Why Explain Things?
Thing Explainer is a fun book to read. It is a book of complicated concepts explained using the 1,000 most commonly used words in the English language. Randall Munroe, the author, begins the book by addressing his reason for writing the book this way.
“I’ve spent a lot of my life worried that people will think I don’t know enough. Sometimes, that worry has made me use big words when I don’t need to… Some people sat there’s no reason to learn big words in the first place – all that matters is knowing what things do, not what they’re called.” There are plenty of books that explain what things are called. This book, however, explains what things do.
Cool New Things
I learned about new things from this book. I learned about the international space station (“shared space house”), microwaves (“food heating radio box”), bathrooms (“water room”), and more. It’s impressive how Munroe is able to distil concepts to this level of simplicity. The diagrams make it even easier, of course.
There are times when the terminology can be confusing. For example, it took me way too long to realize that “fire water” is gasoline. Beyond that, the book wasn’t confusing. Overall, this is a fun book and would make a fantastic gift for your curious best friend/child/grandchild. Additionally, it makes a great book for the coffee table. I recommend it, and I have included a picture below demonstrating how it’s formatted.
Get your copy of Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words
