{"product_id":"thing-explainer-munroe-9781473637313","title":"Thing Explainer by Randall Munroe","description":"\u003ch1\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eThing Explainer: \u003c\/strong\u003eComplicated Stuff in Simple Words by \u003cstrong\u003eRandall Munroe\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/h1\u003e\n\u003ch2 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eGoodreads Choice Awards\u003cbr\u003eBest Science \u0026amp; Technology\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eFrom the \u003cstrong\u003eNo. 1 bestselling author of \u003cem\u003eWhat If?\u003c\/em\u003e—\u003c\/strong\u003ethe man who created \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003exkcd\u003c\/em\u003e \u003c\/strong\u003eand explained the laws of science with cartoons—comes a series of brilliantly simple diagrams ('blueprints' if you want to be complicated about it) that show how important things work: from the nuclear bomb to the biro.\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt's good to know what the parts of a thing are called, but it's much more interesting to know what they do. Richard Feynman once said that if you can't explain something to a first-year student, you don't really get it. In \u003cem\u003eThing Explainer\u003c\/em\u003e, Randall Munroe takes a quantum leap past this: he explains things using only drawings and a vocabulary of just our 1,000 (or the ten hundred) most common words.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMany of the things we use every day - like our food-heating radio boxes ('microwaves'), our very tall roads ('bridges'), and our computer rooms ('datacentres')—are strange to us. So are the other worlds around our sun (the solar system), the big flat rocks we live on (tectonic plates), and even the stuff inside us (cells). Where do these things come from? How do they work? What do they look like if you open them up? And what would happen if we heated them up, cooled them down, pointed them in a different direction, or pressed this button?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eThing Explainer\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e Munroe gives us the answers to these questions and many, many more. \u003cstrong\u003eFunny, interesting, and always understandable, this book is for anyone\u003c\/strong\u003e—age 5 to 105—who has ever wondered how things work, and why.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSummary: \u003cem\u003eThing Explainer\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words\u003c\/em\u003e is a 2015 illustrated non-fiction book created by \u003cstrong\u003eRandall Munroe, \u003c\/strong\u003ein which the author attempts to explain various complex subjects using only the 1,000 most common English words.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eAbout the Author: \u003cstrong\u003eRandall Munroe\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRandall Munroe\u003c\/strong\u003e is the author of the webcomic \u003cem\u003exkcd \u003c\/em\u003eand the New York Times bestsellers \u003cem\u003eWhat If?\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eWhat If? 2\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThing Explainer\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eHow To\u003c\/em\u003e. A \u003cstrong\u003eformer NASA roboticist,\u003c\/strong\u003e he left the agency in 2006 to draw comics on the internet full time. The International Astronomical Union has named an asteroid after him; that asteroid, 4942 Munroe, is large enough that it could cause widespread devastation if it were to hit Earth. \u003cstrong\u003eHe lives in Massachusetts.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePraise for \u003cem\u003eThing Explainer\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"Brilliant…a wonderful guide for curious minds.\"\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e—Bill Gates\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"Like any good work of science writing, [Thing Explainer] is equal parts lucid, funny, and startling.\"\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e—NewYorker.com\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\"Clever, intricate\"\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e—New York Magazine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“What If? maintains a delightfully free-wheeling tone throughout, especially when complicated calculations lead to whimsical results...Despite all the hard facts and gigantic numbers, it never feels like a textbook—and you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to enjoy it. A.”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e—Entertainment Weekly\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“Catchy and approachable...There’s plenty of scientific rigor behind his elaborate explanations but he punctuates them with sly humor and winningly primitive cartoon diagrams...A cut above so many popular science and technology books.”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e—NPR.org\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“Consistently fascinating and entertaining...Munroe leavens the hard science with whimsical touches...An illuminating handbook of methods of reasoning.”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e—Wall Street Journal\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“It’s fun to watch as Munroe tackles each question and examines every possible complication with nerdy and methodical aplomb, his distinctive scribblings providing clever running commentary of peanut-gallery jokes as his train of thought (sometimes) happily derails. The delightfully demented What If? is the most fun you can have with math and science, short of becoming your own evil genius...We feel the tug of Munroe’s playful yet existentially-tinged worldview, and all that geek logic and number-crunching becomes unexpectedly poignant.”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e—Boston Globe\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“Munroe has hit on a wonderful form of science and engineering communication that can do so much—extolling the value of analytical thinking, examining data, and doing back-of-the-envelope calculations—while entertaining readers at the same time… an incredibly fun book with quirky, hand-drawn pictures.”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e—American Scientist\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFrom Book Back Cover\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the creator of the webcomic \u003cem\u003exkcd \u003c\/em\u003eand author of the #1 New York Times bestseller \u003cem\u003eWhat If?\u003c\/em\u003e, a series of brilliantly—and simply!—annotated blueprints that explain everything from nuclear bombs to ballpoint pens\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHave you ever tried to learn more about some incredible thing, only to be frustrated by incomprehensible jargon? \u003cstrong\u003eRandall Munroe is here to help.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eThing Explainer\u003c\/em\u003e, he uses line drawings and only the thousand (or, rather, “ten hundred”) most common words to provide simple explanations for some of the most interesting stuff there is, \u003cstrong\u003eincluding:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFood-heating radio boxes\u003cstrong\u003e (microwaves)\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTall roads \u003cstrong\u003e(bridges)\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eComputer buildings \u003cstrong\u003e(datacenters)\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe shared space house \u003cstrong\u003e(the International Space Station)\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe other worlds around the sun \u003cstrong\u003e(the solar system)\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe big flat rocks we live on \u003cstrong\u003e(tectonic plates)\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe pieces everything is made of \u003cstrong\u003e(the periodic table)\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePlanes with turning wings \u003cstrong\u003e(helicopters)\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBoxes that make clothes smell better \u003cstrong\u003e(washers and dryers)\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe bags of stuff inside you\u003cstrong\u003e (cells)\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHow do these things work?\u003c\/strong\u003e Where do they come from? What would life be like without them? And what would happen if we opened them up, heated them up, cooled them down, pointed them in a different direction, or pressed this button? In \u003cem\u003eThing Explainer\u003c\/em\u003e, Munroe gives us the answers to these questions and so many more. Funny, interesting, and always understandable, this book is for anyone—age 5 to 105—who has ever wondered how things work, and why.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0855\/2077\/7531\/files\/9781473637313.jpg?v=1755101480\" alt=\"The cover of the book 'Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words' by Randall Munroe, featuring a white background with illustrations and text.\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bust-Down Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50306321973563,"sku":"1473637317","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0855\/2077\/7531\/files\/9781473637313.jpg?v=1755101480","url":"https:\/\/bustdownbooks.com\/products\/thing-explainer-munroe-9781473637313","provider":"Bust-Down Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}