　為科技宅普羅大眾提供最有想像力的推理，
　　最幽默風趣的解答。

　　出生於美國賓州伊斯頓市，在維吉尼亞州里奇蒙市郊外長大，從克里斯多夫紐波特大學（Christopher Newport University）畢業後，便在NASA朗格里研究中心謀得「打造機器人」的工作。2006年離開NASA，專職畫網路漫畫，曾獲科幻界最受矚目的年度獎項「雨果獎」三次提名。

　　Randall Munroe is the author of the popular webcomic xkcd and the science question-and-answer blog What If. Randall was born in Easton, Pennsylvania and grew up outside Richmond, Virginia. After studying physics at Christopher Newport University, he got a job building robots at NASA Langley Research Center. In 2006, he left NASA to draw comics on the internet full-time, supporting himself through the sale of xkcd t-shirts, prints, posters, and books. He likes candlelight dinners and long walks on the beach. Very long walks. Lots of people say they like long walks on the beach, but then they get out on the beach and after just an hour or two, they say they're getting tired. Bring a tent. He lives in Massachusetts.