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Virtual Author Talk

Randall Munroe - "What If? 2"

2023-01-31 14:00:00 2023-01-31 15:00:00 America/New_York Virtual Author Talk Join us online for a fun-filled chat with Randall Munroe about his new book What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions. Streamed live. Westlake Porter Public Library -

Tuesday, January 31
2:00pm - 3:00pm

Add to Calendar 2023-01-31 14:00:00 2023-01-31 15:00:00 America/New_York Virtual Author Talk Join us online for a fun-filled chat with Randall Munroe about his new book What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions. Streamed live. Westlake Porter Public Library -

Join us online for a fun-filled chat with Randall Munroe about his new book What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions. Streamed live.

The millions of people around the world who read and loved What If? still have questions, and those questions are getting stranger. Thank goodness xkcd creator Randall Munroe is here to help. Planning to ride a fire pole from the moon back to Earth? The hardest part is sticking the landing. Hoping to cool the atmosphere by opening everyone’s freezer door at the same time? Maybe it’s time for a brief introduction to thermodynamics. Want to know what would happen if you rode a helicopter blade, built a billion-story building, made a lava lamp out of lava, or jumped on a geyser as it erupted? Okay, if you insist. 

Before you go on a cosmic road trip, feed the residents of New York City to a T. rex, or fill every church with bananas, be sure to consult this practical guide for impractical ideas. Unfazed by absurdity, Randall consults the latest research on everything from swing-set physics to airplane-catapult design to clearly and concisely answer his readers’ questions. As he consistently demonstrates, you can learn a lot from examining how the world might work in very specific extreme circumstances.

Filled with bonkers science, boundless curiosity, and Randall’s signature stick-figure comics, What if? 2 provides his best answers yet to the weirdest questions you never thought to ask.

Randall Munroe is the creator of the webcomic xkcd and author of What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions, Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words, How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real World Problems, and What if? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions. 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 and has since been nominated for a Hugo Award three times. In 2013, the International Astronomical Union named an asteroid after him: asteroid 4942 Munroe is big enough to cause mass extinction if it ever hits a planet like Earth.


Brought to you in partnership with the Library Speakers Consortium. Visit our site to see all events, register and explore recordings of past events.

AGE GROUP: | Adults |

EVENT TYPE: | Books and Authors |

TAGS: | LSC |

Westlake Porter Public Library

Phone: (440) 871-2600
Fax: (440) 871-6969

Hours
Mon, Nov 27 9:00AM to 9:00PM
Tue, Nov 28 9:00AM to 9:00PM
Wed, Nov 29 9:00AM to 9:00PM
Thu, Nov 30 9:00AM to 9:00PM
Fri, Dec 01 9:00AM to 6:00PM
Sat, Dec 02 9:00AM to 6:00PM
Sun, Dec 03 1:00PM to 5:00PM
Mon, Nov 27 9:00AM to 9:00PM
Tue, Nov 28 9:00AM to 9:00PM
Wed, Nov 29 9:00AM to 9:00PM
Thu, Nov 30 9:00AM to 9:00PM
Fri, Dec 01 9:00AM to 6:00PM
Sat, Dec 02 9:00AM to 6:00PM
Sun, Dec 03 1:00PM to 5:00PM

About the branch

Westlake Porter Public Library is an independent public library serving the residents of the city of Westlake, western Cuyahoga County and eastern Lorain County. The library is located at 27333 Center Ridge Road in Westlake, Ohio. Anyone who lives, works, owns property, or goes to school in Ohio can register for a free library card.

Upcoming events

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Tue, Dec 12, 7:00pm - 8:30pm
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Mon, Dec 18, 9:00am - 9:00pm
Registration opens Monday, December 11 2023 at 9:00am

Mon, Dec 18, 3:00pm - 5:00pm
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Zoom Programming 2
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Sat, Dec 23, 10:30am - 11:00am
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Sat, Dec 30, 1:00pm - 3:00pm
Porter Room
Registration opens Saturday, December 23 2023 at 9:00am