Page 10 - Hobe Sound Reflections - November '22

Page 10, Hobe Sound

Book review

What If? 2: Additional Serious

Scientific Answers To Absurd
Hypothetical Questions

By Nils A. Shapiro
One of the most
fascinating, informative,
enjoyable—and definitely
weirdest—books you will
read this year or any year!
As soon as I saw the
name Randall Munroe as The two-page spread at left is from the answer to the question about saving fuel by having passenger jets take off by catapult. The
author of this book—which author explains that, technically, dropping an object tied to the plane weighing 80,000 pounds—the weight of the Washington
has already hit the national Monument—a few feet would do the trick, but is not a practical solution! The pages at the right are part of the answer to
bestseller lists immediately the “eyeball” question. After explaining what the eye would actually see, a small box added by the author, "Medical Tip,"
upon publication—I notes: "9 out of 10 doctors recommend against taking out your own eyeball. Do not take advice from doctor number 10."
purchased a copy, having
loved and reviewed among humor in the whole business, I can’t resist the temptation And as just a single example of the author’s sense of
his earlier works the to tell you, for example, that among the many surprises humor, in illustrating the answer to one of the questions, he
incredible Thing Explainer: you will come across are: (a) Refrigerators don’t cool notes: “I don’t want to draw someone throwing up a gallon
Complicated Stuff in Simple their surroundings; they heat them … and (b) If you had of blood, so here’s a squirrel instead” … and includes his
Words in this column a “planet peeler” that could remove 3,750 kilometers of cartoon drawing of a squirrel for no reason!
back in 2015. That book rock (85 percent of the Earth’s mass), you could lose 20 Remember, there are more than 60 such questions raised
contained his own simplistic pounds, but it would have been much easier to just dig a and answered in this book, enough to keep you engrossed,
explanations and technical tunnel. And meanwhile, after four hours of tough digging entertained and trying to decide which ones to share first with
illustrations of “Boxes that away the Earth’s crust and getting to the denser molten family and friends. So you might as well get your copy as
make clothes smell better” mass with its stronger gravity pull, you would actually soon as possible, because you will want to take it with you
(Washers and Dryers); “Bags weigh a pound more! everywhere you go.
of stuff inside you” (The
Body’s Internal Organs);
“Stuff you touch to fly a sky boat” (The Controls Cockpit
of a Jetliner), and more.
Munroe, a brilliant former roboticist for NASA, left
that agency to focus instead on a career of explaining to the You’re Retired
general public, in books and a popular blog, the most complex
scientific subjects in the simplest, easiest-to-understand Your Money Isn’t.
English, using his vast research skills when needed, his
delightful sense of humor throughout, and deftly lightening
it all with his own cartoonish stick-figure drawings! To learn why consolidating your
The result is a treasure that might alternatively have retirement accounts to Edward Jones
been titled, True-Fact Answers to Weird Science Questions
for Dummies. makes sense, contact your Edward
In this new 350-page volume, Munroe addresses 64 Jones nancial advisor today.
of the many questions received from his huge fan base,
and—as ludicrous as they appear to be—answers them
clearly based on diligent research and the latest scientific
knowledge, each in from a half-page to several pages, Sally S Stahl, AAMS® www.edwardjones.com

illustrates them simply … and sprinkles the answers with Financial Advisor M e m b P I S r e C
his own wry, witty comments. 1851 W Indiantown Rd Ste 106
Here, for example, are just a few of the questions covered, Jupiter, FL 33458
to give you a taste of what to expect in these pages: 561-748-7600
• Suppose everyone with a fridge or a freezer opened them
at the same time, outdoors. Would that amount of cooling
be able to noticeably change the temperature? If not, how
many fridges would it take to lower the temperature say, 5
degrees Fahrenheit? What about even lower?
• I read today that insects make at least $57 billion a year 15th Annual
for the U.S. economy. If we were to pay every single insect NOVEMBER
in the United States equally for their economic contribution,
how much would each insect get? th th
• My friend is a commercial airline pilot. She says that 13 -19
a significant amount of fuel is spent on takeoff. To save
fuel, why couldn’t we launch airplanes using catapult Flagler Center
systems like on aircraft carriers (calibrated to normal human
accelerations)? Could significant amounts of fossil fuels 201 SW Flagler Ave, Stuart
be saved if the catapults could be run by some other clean Benefiting:
energy? I’m imagining a rope … one end tied to the airplane,
the other tied to a large boulder at the edge of a cliff. Just Trees, Wreaths, &
push the boulder off the cliff!
• I want to lose 20 pounds. How much of the Earth’s Make a difference in the Holiday Décor on
mass would I have to “relocate” to space in order to life of a child today!
achieve my goal?
• If I pulled out my eyeball and aimed it so that it was Display and Special
looking into my other eyeball, what would I see (assuming
the nerves and veins remain undamaged)?
• Could you get drunk from drinking a drunk person’s blood? Events Daily!
I don’t want to include any “spoilers” here to lessen
your enjoyment. However, since so much of the joy of
this book is the way in which the author answers these
questions in his clear, step-by-step writing style that SCAN THE CODE
sticks to the facts while making it clear that he sees the to purchase tickets
or for more info.

www.tykesandteens.org
772-220-3439