Page 12 - Palm City Spotlight - November '22

Page 12, Palm City Spotlight

Book revieW

What If? 2: Additional Serious

Scientific Answers To Absurd

Hypothetical Questions

By Nils A. Shapiro
O ne of t he m o st
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 author of 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
this book—which has already author explains that, technically, dropping an object tied to the plane weighing 80,000 pounds—the weight of the Washington
hit the national bestseller 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
lists immediately upon the “eyeball” question. After explaining what the eye would actually see, a small box added by the author, "Medical Tip,"
publication—I purchased notes: "9 out of 10 doctors recommend against taking out your own eyeball. Do not take advice from doctor number 10."
a copy, having loved and
reviewed among his earlier humor, in illustrating the answer to one of the questions, and answered in this book, enough to keep you engrossed,
works the incredible Thing he notes: “I don’t want to draw someone throwing up entertained and trying to decide which ones to share first
Explainer: Complicated a gallon of blood, so here’s a squirrel instead” … and with family and friends. So you might as well get your
Stuff in Simple Words in includes his cartoon drawing of a squirrel for no reason! copy as soon as possible, because you will want to take
this column back in 2015. Remember, there are more than 60 such questions raised it with you everywhere you go.
That book contained his
own simplistic explanations Holiday Happenings
and technical illustrations
of “Boxes that make clothes
smell better” (Washers and
Dryers); “Bags of stuff inside 15th Annual Festival Of Trees A Family Day kicks off the festivities, followed on
you” (The Body’s Internal And Lights Benefits Tykes successive days by the always-delightful Joy to the Girls
Organs); “Stuff you touch to Cocktail Party, elegant Afternoon Champagne Tea, party-
fly a sky boat” (The Controls Cockpit of a Jetliner), and more. And Teens hearty Not So Silent Night Anniversary Celebration and
Munroe, a brilliant former roboticist for NASA, left that kid-favorite Breakfast and Photos with Santa. Visit www.
agency to focus instead on a career of explaining to the By Jackie tykesandteens.org/festival-of-trees-2022 for specifics about
general public, in books and a popular blog, the most complex Holfelder each event.
scientific subjects in the simplest, easiest-to-understand Some people The Dames and Deer Ambassadors have contributed to
English, using his vast research skills when needed, his – or events – the success of the 15th Annual Festival of Trees in royal
delightful sense of humor throughout, and deftly lightening enjoy 15 minutes fashion. This year’s Grand Dame is Megan Shirey, Boys &
it all with his own cartoonish stick-figure drawings! of fame, but for Girls Clubs of Martin County and Head Reindeer is Dale
The result is a treasure that might alternatively Tykes and Teens Rockefeller of Culver’s of Stuart and Jensen Beach. Other
have been titled, True-Fact Answers to Weird Science it’s been an impressive 15-year winning streak for the Annual honorees are:
Questions for Dummies. Festival of Trees and Lights. • Andrea August, HCA Florida – Port St. Lucie
In this new 350-page volume, Munroe addresses 64 of the What began as a modest display of Christmas trees in front Hospital
many questions received from his huge fan base, and—as of Macy’s in the Treasure Coast Square Mall has grown into • Sara Borlaug, Capstone IT
ludicrous as they appear to be—answers them clearly based a multi-event celebration that ushers in the holiday season, • Amanda Foster, Zarro Mortgage Group
on diligent research and the latest scientific knowledge, each thanks to the award-winning nonprofit. • Christina Franco, Hampton Inn and Suites
in from a half-page to several pages, illustrates them simply … The Festival of Trees and Lights will once again be held • Robin Hall, Out2News
and sprinkles the answers with his own wry, witty comments. from Nov. 13 to 19 at the Flagler Center in Stuart. • Jill Hanson, One Hope Wine
Here, for example, are just a few of the questions covered, Amy Thornton, committee chair, ably assisted by Carol • Tami Karol, Tami Karol Insurance
to give you a taste of what to expect in these pages: Ball, Valerie Barcik, Evey Bassion, Sara Borlaug, Cory • Evie Klassen, Colorado Pawn and Jewelry
• Suppose everyone with a fridge or a freezer opened them Carter, Jeannie Deiffenbaugher, Lorett Fribourg, Jennifer • Nicole Lavelle, Jensen Beach High School – AP
at the same time, outdoors. Would that amount of cooling Hearn, Paula Hundt, Lynn Lloyd, Anne McCormick, Roseann Psychology
be able to noticeably change the temperature? If not, how Ryba and Sue Whittington, has assembled a slate of joyful
many fridges would it take to lower the temperature say, 5 and joyous activities for every member of the family. Holiday Happenings on page 13
degrees Fahrenheit? What about even lower?
• I read today that insects make at least $57 billion a year
for the U.S. economy. If we were to pay every single insect
in the United States equally for their economic contribution,
how much would each insect get?
• My friend is a commercial airline pilot. She says that
a significant amount of fuel is spent on takeoff. To save
fuel, why couldn’t we launch airplanes using catapult
systems like on aircraft carriers (calibrated to normal human
accelerations)? Could significant amounts of fossil fuels
be saved if the catapults could be run by some other clean
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
push the boulder off the cliff!
• I want to lose 20 pounds. How much of the Earth’s mass
would I have to “relocate” to space in order to achieve my goal?
• If I pulled out my eyeball and aimed it so that it was
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?
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
sticks to the facts while making it clear that he sees the
humor in the whole business, I can’t resist the temptation
to tell you, for example, that among the many surprises
you will come across are: (a) Refrigerators don’t cool
their surroundings; they heat them … and (b) If you had
a “planet peeler” that could remove 3,750 kilometers of
rock (85 percent of the Earth’s mass), you could lose 20
pounds, but it would have been much easier to just dig a
tunnel. And meanwhile, after four hours of tough digging
away the Earth’s crust and getting to the denser molten
mass with its stronger gravity pull, you would actually
weigh a pound more!
And as just a single example of the author’s sense of