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Randall Munroe

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How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems Hardcover – September 3, 2019

by Randall Munroe (Author)

4.8 6,848 ratings

in Science & Scientists Humor

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AN INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“How To will make you laugh as you learn…With How To, you can't help but appreciate the glorious complexity of our universe and the amazing breadth of humanity's effort to comprehend it. If you want some lightweight edification, you won't go wrong with How To.” —CNET

“[How To] has science and jokes in it, so 10/10 can recommend.” —Simone Giertz

The world's most entertaining and useless self-help guide from the brilliant mind behind the wildly popular webcomic xkcd, the bestsellers What If? and Thing Explainer, and What If? 2, coming September 13, 2022

For any task you might want to do, there's a right way, a wrong way, and a way so monumentally complex, excessive, and inadvisable that no one would ever try it. How To is a guide to the third kind of approach. It's full of highly impractical advice for everything from landing a plane to digging a hole.

Bestselling author and cartoonist Randall Munroe explains how to predict the weather by analyzing the pixels of your Facebook photos. He teaches you how to tell if you're a baby boomer or a 90's kid by measuring the radioactivity of your teeth. He offers tips for taking a selfie with a telescope, crossing a river by boiling it, and powering your house by destroying the fabric of space-time. And if you want to get rid of the book once you're done with it, he walks you through your options for proper disposal, including dissolving it in the ocean, converting it to a vapor, using tectonic plates to subduct it into the Earth's mantle, or launching it into the Sun.

By exploring the most complicated ways to do simple tasks, Munroe doesn't just make things difficult for himself and his readers. As he did so brilliantly in What If?, Munroe invites us to explore the most absurd reaches of the possible. Full of clever infographics and fun illustrations, How To is a delightfully mind-bending way to better understand the science and technology underlying the things we do every day.

Print length

320 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Riverhead Books
Publication date

September 3, 2019
Dimensions

7.18 x 0.99 x 9.27 inches
ISBN-10

0525537090
ISBN-13

978-0525537090
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Popular Highlights in this book

What are popular highlights?

Physics doesn’t care if your question is weird. It just gives you the answer, without judging.
Highlighted by 832 Kindle readers
This idea sounds ridiculous, so, unsurprisingly, the US military studied it during the Cold War.
Highlighted by 642 Kindle readers
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.
Highlighted by 546 Kindle readers

From the Publisher

How To, holidays, holiday gifts, science gifts, fun gifts, science books, self-help books, info

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The creator of the popular, extremely excellent and not a little nerdy webcomic ‘xkcd’ cleverly illustrates a guide of complicated solutions to simple tasks, thinking up Rube Goldbergian solutions to tasks as common as digging a hole.” —USA Today

“The mind behind the webcomic xkcd provides a slew of hilariously overcomplicated instructions for everything from throwing a pool party to winning an election, bringing his signature stick figures – and his singular wit – along for the ride. How To is a loving testament to the power of the human brain to take things to absurd lengths.” —Glen Weldon, NPR

“[How To] tackles problems from the mundane—such as how to move to a new house—to those that may trouble a mad scientist building her first lava moat. The solutions are often hilariously, and purposefully, absurd. Embedded in these solutions, however, is solid scientific, engineering, and experimental understanding . . . [for] anyone who appreciates science-based, but Rube Goldberg–esque, solutions to life’s problems.” —Science Magazine

“How To is a pure delight, a salty-sweet mixture of hard science and bonkers whimsy.” —BoingBoing

“A brilliant provocation of a book: clamber in for a wild ride.” —Nature

“A witty, educational examination of ‘unusual approaches to common tasks’ . . . generously laced with dry humor . . . Munroe’s comic stick-figure art is an added bonus. . . . Apart from generating laughter, the book also manages to achieve his serious objective: to get his audience thinking.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“An enjoyable treat for fans of logic puzzles, brain hacking, kaizen, mad science, and other forms of mental stimulation.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Munroe (creator of the webcomic xkcd; What If?; Thing Explainer) creates another fun series of questions and answers that explore forces, properties, and natural phenomena through pop-culture scenarios . . . With illustrated formulas that humorously explain the science behind Munroe’s conjectures, this book is sure to entertain and educate thinkers from high school on up.” —Library Journal

“How To is a gleefully nerdy hypothetical instruction book for armchair scientists of all ages.” —Booklist

About the Author

Randall Munroe is the author of the New York Times bestsellers What If? 2, How To, What If?, and Thing Explainer; the science question-and-answer blog What If?; and the popular web comic xkcd. A former NASA roboticist, he left the agency in 2006 to draw comics on the internet full time. He lives in Massachusetts.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

How to Catch a Drone
A wedding-photography drone is buzzing around above you. You don’t know what it’s doing there and you want it to stop.

Let’s suppose you have a garage full of sports equipment— baseballs, tennis rackets, lawn darts, you name it. Which sport’s projectiles would work best for hitting a drone? And who would make the best anti-drone guard? A baseball pitcher? A basketball player? A tennis player? A golfer? Someone else?

There are a few factors to consider — accuracy, weight, range, and projectile size.

One sport I couldn’t find good data on was tennis. I found some studies of tennis pro accuracy, but they involved hitting targets marked on the court, rather than in the air.

So I reached out to Serena Williams.

To my pleasant surprise, she was happy to help out. Her husband, Alexis, offered a sacrificial drone, a DJI Mavic Pro 2 with a broken camera. They headed out to her practice court to see how effective the world’s best tennis player would be at fending off a robot invasion.

The few studies I could find suggested tennis players would score relatively low com- pared to athletes who threw projectiles— more like kickers than pitchers. My tentative guess was that a champion player would have an accuracy ratio around 50 when serving, and take 5–7 tries to hit a drone from 40 feet. (Would a tennis ball even knock down a drone? Maybe it would just ricochet off and cause the drone to wobble! I had so many questions.)

Alexis flew the drone over the net and hovered there, while Serena served from the baseline.
Her first serve went low. The second zipped past the drone to one side.

The third serve scored a direct hit on one of the propellers. The drone spun, momentarily seemed like it might stay in the air, then flipped over and smashed into the court. Serena started laughing as Alexis walked over to investigate the crash site, where the drone lay on the court near several propeller fragments.

I had expected a tennis pro would be able to hit the drone in five to seven tries; she got it in three.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Riverhead Books (September 3, 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 320 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0525537090
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0525537090
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.66 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.18 x 0.99 x 9.27 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,857 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1 in Science & Scientists Humor
- #2 in Science Essays & Commentary (Books)
- #5 in Trivia (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.8 6,848 ratings

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Randall Munroe

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Randall Munroe is the creator of the webcomic xkcd and author of xkcd: Volume 0. 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, and has since been nominated for a Hugo Award three times. The International Astronomical Union recently named an asteroid after him: asteroid 4942 Munroe is big enough to cause mass extinction if it ever hits a planet like Earth.

Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5

6,848 global ratings

1 star

0%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Customers say

Customers find the book really informative and easy to read. They also find it amusing and easy. Readers describe the depiction of what happens when requirements are met as wonderful and unique. They describe the plot as ludicrous, original, and delightful.

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Enjoyability Complexity Plot Creativity Audience appeal Writing style

142 customers mention "Enjoyability"142 positive0 negative

Customers find the book funny and delightful for nerds. They also say the author is clever and the book is easy to read.

"...illustrations and the topics are organized in chapters, Making it easy to read." Read more

"This book is both fun and informative. I’m sharing with my grandkids." Read more

"It was a funny and humorous read. The book had crazy (and very dangerous) was of solving simple and normal problems...." Read more

"...as well as sprinkling in comics, sarcasm, and traditional jokes to supplement the deep thinking behind the rest of the book...." Read more

69 customers mention "Complexity"63 positive6 negative

Customers find the book informative, funny, and mind-stretching. They say it provides good conversation starters and encourages outside-the-box thinking. Readers also say it's a great addition to the author's work and contains solid math and truth.

"This book is both fun and informative. I’m sharing with my grandkids." Read more

"...To sum it up, Munroe hits the perfect balance of displaying scientific concepts that relate back to his advice, as well as sprinkling in comics,..." Read more

"What do you get a smart guy who has everything? This book! Informative and entertaining." Read more

"...- writing an how to book but with ridiculous scientific advice -, great research and the author's unusual combined knowledge of physics as well as..." Read more

26 customers mention "Plot"23 positive3 negative

Customers find the plot ludicrous, clever, and entertaining. They also say the premise is great, and the book is a good mixture of fantasy and physics with real. Readers also mention that the topics are organized in chapters, making it easy to read.

"...It is filled with illustrations and the topics are organized in chapters, Making it easy to read." Read more

"Randal Munroe's "How To" is a product of an original idea - writing an how to book but with ridiculous scientific advice -, great research and the..." Read more

"...Don't get me wrong. It's still ludicrous and a delightful escape from reality. It just also happens to hand you a few tidbits to bring back with you." Read more

"...It's hilarious and ridiculous and enlightening and entertaining. The book's construction, though... not so great...." Read more

10 customers mention "Creativity"10 positive0 negative

Customers find the book very original, with a unique POV.

"...He enjoyed reading this one just as much. It is filled with illustrations and the topics are organized in chapters, Making it easy to read." Read more

"...There is no doubt that this writer is very creative and funny." Read more

"...I loved the detail and how Munroe would take a topic and move from realistic to absolutely outrageous, yet physically possible, solutions...." Read more

"...first - it's a little easier to get into and the style is a little better in my opinion...." Read more

9 customers mention "Audience appeal"9 positive0 negative

Customers find the book a great read for all ages and a good science book gift.

"A great read for all ages. Good for explaining those things adults do not know. Should be in libraries." Read more

"...So there you go. It appeals to many different ages. I highly recommend!" Read more

"...Life all his boooks. Great science book gift (the science is 100%)" Read more

"...Great for teenagers, scientists, and syfy nerds!" Read more

10 customers mention "Writing style"6 positive4 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the writing style. Some find the book well-written and funny, while others say the logic is difficult to follow.

"...I wasn’t disappointed. It was fascinating and written/drawn in a way that clearly shows how things like dishwashers or the sun works...." Read more

"...1 star - The book lacks clear instructions for most of the projects...." Read more

"...It is a more complete text rather than you might expect, and ends up turning almost into a ‘story’...." Read more

"...But the set-up questions are uninspired and don’t always go anyplace particularly interesting...." Read more

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aFosterGirl

A Great Companion to “What If?”

Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2024

Verified Purchase

I purchased this book as a gift for my 12-year-old. He loved what if? And what if? 2 also written by Randall MUNROE. He enjoyed reading this one just as much. It is filled with illustrations and the topics are organized in chapters, Making it easy to read.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Yvonne Huffman

Love this book

Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2024

Verified Purchase

This book is both fun and informative. I’m sharing with my grandkids.

Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2024

Verified Purchase

It was a funny and humorous read. The book had crazy (and very dangerous) was of solving simple and normal problems. There is no doubt that this writer is very creative and funny.

Helpful

Charles Price

Fantastic book, but not fit for everyone.

Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2019

Verified Purchase

how to is described by the author, Randall Munroe, as “absurd scientific advice for common real-world problems,” and it really can’t be said any better than that. It’s the most useless set of tutorials you can find, but Munrow’s sense of comedy through comics, as well as his scientific knowledge, make the book extremely intriguing regardless.

One of the biggest concepts throughout out For example, he takes a concept such as producing energy, which many of us often take for granted, and spends the entire chapter discussing different solutions that, in theory, make sense, such as using escalators or tectonic plates. However, in reality, the repercussions behind them heavily outweigh the positive factors. In this way, it really puts the world into perspective, making you realize how complex our world is, no matter the task. This is also shown by Munroe’s use of scientific formulas to prove his insane ideas true or false. My personal favorite example of this is in the chapter “How to Ski,” where he demonstrates how you can find how steep you need your slope to be to ski on it, based on friction of the specific ski material. To do this, the equation coefficient of friction equals tan(slope angle) (pg.146) is used, and I loved this chapter because it combined two of my favorite things, skiing and science. In fact, Munrow covers so many various topics, that anyone can really find a chapter that involves their personal interests.

To sum it up, Munroe hits the perfect balance of displaying scientific concepts that relate back to his advice, as well as sprinkling in comics, sarcasm, and traditional jokes to supplement the deep thinking behind the rest of the book. However, if you’re coming into how to with a very literature or art devised mind, this is most likely not the book for you.

23 people found this helpful

Helpful

SeeOurBeach

How to write a review on Amazon

Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2019

Verified Purchase

You could just click on the "Create Review" and just start writing about anything.
I'm not sure anyone really validates the contents. For instance, if you look at the 1-star review, it complains about failing to share the audio version of this book in portugal.

It is obvious that when one writes a review, you can give any number of stars for any reason:
"5 stars - Wonderfully informative! I've been held hostage by a mad hermit for the past 20 years and managed to get this book by someone who disposed it in my prison (a very deep well on some salt plains). Didn't know half this stuff existed. This 'web' thing sounds really cool. Can't wait to try some of this out when I get out."
"4 stars - cuz I really like numbers that are squares (and '1' does not count)"
"3 stars - Great book but the people drawings lack faces thereby hiding the true and raw emotions of the characters.
"2 stars - The book fails as a door stop because of the slick cover"
"1 star - The book lacks clear instructions for most of the projects. For instance, I live on a fault line and wanted to try out the Tectonic Plate electrical generator. After a convincing argument in the book), I was expecting a shopping list and directions. But nooo... rather than put some work into it, the book just dismisses it as "ridiculous and technically infeasible". If I could give zero stars for this gross omission and author laziness I would."

Thanks for another great book, Randall!

458 people found this helpful

Helpful

dlmhorn

fun!

Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2024

Verified Purchase

A fun book with bizarre facts that are fun to know.

Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2024

Verified Purchase

My 9yo loves Monroe’s work - he’s such a clever writer and I hear my kid laugh out loud when he reads this! Would buy anything else this writer publishes for him.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Bettye Hull

Clever and entertaining

Reviewed in the United States on January 6, 2024

Verified Purchase

What do you get a smart guy who has everything? This book! Informative and entertaining.

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Raphael M.

Excellent book

Reviewed in Canada on January 29, 2024

Verified Purchase

If you like the style of xkcd, you will enjoy that book. It is a fun read. I did prefer what if than how-to because how-to finds solutions to problem where you could see better solutions that would make more sense whereas What-if really analyzes the hypothetical situation and gives us an answer.

gfarfanb

Fun and educational

Reviewed in Mexico on May 22, 2023

Verified Purchase

It's fun and you learn several interesting things

One person found this helpful

Domas Markevicius

Thank you, Randall Munroe for a great book!

Reviewed in Germany on May 23, 2024

Verified Purchase

A fun book that doesn't require too much attention. Each chapter can be read anytime in your life and it takes only few minutes. Each chapter is unique, therefore I don't have to worry to remember what I read last week.

Vittorio

Divertente

Reviewed in Italy on May 20, 2024

Verified Purchase

Dovete essere nerd per apprezzarlo. Solo così godrete appieno delle soluzioni assurde proposte. Beh, è divertente anche per una persona normale, ve lo garantisco. Il libro è in inglese ma si legge facilemte anche per chi ha una conoscenza medio basica come me.

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Eldhose Kv

Superb

Reviewed in India on May 9, 2024

Verified Purchase

once u start reading this u wont be able to put it down

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