A few years back I read a silly science book called What If? in which the author of the webcomic XKCD (known for its math and science humor), tackled preposterous questions with scientific seriousness. On seeing the sequel available via Audible — and narrated by Wil Wheaton, yet! — naturally I had to give it a shot. To no one’s surprise, this proved an absolute delight: Wheaton can barely contain his own laughter while reading Munroe’s Very Serious science answers to absurd questions, and Munroe is funny in his own right. Most of the chapters are an extended discussion of one particular question, but Munroe punctuates these with series of much shorter ones, usually with terse answers. Although playing with the absurd is the point of this book, it’s genuinely informative in its way. For instance, the chapter on determining how much of the Earth’s mass would have to be removed to lower given man’s weight by twenty pounds was geologically interesting, and surprising — turns out 85% of the Earth would need to be removed, given how dense the core is. There are also some interesting historical departures, as when Munroe tries to figure out what year there were officially more books published in English than anyone can conceivably read. This was an absolutely enjoyable book, in large part because of Wheaton’s delivery: he’s never not been great, but this was especially good because he’d share comics with the listener that we would have missed otherwise.

Achievement unlocked! Science Survey: Thinking Scientifically.