Review of 'How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Read-World Problems'
How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Read-World Problems by Randall Munroe
I am a huge fan of Randall Munroe's books and, to a lesser extent, his online comic “xkcd”. Reading his books I find I am caught off guard with some absurd statement and have to laugh out loud. Perhaps it is the inner geek in me as these books are all based on scientific fact so it helps to have a bit of understanding of basic scientific principles to fully appreciate.
In “How To” Randall takes the seemingly mundane, like “How to Dig a Hole” and turns it completely on it's head from the obvious standard answer, like “take a shovel and start digging” to using “vacuum excavation” and examining the purpose of digging the hole in the first place. Each chapter is another seemingly simple premise that he treats the same way, such as: “How to Win an Election”, “How to Throw Things”, “How to Mail a Package”, “How to Decorate a Tree”, “How to Make Money” (bonus book content) and (finally) “How to Dispose of This Book”. He applies his knowledge of science to determine the most absurd way to accomplish the goal with copious illustrations based his “xkcd” comic. The bit about how to add a lava moat around your house in “How to Build a Lava Moat” still causes me to, geekily, giggle.
Though a bit wordier than his other material, “How To”, is still full of Randall's innate sense of fun (“Do not try any of this at home”) and is worth sticking with. There are a large number of chapters and each outrageous scientific truth is backed up by references in the back of the book. A good lot of fun and often more than a bit interesting…despite most of it being hugely impractical…
Rating: “Nearly perfect, but not quite”
Review Date: 2025-03-08
Genre: Non-Fiction
Publisher: John Murray
Publication Date: 2019
ISBN: 9781473680340