You say “There’s a 5-meter ball rolling down an inclined plane with this many degrees and that has this rotational inertia. If you’re trying to learn the equations, why not apply them to something vivid and memorable and interesting? I always had a much easier time learning math when it was being applied to a problem whose answer I was interested in - that meant something to me, and I could picture. MUNROE: Well, the equations are the same whether you’re talking about something deadly serious or something ridiculous. GAZETTE: Your approach marries the absurd to the serious. There’s funny stuff in whatever topics people get really interested in. A lot of jokes I didn’t even get at the time. I rewatched some of it recently and it was incredibly sharp. When I was a little kid, a big influence on me was the PBS show “Square One,” which was like a variety sketch comedy show around teaching kids math. And the more I got interested in science, the more of the stuff I thought was funny showed up there. MUNROE: I’ve just always found that stuff in general is funny. GAZETTE: Do you remember when you first thought that science might be funny? The interview has been edited for clarity and length. He spoke with the Gazette about the humor in science, why kids ask better questions than adults, and whether his curiosity will ever run dry.
On Tuesday, Munroe visits Sanders Theatre to discuss the second “What If?” book in an event sponsored by Harvard Book Store, Harvard Library, and the FAS Division of Science. In his “What If?” series, Munroe applies serious science to outrageous scenarios - “What if you built a billion-story building?” - and patiently explains the science behind the often-disastrous consequences. In one of the more unusual scientific career pivots you’re likely to hear about, Randall Munroe has parlayed his physics degree and experience working at NASA on computers and robots into fame as a cartoonist, blogger, and author.
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