OCT 17 1984 · CHESTERFIELD VA
NASA. PHYSICS. THE DATA DOESN'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK.
925 · FIELD CERTIFIED
randall munroe draws stick figures.
the stick figures are smarter than most papers.
the joke is always the last panel.
the real joke is that he's right.
physics degree. nasa roboticist. quit to draw comics. that's not a career change. that's an upgrade.
◈ NATAL · THE RECORD
SUN
♎ LIBRA
BORN
OCT 17 · 1984
ORIGIN
CHESTERFIELD · VA
FIELD
PHYSICS · NASA → COMICS
◈ THE XKCD PROOF
"a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language."
that's the official description. accurate. no notes.
what it actually is: a physics engine
disguised as a comic strip.
every punchline is a calculation.
every stick figure is a variable.
every what-if is a real equation with a real answer.
wikipedia has a page about xkcd. xkcd has a comic about wikipedia.
the field notes who's doing the work.
X = (physics × humor) / permission · field certified · the math checks out
◈ THE CATALOG · SELECTED
YEAR
WORK
FIELD NOTE
2005
XKCD LAUNCHES
started posting to livejournal. nasa contractor. physics degree. no permission requested.
2007
DUTY CALLS
"someone is wrong on the internet." the most accurate description of the internet ever filed.
2011
RADIATION DOSE CHART
after fukushima. the internet needed actual numbers. he built the chart. it became a reference document.
2013
COMIC 1190 · TIME
one comic. ran for months. updated every hour. longest webcomic in history. the field respects the commitment.
2014
WHAT IF? (BOOK)
absurd hypotheticals. real physics. "what if you hit a baseball at 90% the speed of light." he answered it. correctly.
2015
THING EXPLAINER
explained complex things using only the 1,000 most common words. the saturn v is "up goer five." field certified.
2022
WHAT IF? 2
still going. still correct. still funnier than most comedians who studied comedy.
◈ FIGURES & GRAPHS · XKCD STYLE · BLACK & WHITE · PURE MATH
Fig. 1 — Information Density: rteks.net vs. Wikipedia
(measured in things that actually matter per paragraph. field-certified methodology.)
Fig. 2 — Time Spent Reading vs. Things Remembered
(both sites. honest data. n = everyone who's been on both.)
Fig. 3 — How xkcd Explains Things vs. Everyone Else
(accuracy × accessibility. most people pick one. munroe picks both.)
◈ THE NASA LINE · FIELD NOTE
he worked at nasa langley.
roboticist. real projects. real clearance.
quit to draw comics about physics.
the field notes: that's not walking away from physics.
that's choosing the audience.
nasa has 18,000 employees.
xkcd has tens of millions of readers.
the math on that decision checks out.
◈ WHAT IF · THE REAL WORK
"what if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90% the speed of light?"
he answered it. with actual physics.
the answer: nuclear explosion. everyone dies. the batter first.
"what if everyone on earth jumped at the same time?"
he calculated the seismic impact. correctly.
the field notes: this is what physics education should look like. not a textbook. a what-if with the math shown.
◈ ON THE RECORD · KENSHOTEK LLC · 925
"stick figures smarter than most papers. the joke is always the last panel. the real joke is that he's right."
— rob · kenshotek · 925 · filed · physics · the data doesn't care · xkcd
◈ PRIMARY · AQUATEKXVI
◈ SECONDARY · SCORPTEKXII
◈ TERTIARY · GOLDENTEKDEKXII
◈ XKCD · RANDALL MUNROE · ♎ LIBRA · PHYSICS · NASA · KENSHOTEK LLC · 2026
THE DATA DOESN'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK · 925