Where	Sanders Theatre. Please note: this is an in-person ticketed event! ORDER TICKETS
When	September 13, 2022 @7:00PM
Organization/Sponsor	Harvard Division of Science, Harvard Library, and Harvard Book Store
Speaker(s)	Randall Munroe and Jonathan Zittrain
Cost	$44.00, $42.00, $37.00, $34.00 Each ticket includes one copy of What If? 2.
Contact Info	science_lectures@fas.harvard.edu

The millions of people around the world who read and loved What If? still have questions, and those questions are getting stranger. Thank goodness xkcd creator Randall Munroe is here to help. Planning to ride a fire pole from the Moon back to Earth? The hardest part is sticking the landing. Hoping to cool the atmosphere by opening everyone’s freezer door at the same time? Maybe it’s time for a brief introduction to thermodynamics. Want to know what would happen if you rode a helicopter blade, built a billion-story building, made a lava lamp out of lava, or jumped on a geyser as it erupted? Okay, if you insist.

Before you go on a cosmic road trip, feed the residents of New York City to a T. rex, or fill every church with bananas, be sure to consult this practical guide for impractical ideas. Unfazed by absurdity, Munroe consults the latest research on everything from swing-set physics to airliner catapult–design to answer his readers’ questions, clearly and concisely, with illuminating and occasionally terrifying illustrations. As he consistently demonstrates, you can learn a lot from examining how the world might work in very specific extreme circumstances.
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Randall Munroe is the author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers How To, What If? and Thing Explainer, the science question-and-answer blog What If?, and the popular web comic xkcd. A former NASA roboticist, he left the agency in 2006 to draw comics on the internet full time.

Jonathan Zittrain is a professor of law and professor of computer science at Harvard University, where he co-founded the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. He wrote The Future of the Internet—And How to Stop It, and is working on its sequel, Well, We Tried.
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A Return to In-Person Events

To ensure the safety and comfort of everyone in attendance, the following Covid-19 safety protocols will be in place at all of our Sanders Theatre events until further notice:

All attendees are encouraged to wear masks. Performers may be unmasked.
All attendees must attest to their current health status (e.g., no current infection, symptoms or recent exposure to others with COVID-19)
All attendees must self-attest to the following:
- I am fully vaccinated against COVID-19 using a vaccine authorized by the FDA or WHO and have received my booster (if eligible), or
I qualify for exemption based upon age, a medical contraindication, or firmly held religious belief.
- I also agree to immediately share with Harvard University Health Services any proof of my vaccination status if I am identified as an exposed person through public health contact tracing efforts.
- If not fully vaccinated, I have received a negative COVID-19 PCR or antigen test result in the last 24 hours.

For more information regarding Harvard University's Covid-19 safety protocols, please visit the Sanders Theatre website.

For more information and videos of Harvard Science Book Talks, see https://science.fas.harvard.edu/book-talks