Techdirt Reading List: Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff In Simple Words

Techdirt

from the brainsplainer dept

We’re back again with another in our weekly reading list posts of books we think our community will find interesting and thought provoking. Once again, buying the book via the Amazon links in this story also helps support Techdirt.

Most of the books we’ve been discussing for the Techdirt Reading List so far have been a bit on the “deeper think piece” end of the spectrum, but this week (our last before the holiday break), I thought it might be nice to go in a bit more of a fun direction, and thus it’s Randall Munroe’s wonderful Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words. Munroe, of course, is the brains behind the brilliant xkcd, and this is his second “explainer” book, in which he uses his drawing (and humor) skills to explain a variety of scientific concepts, following last year’s What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions.

The other aspect of Thing Explainer is that he uses only the thousand most common words to explain things in simple terms. If you’re familiar with the Up Goer Five xkcd cartoon, you’ll get the point of this book. Check it out.

Filed Under: randall munroe, thing explainer, what if, xkcd