What If?

这本书的真正魅力，在于它用极其严肃的科学态度，去回应极其荒诞的假设。作者把'如果拿时速接近光速的棒球砸向本垒板会怎样'这类蠢问题当真，动用计算机模拟、解密军事文件、求解微分方程，给出近乎教科书般严密的推演——这种'一本正经地胡说八道'反而让人拍案叫绝。它不教你结论，而是让你目睹一个聪明大脑如何从脑洞出发、脚踏实地地驰骋：想象力越疯狂，地基越坚实，答案越惊人。适合那些既渴望幽默、又欣赏逻辑之美的读者，也适合想给科幻创作找灵感的人。它提醒我们：科学的乐趣，往往藏在'没人想过'的问题里。

Randall Munroe is the author of the popular webcomic xkcd and the science question-and-answer blog What If. 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, supporting himself through the sale of xkcd t-shirts, prints, posters, and books. He likes candlelight dinners and long walks on the beach. Very long walks. Lots of people say they like long walks on the beach, but then they get out on the beach and after just an hour or two, they say they're getting tired. Bring a tent. He lives in Massachusetts.