Difference between revisions of "Thing Explainer"
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==Things in this book by page== | ==Things in this book by page== | ||
Below is the index of the book, with simple title first (then a translation in brackets) and after … the page number for the start of that title: | Below is the index of the book, with simple title first (then a translation in brackets) and after … the page number for the start of that title: | ||
| − | *Pages before the books starts ({{w|Introduction (writing)Introduction}}) … vii | + | *Pages before the books starts ({{w|Introduction (writing)|Introduction}}) … vii |
*Shared space house ({{w|International Space Station}}) … 1 | *Shared space house ({{w|International Space Station}}) … 1 | ||
*Tiny bags of water you’re made of ({{w|Animal cell}}) … 2 | *Tiny bags of water you’re made of ({{w|Animal cell}}) … 2 | ||
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*Red world space car ({{w|Curiosity Rover}}) … 4 | *Red world space car ({{w|Curiosity Rover}}) … 4 | ||
*Bag of stuff inside you ({{w|Human torso}}) … 6 | *Bag of stuff inside you ({{w|Human torso}}) … 6 | ||
| − | *Boxes that make clothes smell better ({{w|Washing machine}} and {{w|dryer}}) … 7 | + | *Boxes that make clothes smell better ({{w|Washing machine}} and {{w|Clothes dryer|dryer}}) … 7 |
*Earth’s surface ({{w|World map|Physical map of the Earth}}) … 8 | *Earth’s surface ({{w|World map|Physical map of the Earth}}) … 8 | ||
*Under a car’s front cover ({{w|Car engine}}) … 11 | *Under a car’s front cover ({{w|Car engine}}) … 11 | ||
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*Worlds around the sun ({{w|Solar system}}) … 38 | *Worlds around the sun ({{w|Solar system}}) … 38 | ||
*Picture taker ({{w|Camera}}) … 40 | *Picture taker ({{w|Camera}}) … 40 | ||
| − | *Writing sticks ({{w|Pen}} and | + | *Writing sticks ({{w|Pen}} and {{w|pencil}}) … 41 |
*Hand computer ({{w|Smart phone}}) … 42 | *Hand computer ({{w|Smart phone}}) … 42 | ||
*Colors of light ({{w|Electromagnetic spectrum}}) … 43 | *Colors of light ({{w|Electromagnetic spectrum}}) … 43 | ||
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*Earth’s past ({{w|Period (geology)|Geologic periods of Earth}}) … 53 | *Earth’s past ({{w|Period (geology)|Geologic periods of Earth}}) … 53 | ||
*Tree of life ({{w|Tree of life (biology)|Life’s family tree}}) … 54 | *Tree of life ({{w|Tree of life (biology)|Life’s family tree}}) … 54 | ||
| − | *The ten hundred words people use the most ({{w|Most common words in English|The ten hundred most common words}} in | + | *The ten hundred words people use the most ({{w|Most common words in English|The ten hundred most common words}} in {{w|English language|our language}}) … 57 |
*Helpers ({{w|Acknowledgment (creative arts and sciences)|Acknowledgments}}) … 63 | *Helpers ({{w|Acknowledgment (creative arts and sciences)|Acknowledgments}}) … 63 | ||
*Sky toucher ({{w|Skyscraper}}) … 65 | *Sky toucher ({{w|Skyscraper}}) … 65 | ||
Revision as of 21:31, 21 February 2016
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This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Needs touching up with links If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks. |
"In Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words, things are explained in the style of Up Goer Five, using only drawings and a vocabulary of the 1,000 (or "ten hundred") most common words. The book will explore computer buildings (datacenters), the flat rocks we live on (tectonic plates), the things you use to steer a plane (airliner cockpit controls), and the little bags of water you're made of (cells)."
Thing Explainer is Randall's second published book, not including xkcd comic books, which he announced on May 13th, 2015 in the blag after the amazing success of what if?. The book is a collection of diagrams and line drawings similar in style to the Up Goer Five comic, which can also be purchased as a poster. It will be published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt on November 24th.
Release day
On the day of the books release (even though it was a Tuesday) Randall also realsed the comic 1608: Hoverboard, which was a direct celebration of the books release (it says so in the comic.) But it was no small or normal comic, it was the first "real" game comic released on xkcd (albeit not the first interactive comic). In the style of 1110: Click and Drag it was possible to move around in a very much larger picture than what was shown in the frame. This is not done by clicking and dragging though, instead the user controls Cueball on a hoverboard (hence the title) using the arrow keys.
There are many themes and references throughout the game, but the two main themes are Star Wars (the largest part to the right part) and The Lord of the Rings to the left. Several references goes back to the book from this comic. These are [1608:_Hoverboard#Reference_to_Thing_Explainer|listed in the explanation] for the hoverboard comic.
Summary
Have you ever tried to learn more about some incredible thing, only to be frustrated by incomprehensible jargon? Randall Munroe is here to help. In Thing Explainer, he uses line drawings and only the thousand (or, rather, “ten hundred”) most common words to provide simple explanations for some of the most interesting stuff there is, including:
- food-heating radio boxes (microwaves)
- tall roads (bridges)
- computer buildings (datacenters)
- the shared space house (the International Space Station)
- the other worlds around the sun (the solar system)
- the big flat rocks we live on (tectonic plates)
- the pieces everything is made of (the periodic table)
- planes with turning wings (helicopters)
- boxes that make clothes smell better (washers and dryers)
- the bags of stuff inside you (cells)
How do these things work? Where do they come from? What would life be like without them? And what would happen if we opened them up, heated them up, cooled them down, pointed them in a different direction, or pressed this button? In Thing Explainer, Munroe gives us the answers to these questions and so many more. Funny, interesting, and always understandable, this book is for anyone—age 5 to 105—who has ever wondered how things work, and why.
Things in this book by page
Below is the index of the book, with simple title first (then a translation in brackets) and after … the page number for the start of that title:
- Pages before the books starts (Introduction) … vii
- Shared space house (International Space Station) … 1
- Tiny bags of water you’re made of (Animal cell) … 2
- Heavy metal power building (Nuclear reactor) … 3
- Red world space car (Curiosity Rover) … 4
- Bag of stuff inside you (Human torso) … 6
- Boxes that make clothes smell better (Washing machine and dryer) … 7
- Earth’s surface (Physical map of the Earth) … 8
- Under a car’s front cover (Car engine) … 11
- Sky boat with turning wings (Helicopter) … 13
- The US’s laws of the land (US Constitution) … 14
- The US
’S Laws of the Land (USS Constitution) … 15 - Food-heating radio box (Microwave) … 16
- Shape checker (Padlock) … 17
- Lifting room (Elevator) … 18
- Boat that goes under the sea (Submarine) … 19
- Box that cleans food holders (Dishwasher) … 20
- Big flat rocks we live on (Tectonic plates) … 21
- Cloud maps (Weather maps) … 22
- Tree (Tree) … 23
- Machine for burning cities (Nuclear bomb) … 24
- Water room (Toilet and sink) … 25
- Computer building (Data center) … 26
- US Space Team's Up Goer Five (Saturn V rocket) … 28
- Sky boat pusher (Jet engine) … 30
- Stuff you touch to fly a sky boat (Cockpit) … 31
- Big tiny thing hitter (Large Hadron Collider) … 32
- Power boxes (Batteries) … 33
- Hole-making city boat (Oil-rig) … 34
- Stuff in the Earth we can burn (Mines) … 35
- Tall roads (Bridges) … 36
- Bending computer (Laptop) … 37
- Worlds around the sun (Solar system) … 38
- Picture taker (Camera) … 40
- Writing sticks (Pen and pencil) … 41
- Hand computer (Smart phone) … 42
- Colors of light (Electromagnetic spectrum) … 43
- The sky at night (Night sky) … 44
- The pieces everything is made of (Periodic table) … 47
- Our star (Sun) … 49
- How to count things (Units and measurement) … 50
- Room for helping people (Hospital bed) … 51
- Playing fields (Athletic fields) … 52
- Earth’s past (Geologic periods of Earth) … 53
- Tree of life (Life’s family tree) … 54
- The ten hundred words people use the most (The ten hundred most common words in our language) … 57
- Helpers (Acknowledgments) … 63
- Sky toucher (Skyscraper) … 65
Book Cover
Cueball could be seen on the cover overlooking some of the labelled pictures. It is likely that the book will explore the themes labeled on the front cover which includes astronomy, constellations, and geology.
Preview Pages
- Back cover of the book:
- Space car entry:
Promotion at the top of the xkcd home page
At the time the comic 1612: Colds came out, the top part of xkcd had been changed to promote the book. The entire section was a link to the book on amazon.com Now moved to bottom section of xkcd:
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Ooooh, I know I get this one for x-mas, but there is soooo long until then... Nice to have something you really want for x-mas again. Only 20 more days to go. Can't wait.--Kynde (talk) 13:06, 4 December 2015 (UTC)
I put in the promotional picture. If someone could make it appear smaller I would appreciate this. I'm not sure how to do this without changing the file's resolution. Which I do not wish to do. It should be possible to see this version of the picture by opening the file. --Kynde (talk) 13:09, 4 December 2015 (UTC)
If the 1000 (ten hundred) word vocabulary is still too complex and you want to explain things in even simpler terms, you might take a look at the learnthesewordsfirst.com dictionary. It explains the 2000 most common English words using a set of only 360 words (the "semantic atoms and molecules" from the lessons). It is intended for 2nd-language learners, but interesting from the perspective of explaining things using reductive paraphrase. Lexyacc (talk) 23:31, 4 July 2016 (UTC)
I am pretty sure that in between the solar panels on the "shared space house" is the barrel boy from comic 1108.162.212.95
I wish for explanations for Thing Explainer, using more words. For instance, when explaining cells, I'm not sure what is the "bag filler" (the Golgi apparatus? but does it make bags of death water aka lysosomes), the strange boxes (???), the empty pockets (???), the doping substances they produce (???). It also took me a while to guess and google what ships visited the ISS. There, the "big carrier from many countries" seems the European ATV (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automated_Transfer_Vehicle), but that flew to the ISS 5 times, not 4. Since I'm clueless and Munroe isn't, I must be missing something. --Blaisorblade (talk) 20:39, 7 September 2019 (UTC)
- Hm, the empty boxes are probably vesicles and vacuoles, including secretory vesicles (https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Secretory_vesicles&redirect=no), used to make hormones including steroids. While I finally found this out, each time it takes googling and luck — googling the nontechnical terms fails; here I looked at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Animal_Cell.svg. --Blaisorblade (talk) 20:48, 7 September 2019 (UTC)
