How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems - Randall Munroe
Published by John Murray (Publishers): Great Britain, 2019. Randall Munroe is the creator of xkcd , a webcomic with all kinds of physics and maths based jokes starring stick figures. Being one of only two webcomics I currently follow regularly (the other being buttersafe ), I suppose I am an easy sell for this book. In How To, Munroe takes straight-forward tasks such as "Crossing a River", "Charging Your Phone" or "Skiing" and then proceeds to discuss ridiculous ways of achieving them, using physics to calculate the feasibility (or not) of each method. In the chapter on river crossing, for example, Munroe begins with simply swimming across the river, then moves on to jumping, jumping via a bicycle or car, crossing the surface of the water, freezing the river, boiling the river (to walk under the steam) and flying across by kite. The chapters are littered with Munroe's trademark stick figures who provide added humour by commenting on, or acting...