What if? : Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions

         Here are the answers to all of those science questions you might have, with accurate information that even the novice scientist can understand. Randall Munroe, the author, is a former NASA roboticist and the creator of the webcomic xkcd whose purpose is to provide what this book’s subtitle claims, along with stick figure illustrations.                                                                              

            The author’s approach is to present actual questions from the public, one per chapter, and then provide answers honestly and humorously.
           
            If you want to know what would happen if you made a periodic table out of cube-shaped bricks, each made of the corresponding element, you might be sorry you asked because the results, if possible, would be fatal.
           
           Could we wipe out the common cold if each person on earth stayed away from one another for a few weeks? Yes, if everyone had a healthy immune system; however the rhinovirus would find harbor in those people with compromised immune systems and again would infect the healthy after the experiment’s end.

            Some other questions are:

 -- How long could a person live if his/her DNA suddenly vanished?
 -- When will the bandwidth of the Internet surpass that of FedEx?
 -- How quickly could we drain the oceans on Earth and how would the Earth change as we drained the water?
 -- Could we build a LEGO bridge capable of carrying traffic from London to New York?

            For the answers to these questions and more, be sure to read this book!

Abundance: The Future is Better than You Think

     Forget those doom and gloom predictions about the future! Author Peter H. Diamandis, the chairman and CEO of the X Prize Foundation, chairman of Singularity University and founder of several space and high tech companies, makes use of his expertise in a wide range of sciences and technologies to reassure us that the time is fast approaching when all of humanity’s basic needs will be met and then some.

     In co-authorship with award-winning journalist Steven Kotler, Diamandis describes how the knowledge bases in such areas as artificial intelligence, robotics, computing, digital manufacturing, medicine, nanotechnology, energy, food production, and many others have been growing exponentially. In turn, solutions will be developed for such problems as water and air pollution, starvation, scarcity of medical care and limited educational opportunities. Strengthening social forces such as the DIY innovator, Technophilanthropists (such as Bill Gates), and the Rising Billion (third world citizens who will advance thanks to their cell phone and Internet connections), will provide the impetus.

     Detailed references and notes and a comprehensive index at the end of the book support the reader’s further research.