In this hilariously unpractical self-help book, Randall Munroe takes the simple problems in life and solves them with a simple tool called physics. From common problems like How to Dig a Hole, Munroe provides brilliant solutions that nobody ever thought of trying. With his witty comics speckled throughout, How To provides a healthy mix of science and humor. This has become my go-to self help book for any real world problem that needs solving.

Absurd book. Wasted my time reading the first chapter.Skimmed the second.Read the TOC and realized this inanity was a waste

I apparently read this but GoodReads removed it from my shelves.

How To is a book written by the xkcd cartoonist Randall Munroe where he uses ludicrous, over the top ideas for how to do simple things in order to teach scientific concepts. He regularly gives data and equations to teach the concepts. An illuminating quote is "I really love that we can ask physics ridiculous questions like, 'What kind of gas mileage would my house get on the highway?' and physics has to answer us." from the chapter "How to Move".There are 26 chapters, ranging from "How to Dig a

I'm using this as my "recommendation from a trusted source" category in the #mmdchallenge, as it was recommended to me by a friend who often has overlapping taste in books. The opening sentence is, "This is a book of bad ideas." And then it proceeds to use much of what is already scientifically known to explain why certain things do or don't work. Topics covered include, "How To Play the Piano" (including adding keys in ranges out of humans' ability to hear), "How to Build a Lava Moat" (I guess

If you've read his first book "What If" and liked it, then you'll like this book as well as it is pretty much the same kind of premise and the same style of wacky scenarios taken to the scientific extremes. Not that I'm complaining as I thought it's another very entertaining and successful book by Munroe. If I HAVE to complain, I think there were a few chapters in the middle where there were a few too many "real" physics equation included, which if the reader has some rudimentary (and retained)

Hmmm, I guess I've read all of this author's books! I'm into animation and science so I guess I am 'drawn' to them. This outing was a pretty decent/ fun read. My perspective is that the author is definitely unique, but his explanations are often more amusing than truly funny. I think that his strengths are his imagination (obviously!) and when he "Mary Roach's" amusing factoids into some of his chapters. The weaknesses are that (again, just my opinion!) his chapters are uneven; some are very int...

Very interesting Various scientific topics on every day things. Liked learning about how different types of math are used to calculate findings.

Another book full of physics humor from the author of the XKCD comics. If you like the comic you'll like the book; it's that simple if you are deciding whether to read it or not.How to make a lava moat around your house? How to fill a swimming pool if you don't have conventional water sources? How to generate electricity on Mars? All good fun, and you might accidentally learn something useful along the way too :) There are some guests providing information via interviews and/or testing scenarios...

An extended exercise in solemn engineering-style whimsy, complete with footnotes and cartoons, by one of my favorite cartoonists. Procedure: Think of an ordinary task, such as how to charge your phone, and without even considering any of the usual everyday solutions, delineate the most workable but absurd possible answers. The astronaut Chris Hadfield was enlisted at one point, and later the tennis champion Serena Williams (to see how efficiently a tennis serve could disable a drone). At times t...

(3.5) I enjoyed this book considerably more than What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, because..??!?! It is not any less technical (physics equations, math, everything is still there), so I guess because I was less interested in the questions posted in What If , than these hilarious general questions like "How to dig a hole". Fun read!

This was a delightful read, and does exactly what it says on the tin. Real-world problems (how to have a pool party..., how to get somewhere on time..., how to stop a drone that's following you...) taken to a absurd place (...when you forgot you don't have a pool, ...by manipulating the flow of time itself, ...with sports equipment), answered with science (and in the case of the drone/sports equipment, a celebrity cameo that I won't spoil but was absolutely delightful to read about). Plenty of h...

Fun for science fans!I’ve been a fan of xkcd for a long time, so it should be no surprise that I’d like this book. However, in the past I’ve had trouble getting too much into Munroe’s speculative work because he often treats his “What if” scenarios as that his description is 100% exactly what would happen instead of just his best guess. Maybe I’m older and softer now or maybe the writing is better, but I didn’t have that sense with this book nearly as much. There was only one minor quibble I had...

This book was ridiculously good. For all it's claims of being absurd the book is packed with enlightening information and explains lot more than what it pretends to be. I had read What If long back and predictably had some expectations when I started this. Randall Munroe delivers it with his typical sense of humor and sarcasm. Did it pander to my nonsensical sense of humor? YesDid it teach me stuff I had no idea about? Also yes.It was really a fantastic book to read.

Given how I enjoy Munroe's XKCD strip, and how I really enjoyed his earlier book, What If, I felt morally obliged to pick up a copy of How To. And I can unequivocally say that I'm thrilled I did.Basically, the whole premise is right there in the subtitle - what are some of the most absurd but scientifically valid solutions to many of your real-world problems. Personally, my favorite section was on what you can do to keep ants out of your house. The logical solution (clearly) is to establish a mo...

This was one of the most refreshing and exciting books I had read in a long time. It is abundant with interesting information; I knew about some but never thought about them like this and I did not know many, I had just taken them for granted and I got to learn from this book. I believe that the author is truly smart with a vast knowledge and deep understanding.Below I bring a few parts of the book which I found interesting.If we have a free fall (without parachute), does our velocity keep incre...

Randall Munroe, there he goes once again making science fun. I loved his What if, so How To was a natural progression. The approach here is slightly different, wherein What If started with preposterous scenarios and normalized them through science, How to starts off with everyday perfectly quotidian scenarios and takes them to crazy levels, through science, of course. Even if you don’t have an especially scientific mind, you can’t help but appreciate a field of expertise that allows one to have

Good distraction reading during COVID19 and the year from hell "2020". Can't wait until you are over 2020. Seriously.

Yeah. I gave it five stars. It's one of the few books, imho, that deserve five stars. It's one of those books that expands your mind. That increases your appreciation of the Universe itself. Tho' a certain frivolity of mind will be required to appreciate it. ;0)One of my favorite paraphrases: "… But that would require careful planning and forethought. If that's what you're looking for then you want to read a different book."Mr. Munroe does achieve the promise of the title. All of this advice wou...

While I appreciated this, it was just too physics-y in too many spots for me to really get full enjoyment out of it. That, combine with many of the "answers" being very obtusely related to the question at hand or just... going off on semi-unrelated problem solving ventures (prime example: "How to Decorate a Tree" was just about finding the biggest tree possible and transporting it--no actual bit about how to evenly disperse decorations amongst average amounts of branches, etc.) just made this a