About the book
Using only the thousand words people use most often, xkcd creator Randall Munroe explains how 54 things work, from microwave ovens, which he calls food-heating radio boxes, to tectonic plates, the periodic table, helicopters and the cells inside the body. Each subject gets a stick-figure drawing explained in simple language, and readers are left to work out the technical name of what is shown. The idea took shape in 2012 with Up-Goer Five, a simplified diagram of the Saturn V rocket that Munroe posted on xkcd, and the 2015 book became a New York Times best seller. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt later worked parts of it into its high school chemistry, biology and physics textbooks.
Bill Gates called it a wonderful guide for curious minds, packed with basic knowledge about how the world works, and hoped its drawings would send readers off to learn more.
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Bill Gates (CEO/Microsoft)
Thing Explainer is filled with cool basic knowledge about how the world works. If one of Munroe’s drawings inspires you to go learn more about a subject—including a few extra terms—then he will have done his job. He has written a wonderful guide for curious minds.
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