When Randall Munroe, creator of the insanely popular web comic xkcd and blog What If?, released his first book, also titled What If?, it was instantly my favorite science book of 2014. So when Munroe announced today that not only will he be coming out with another book this November, but that it will be a collection of Up Goer Five-style blueprints, I let out a literal squee.
The cover art for Thing Explainer. Click to enlarge!
Munroe’s famous Up-Goer Five comic went viral because it explained a hugely complicated machine (a Saturn V rocket) using a vocabulary of only the 1,000 most used words in English. Thing Explainer will do the same. For example, Munroe says the new book will “explore computer buildings (datacenters), the flat rocks we live on (tectonic plates), the things you use to steer a plane (airliner cockpit controls), and the little bags of water you’re made of (cells).”
Thing Explainer will feature a number of large format (9″x 13″) prints that are sure to be as good for reading as they are for posters. Speaking of posters, below is your first look at one of the prints available in the book: NASA’s Curiosity rover!
Click to enlarge and print out for a poster!
Thing Explainer will be available in the US, Canada, and the UK this November 24th, and we could not be more excited.
Pre-order the book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indie Bound, or Hudson.
