319:, describing it as "a beautifully designed journey through the intricacies of daily life." Alderman said that Munroe produced sentences of "startling clarity" writing the book, describing ideas precisely and in a compelling manner. However, she also noted that some of the passages in the book are more difficult to comprehend due to the restriction, which she called "part of the joke", saying that the book has "a cryptic crossword feel." Stephen Shankland of
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called the schematics Munroe used in the book as "a deceptive, seductive way of presenting the inscrutable and chaotic innards of our daily world," and proclaimed delight at watching the "linguistic backflips" Munroe goes through to express complex and technical ideas, while praising how clear the
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is "fun if you enjoy puzzles, annoying if you just want to learn." Shankland described the book as "clever, instructive, thought-provoking," but stated that the book can come across as awkward if its reader does not take the book in the right spirit.
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in United States high school textbooks. 2016 editions of HMH's chemistry, biology, and physics textbooks include both old and new diagrams, charts, and stick figures by Munroe, as part of the HMH Science
Dimensions program.
26:
162:, Randall Munroe explains the function and mechanics of 54 subjects using only the 1,000 most commonly used words in the English language. The book covers a wide range of topics, including
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he designed silly names, such as "Up Goer" and "Skyboat," and he began wondering if he could explain how a rocket ship works using such simplified language. Munroe drew a rendering of the
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186:. The book challenges its readers to figure out what the technical name is of the subjects it describes, and was described by Jack Schofield of
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of light is one of the best explanations of the topic he had seen, and that school teachers could learn from the book. Blogger
182:("machines for burning cities"). Besides technology, Munroe also explains human organs and conceptual subjects such as the
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582:"Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words by Randall Munroe – funny, precise and beautifully designed"
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that science communicators often use many uncommon and long words when describing complex topics, and that
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425:"'Thing Explainer' - A Review of Randall Munroe's New Book (Using the Ten Hundred Most Common Words)"
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498:"Xkcd Has a New Book About Explaining Complicated Subjects in Simple Ways"
140:. Munroe conceptualized the book in 2012, when drawing a schematic of the
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519:"The smartphone ('hand computer') as explained by XKCD's Randall Munroe"
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explores "how to explain ideas and offer information in a simpler way."
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HMH began collaborating with Munroe in 2016 to incorporate parts of
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20:Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words
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259:"Up-Goer Five" became the basis of
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256:under the title "Up-Goer Five".
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333:Science communicator
235:Kerbal Space Program
192:as a "puzzle game."
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660:Solo works
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207:wrote for
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305:Reception
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244:Saturn V
154:Synopsis
142:Saturn V
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240:rockets
203:jokes.
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164:pencils
104:Website
59:Science
55:Subject
50:English
705:How To
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524:Wired
399:ZDNet
339:color
280:Wired
201:nerdy
189:ZDNet
99:Print
31:Cover
675:Time
668:xkcd
483:2023
475:xkcd
375:CNET
322:CNET
253:xkcd
248:NASA
147:xkcd
111:.com
109:xkcd
275:USD
158:In
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