{"id":28125,"date":"2016-05-16T06:00:45","date_gmt":"2016-05-16T11:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs2.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/?p=28125"},"modified":"2016-05-09T14:49:41","modified_gmt":"2016-05-09T19:49:41","slug":"the-thing-explainer-complicated-stuff-in-simple-words-by-randall-munroe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/the-thing-explainer-complicated-stuff-in-simple-words-by-randall-munroe\/","title":{"rendered":"The Thing Explainer : Complicated Stuff in Simple Words by Randall Munroe"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"thing<\/a>The Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words<\/a><\/strong><\/em> by Randall Munroe is an unusual book. I have never seen one quite like it. Its full-page\u00a0diagrams\u00a0contain details of complex things using only the most common 1000 words (which are listed alphabetically at the back of the book.) Topics range from\u00a0the\u00a0human\u00a0torso (“bags of stuff inside you”),\u00a0to a helicopter (“sky boat with turning wings”),\u00a0\u00a0oil rigs (“stuff in Earth we can burn”), and washing machines (“boxes that make stuff smell better”), to name just a few. It is hilarious and educational at the same time.<\/p>\n

Munroe’s elevator is a\u00a0“lifting room.” He doesn’t neglect to\u00a0inform\u00a0that\u00a0riding one while facing the back wall\u00a0is likely to make others think you are strange.\u00a0He\u00a0still manages to provide a\u00a0thorough explanation of its mechanical workings.<\/p>\n

I suppose\u00a0some parts of the book\u00a0could be construed as bringing too much irreverence\u00a0to what are usually regarded as\u00a0important and serious topics. For instance, according to Munroe, nuclear bombs are “machines for burning cities.” If you have a certain sense of humor and are even a little bit interested in\u00a0science, however, you are more likely to find this\u00a0fresh, almost child-like approach endearing.<\/p>\n

The book’s temporary residence on\u00a0our kitchen table at home sparked some delightful conversations among all ages.<\/p>\n

Randall Munroe is\u00a0the author\u00a0responsible for the xkcd webcomic<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words by Randall Munroe is an unusual book. I have never seen one quite like it. Its full-page\u00a0diagrams\u00a0contain details of complex things using only the most common 1000 words (which are listed alphabetically at the back of the book.) Topics range from\u00a0the\u00a0human\u00a0torso (“bags[Read more]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,1,8,17],"tags":[3545,3544,2336,1746],"class_list":["post-28125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-reference","category-staff-picks","category-technology","tag-diagrams","tag-language","tag-science","tag-technology-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd0CXx-7jD","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28125"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28144,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28125\/revisions\/28144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}