{"product_id":"thing-explainer-complicated-stuff-in-simple-words-isbn-9780544668256","title":"Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words","description":"Have you ever tried to learn more about some incredible thing, only to be frustrated by incomprehensible jargon? Randall Munroe is here to help. In \u003cem\u003eThing Explainer,\u003c\/em\u003e he uses line drawings and only the thousand (or, rather, “ten hundred”) most common words to provide simple explanations for some of the most interesting stuff there is, including:\u003cbr\u003e   \u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003efood-heating radio boxes (microwaves)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003etall roads (bridges)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ecomputer buildings (datacenters)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ethe shared space house (the International Space Station)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ethe other worlds around the sun (the solar system)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ethe big flat rocks we live on (tectonic plates)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ethe pieces everything is made of (the periodic table)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eplanes with turning wings (helicopters)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eboxes that make clothes smell better (washers and dryers)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ethe bags of stuff inside you (cells)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cbr\u003e How do these things work? Where do they come from? What would life be like without them? And what would happen if we opened them up, heated them up, cooled them down, pointed them in a different direction, or pressed this button? In \u003cem\u003eThing Explainer,\u003c\/em\u003e Munroe gives us the answers to these questions and so many more. Funny, interesting, and always understandable, this book is for anyone—age 5 to 105—who has ever wondered how things work, and why. | \u003cp\u003e“Brilliant…a wonderful guide for curious minds.”—\u003cstrong\u003eBill Gates\u003c\/strong\u003e     “Like any good work of science writing, [\u003cem\u003eThing Explainer\u003c\/em\u003e] is equal parts lucid, funny, and startling.’’—\u003cstrong\u003eNewYorker.com\u003c\/strong\u003e   \"Clever, intricate\"\u003cstrong\u003e —\u003cem\u003eNew York Magazine\u003c\/em\u003e, The Approval Matrix (\"highbrow, brilliant\")\u003c\/strong\u003e   \"Funny, precise and beautifully designed\"\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e —The Guardian\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e   \"...with witty, playful diagrams, you'll be understanding nuclear reactors ('heavy metal power buildings') in no time.\" \u003cstrong\u003e—NPR.org, Best Books of 2015\u003c\/strong\u003e   \"Whimsical...Munroe’s masterpiece is the antidote to scientific jargon, ably demonstrating that not knowing the exact name for something doesn’t mean you can’t grasp how it works. The same holds for those doing the explaining: you don’t need to use big words to convey meaning. If anything, it just gets in the way.\" \u003cstrong\u003e—Gizmodo, Best Science Books of 2015\u003c\/strong\u003e   \"Required reading for the curious.\" \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e—Popular Science\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e   \"This book is a feast for the eyes and a party for your brain. I cannot more highly recommend that you get this for yourself, your favorite nerd, or someone who just loves beautiful drawings.\" \u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e—Scientific American\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e   \"One of the charms of this new book is that it imbues everything between its covers with a childlike and unpretentious sense of delight in humanity's intellectual achievements.\"\u003cstrong\u003e—Tor.com\u003c\/strong\u003e   \"[\u003cem\u003eThing Explainer\u003c\/em\u003e] soars in both explanatory clarity and entertainment value...Munroe delightfully challenges us to reassess our preconceptions and think of things in new ways.\" —\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAmerican Scientist\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e   “Munroe’s signature humor and firm grasp on the underlying science and engineering make the book a delightful and informative read.” —\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eScience Magazine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e   \"\u003cem\u003eThing Explainer\u003c\/em\u003e overall is unintimidating and engaging, with lavish blueprint-like illustrations that draw you into just about every page...Munroe has a gift for turning his own curiosity into your own edification.\"  \u003cstrong\u003e—CNET\u003c\/strong\u003e   \"I think a lot of people will have a lot of fun reading this book. Even if you know many big ideas, it is fun to see them get very small. And if you just want to learn about how things work, then the book will show you some big ideas without hitting you with big words too. As an idea for how to write a book, I think \u003cem\u003eThing Explainer \u003c\/em\u003eis a good one.\" \u003cstrong\u003e—Nerdist\u003c\/strong\u003e  \u003cstrong\u003ePRAISE FOR \u003cem\u003eWHAT IF?\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e     \"Toreinvigorate your sense of cosmic wonder...breeze through former NASA scientist Munroe's lively answers—peppered with line drawings—to some pretty bizarre questions about life, the universe, and everything else...Extreme astrophysics and indecipherable chemistry have rarely been this clearly explained or this consistently hilarious.\"\u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eEntertainment Weekly \u003c\/em\u003e\"10 Best Nonfiction Books of the Year\"\u003c\/strong\u003e     \"Catchy and approachable...There's plenty of scientific rigor behind his elaborate explanations but he punctuates them with sly humor and winningly primitive cartoon diagrams...A cut above so many popular science and technology books.\"\u003cstrong\u003e—NPR.org\u003c\/strong\u003e     \"Consistently fascinating and entertaining...Munroe leavens the hard science with whimsical touches...An illuminating handbook of methods of reasoning.\"\u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e     \"Education should aim to teach people to reason confidently about problems that they have never come across before. This book is a great deal of fun, and a masterclass in such reasoning. Like all the best lessons, you only realise you’ve learned something once you’ve finished it.\"\u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eThe Economist\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e     \"Munroe takes inane, useless and often quite pointless questions asked by real humans (mostly sent to him through his website), and turns them into beautiful expositions on the impossible that illuminate the furthest reaches, almost to the limits, of the modern sciences…The answers are all illustrated with XKCD’s trademark stick figures...and these are eminently approachable.\" \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eNewsweek\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e     \"\u003cem\u003eWhat If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions\u003c\/em\u003e includes old favorites, new inquiries and the mix of expert research and accessible wit that has made Munroe a favorite among both geeks and laymen.\" \u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eTIME\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e     \"Loaded with the same dry wit and blank-faced stick figures that populate \u003cem\u003exkcd, What If?\u003c\/em\u003e is that rare book that will have you laughing as you learn just how a mass extinction might unfold.\"\u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eDiscover\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dey Street Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44889795756261,"sku":"NP9780544668256","price":26.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780544668256.jpg?v=1730231919","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/thing-explainer-complicated-stuff-in-simple-words-isbn-9780544668256","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}