Randall Munroe Non-Fiction books in order

Q: "How many books are in the Randall Munroe Non-Fiction series?"

"There are two books in the Randall Munroe Non-Fiction series, published between 2015 and 2019."

Q: "What is the first book in the Randall Munroe Non-Fiction series?"

"The first book in the Randall Munroe Non-Fiction series is Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words, published in 2015."

Q: "What is Thing Explainer?"

"Thing Explainer (2015) is a picture book for adults in which Munroe explains complex objects and concepts using only the 1000 most common words in English. A dishwasher becomes a box that cleans food holders, a nuclear reactor becomes a heavy metal power building. The book is illustrated in Munroe's blueprint-style diagrams."

Reading order

#	Title	Published	Author	Buy on Amazon
1	Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words	2015	Randall Munroe	Buy
2	How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems	2019	Randall Munroe	Buy

Randall Munroe’s two standalone non-fiction books extend his xkcd sensibility in different directions. Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words (2015) is a large-format illustrated book in which Munroe describes complex objects and systems using only the thousand most common words in the English language. The constraint forces creative circumlocutions and highlights how much technical vocabulary we normally take for granted. The book covers everything from the solar system to the inside of a smartphone, all illustrated in Munroe’s detailed blueprint style.

How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems (2019) takes a different approach, framing its humor as a guidebook. Each chapter addresses a mundane task – digging a hole, charging a phone, moving house – and offers technically accurate but wildly impractical advice based on the full range of scientific methods available. The humor comes from the mismatch between everyday problems and the scale of solutions Munroe considers.

Both books are illustrated in the xkcd style and written with the same combination of genuine technical knowledge and deadpan humor that characterizes Munroe’s webcomic. They are standalone works and can be read in either order. Thing Explainer is the more visually distinctive, while How To is closer in format to the What If? books.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many books are in the Randall Munroe Non-Fiction series?

There are two books in the Randall Munroe Non-Fiction series, published between 2015 and 2019.

What is the first book in the Randall Munroe Non-Fiction series?

The first book in the Randall Munroe Non-Fiction series is Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words, published in 2015.

What is Thing Explainer?

Thing Explainer (2015) is a picture book for adults in which Munroe explains complex objects and concepts using only the 1000 most common words in English. A dishwasher becomes a box that cleans food holders, a nuclear reactor becomes a heavy metal power building. The book is illustrated in Munroe’s blueprint-style diagrams.

Reading order#

Frequently Asked Questions

Reading order