In Thing Explainer, seasoned aerospace engineer Randall Munroe explains complex engineering systems in the fun and easy-to-understand style of xkcd comic strip Up Goer Five, using only drawings and a vocabulary of the 1,000 (or "ten hundred") most common words. Some of the systems explained in the book are:
"computer buildings" (datacenters
)
the "flat rocks" we live on (tectonic plates
)
the things you use to steer a plane (airliner cockpit controls
)
the little "bags of water" you're made of (cells
)
If you like xkcd comics and Thing Explainer, don't forget to check out xkcd: volume 0 and What If?.
About the Author
Randall Munroe is the author of the popular webcomic xkcd and the science question-and-answer blog What If (which was later published as the book What If? in 2014).
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.
In Thing Explainer, seasoned aerospace engineer Randall Munroe explains complex engineering systems in the fun and easy-to-understand style of xkcd comic strip Up Goer Five, using only drawings and a vocabulary of the 1,000 (or "ten hundred") most common words. Some of the systems explained in the book are:
"computer buildings" (datacenters
)
the "flat rocks" we live on (tectonic plates
)
the things you use to steer a plane (airliner cockpit controls
)
the little "bags of water" you're made of (cells
)
If you like xkcd comics and Thing Explainer, don't forget to check out xkcd: volume 0 and What If?.
About the Author
Randall Munroe is the author of the popular webcomic xkcd and the science question-and-answer blog What If (which was later published as the book What If? in 2014).
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.