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Thing explainer : complicated stuff in simple words / Randall Munroe.

Munroe, Randall, (author.).

Summary:

The creator of the webcomic "xkcd" uses line drawings and just ten hundred common words to provide simple explanations for how things work, including microwaves, bridges, tectonic plates, the solar system, the periodic table, helicopters, and other essential concepts.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9780544668256
  • ISBN: 0544668251
  • Physical Description: 61 pages (3 folded) : color illustrations, color maps ; 34 cm
  • Publisher: Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015.

Content descriptions

Formatted Contents Note:
Page before the book starts : introduction -- Shared space house : International Space Station -- Tiny bags of water you're made of : animal cell -- Heavy metal power building : nuclear reactor -- Red world space car : Curiosity Rover -- Bags of stuff inside you : human torso -- Boxes that make clothes smell better : washing machine and dryer -- Earth's surface : physical map of the earth -- Under a car's front cover : car engine -- Sky boat with turning wings : helicopter -- The US's laws of the land : US Constitution -- The US's Laws of the Land : USS Constitution -- Food-heating radio box : microwave -- Shape checker : padlock -- Lifting room : elevator -- Boat that goes under the sea : submarine -- Box that cleans food holders : dishwasher -- Big flat rocks we live on : tectonic plates -- Cloud maps : weather maps -- Tree : tree -- Machine for burning cities : nuclear bomb -- Water room : toilet and sink -- Computer building : data center -- US Space Team's Up Goer Five : Saturn V rocket -- Sky boat pusher : jet engine -- Stuff you touch to fly a sky boat : cockpit -- Big tiny thing hitter : large Hadron Collider -- Power boxes : batteries -- Hole-making city boat : oil rig -- Stuff in the earth we can burn : mines -- Tall roads : bridges -- Bending computer : laptop -- Worlds around the sun : solar system -- Picture taker : camera -- Writing sticks : pen and pencil -- Hand computer : smart phone -- Colors of light : electromagnetic spectrum -- The sky at night : night sky -- The pieces everything is made of : periodic table -- Our star : sun -- How to count things : units of measurement -- Room for helping people : hospital bed -- Playing fields : athletic fields -- Earth's past : geologic periods of earth -- Tree of life : life's family tree -- The ten hundred words people use the most : the ten hundred most common words in our language -- Sky toucher : skyscraper.
Subject:
Science > Miscellanea.
Technology > Miscellanea.
Basic English > Readers.
Genre:
Trivia and miscellanea.
Readers (Publications)

Available copies

  • 43 of 51 copies available at NC Cardinal. (Show)
  • 3 of 4 copies available at Onslow County Public Library.

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 51 total copies.
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Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Status Due Date
Jacksonville Main Library 500 MUN (Text) 36015000209227 Adult Nonfiction Oversize Available -
Richlands Branch Library 500 MUN (Text) 36015001299532 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Sneads Ferry Branch Library 500 MUN (Text) 36015001217286 Adult Nonfiction Available -
Swansboro Branch Library 500 MUN (Text) 36015000803474 Adult Nonfiction Checked out 08/17/2026