 Munroe published an xkcd-style comic on scientific publishing and open access in "Science" in October 2013.Munroe's book "Thing Explainer", announced in May 2015 and published late that year, explains concepts using only the 1,000 most common English words.The book's publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, saw these illustrations as potentially useful for textbooks, and announced in March 2016 that the next editions of their high school-level chemistry, biology, and physics textbooks will include selected drawings and accompanying text from "Thing Explainer".