∎ Download Packing for Mars The Curious Science of Life in the Void Mary Roach 9780393068474 Books

Packing for Mars The Curious Science of Life in the Void Mary Roach 9780393068474 Books

Download As PDF : Packing for Mars The Curious Science of Life in the Void Mary Roach 9780393068474 Books

Packing for Mars The Curious Science of Life in the Void Mary Roach 9780393068474 Books

I read this book after reading "The Martin", now a blockbuster movie, and am glad I read the Science behind the Fiction other authors use to make Mars sound awesome and dangerous. This author has a practical, tongue-in-cheek but factual and very funny style of writing that I really enjoyed. She did a lot of painstaking research for her book, extensive travel, and probably had to listen to thousands of hours of NASA transcripts and interview notes to get a few gut-bustingly funny precious gems. Totally worth it. I recommend this book to all my science-geek, and non-science friends who are interested in what it really might be like to get to Mars alive. Is being an astronaut really work all the trouble? Either way, a very funny and interesting read.


Tags : Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void [Mary Roach] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <strong>The best-selling author of <em>Stiff</em> and <em>Bonk</em> explores the irresistibly strange universe of space travel and life without gravity.</strong> Space is a world devoid of the things we need to live and thrive: air,Mary Roach,Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void,W. W. Norton & Company,0393068471,SCI005000,Physics - Astrophysics,Space biology,Space biology.,Space biology;Popular works.,Aeronautics & Astronautics,Astrophysics,LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES Journalism,Manned Space Exploration,Popular works,SCIENCE Physics Astrophysics,SCIENCE Space Science,Science,ScienceMathematics,Space Science,Technology & EngineeringAeronautics & Astronautics

Packing for Mars The Curious Science of Life in the Void Mary Roach 9780393068474 Books Reviews

The book is both interesting and disgusting. Roach has a penchant for the gross and macabre aspects of life. This is an author who wrote entire books on digestion and corpses. You won’t hear much about rocket propulsion or space navigation, but the zero-G toilet is covered in excruciating detail. Many pages are devoted to topics such as feces and vomiting.

Roach certainly did her homework - she snags a ride on the “vomit comet” to experience zero-G first hand, and travels to remote outposts to see how astronauts might live on Mars. The book is carefully researched, and she frequently peppers the text with amusing footnotes and details she discovered along the way. It’s a good read if you’re not squeamish.

A note about the audio edition Roach is a talented public speaker, so it's really unfortunate she doesn’t read her own book. The “narrator’s” harsh, school-marm voice unfortunately drains much of the humor and wit from Roach’s text. I also wish the audio book came packaged on an MP3 disk. I had to manually rip and copy onto one myself, because "stop to change the disk" doesn't work while you're driving.
Because I am a twelve year old boy when it comes to all things NASA I tend to read anything that has to do with space travel. This book about the practical logistics of space travel to the Red Planet came up, and hearing about Mary and her book on cadavers I bought it. What followed was tenacious and through investigation of what will be needed to leave earth for years at. However what also followed was an amazingly funny, gross, "can't believe she went there" tale that is worth reading just for the notes asides. Thank you Mary. I will be reading and or listing to all your books... While doing it every one is going to think I am a little off in the coffee shop I sit in as I laugh so hard I snot.
I love reading Mary Roach. Whether its dead bodies, ghost research, liquid diets for astronauts, or what food makes the best crunch, Roach expertly tells the story and explains science in an amusing and easy to understand way.

Space travel has always fascinated me and the idea of moving to Mars permanently, so I was especially excited about this book.

I love this book - but if she decided to write about mouse droppings, car parts, or the history of nails, I would grab those books too.
Roach strips away the glamor and heroics to offer us a look at the grittier, and messier, aspects of space travel as it relates to the human body. It's all here food, sex, personal hygiene, motion sickness, claustrophobia, physiological changes, defecation. While we may snicker at some, these are aspects of the human condition which are glossed over as we defiantly insist that we will conquer other worlds. Fortunately, scientists the world over are not ignoring these aspects. It's just that they don't make for good PR. Roach presents them here.

But the best part is Roach herself. Her wit and unabashed curiosity are in plain sight, boldly going where decorum and press releases dare not go. There's just enough science here to give the layman an idea of what's going on--and presenting it in clear terms--without overwhelming him with forensic detail. She interviews astronauts and scientists, historians and charlatans, and when research isn't enough, she bravely participates in experiments (flying aboard a C-9, drinking recycled urine). Despite being confronted with the unpleasant facts of space travel, Roach doesn't flinch. She satisfies our curiosity while satisfying her own.
I read this book after reading "The Martin", now a blockbuster movie, and am glad I read the Science behind the Fiction other authors use to make Mars sound awesome and dangerous. This author has a practical, tongue-in-cheek but factual and very funny style of writing that I really enjoyed. She did a lot of painstaking research for her book, extensive travel, and probably had to listen to thousands of hours of NASA transcripts and interview notes to get a few gut-bustingly funny precious gems. Totally worth it. I recommend this book to all my science-geek, and non-science friends who are interested in what it really might be like to get to Mars alive. Is being an astronaut really work all the trouble? Either way, a very funny and interesting read.