THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
'Nerd royalty' BEN GOLDACRE
'Totally brilliant' TIM HARFORD
'Required reading across the world' NEW YORK TIMES

From the creator of the wildly popular xkcd.com, hilarious and informative answers to important questions you probably never thought to ask.

Millions visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe's iconic webcomic. Fans ask him a lot of strange questions: How fast can you hit a speed bump, driving, and live? When (if ever) did the sun go down on the British Empire? When will Facebook contain more profiles of dead people than living? How many humans would a T Rex rampaging through New York need to eat a day?

In pursuit of answers, Munroe runs computer simulations, pores over stacks of declassified military research memos, solves differential equations and consults nuclear reactor operators. His responses are masterpieces of clarity and hilarity, complemented by comics. They often predict the complete annihilation of humankind, or at least a really big explosion.

SPECIAL UPDATED 10th ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF THE MILLION-SELLING POP SCIENCE CLASSIC

WHAT IF... one man decided to answer all the unanswerable questions, using science.

'Randall Munroe is nerd royalty' BEN GOLDACRE
'Brilliant' ROLLING STONE
'Smart answers to silly questions: Munroe reveals all' GUARDIAN
'Required reading' NEW YORK TIMES

Randall Munroe is the creator of the wildly popular xkcd.com. His readers ask him a lot of strange questions:

What would happen if absolutely everyone jumped at the same time?
How could we build a Lego bridge between London and New York?
What if my DNA vanished?
How long could a submarine last in space?
What are the odds of meeting my soulmate?

In pursuit of answers, Munroe runs computer simulations, pores over stacks of declassified military research memos, solves differential equations and consults everyone from astronauts to nuclear reactor operators. His responses are masterpieces of clarity and hilarity, complemented by comics. (They often predict the complete annihilation of humankind, or at least a really big explosion.)

Welcome back to the mind-blowing world WHAT IF? . . . Now with 10 x the science and 10 x the jokes

Featuring brand-new 2-colour annotations and illustrations, this special anniversary edition will leave you feeling much smarter, whether you have a Nobel Prize or not.

'Nerd royalty' Ben Goldacre
'Laugh-out-loud funny' Bill Gates
'Totally brilliant' Tim Harford

WHAT IF you still had so many more strange questions about the universe?

And WHAT IF Randall Munroe, former NASA roboticist and xkcd creator, were prepared to move mountains, fill the solar system with soup and alter the space-time continuum to answer them?

Whether it's how to make a lava lamp out of lava or feeding the inhabitants of New York to a T. Rex, welcome to the weird, wonderful (and sometimes terrifying) world of WHAT IF? 2

'Astonishing . . . an amazing book . . . absolutely chocker full of things that we need to know' Chris Evans

'Matthew Walker is probably one of the most influential people on the planet' Evening Standard

THE #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
TLS, OBSERVER, SUNDAY TIMES, FT, GUARDIAN, DAILY MAIL AND EVENING STANDARD BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2017

Sleep is one of the most important aspects of our life, health and longevity and yet it is increasingly neglected in twenty-first-century society, with devastating consequences: every major disease in the developed world - Alzheimer's, cancer, obesity, diabetes - has very strong causal links to deficient sleep.

In this book, the first of its kind written by a scientific expert, Professor Matthew Walker explores twenty years of cutting-edge research to solve the mystery of why sleep matters. Looking at creatures from across the animal kingdom as well as major human studies, Why We Sleep delves into everything from what really happens during REM sleep to how caffeine and alcohol affect sleep and why our sleep patterns change across a lifetime, transforming our appreciation of the extraordinary phenomenon that safeguards our existence.

'Startling, vital ... a life-raft' Guardian

'A top sleep scientist argues that sleep is more important for our health than diet or exercise' The Times

'Passionate, urgent . . . it had a powerful effect on me' Observer