Book
Adult book discussion kit #485 Packing for Mars : the curious science of life in the void
Record details
- ISBN: 9780393339918 (pbk.)
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Physical Description:
1 book (15 copies)
kit
print - Publisher: New York : W.W. Norton, 2011, c2010.
Electronic resources
- Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews Newsletter
Popular science writer Mary Roach answers the questions of what it takes to send the human body into outer spaceâand how much normalcy can be given up in the process to survive there. Her no-holds-barred and lighthearted approach to the serious and mundane aspects of astronaut life makes this well-researched popular science work a hilarious, albeit occasionally gross, read as the ever-curious author delves into the immense efforts it takes to keep people healthy and happy in space. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 2010 October #2
With wry humor and an often repellent degree of detail, New York Times best-selling author Roach (www.maryroach.net)âwhose previous title, Bonk (2008), is also read by Sandra Burr and available from Brilliance Audioâhere discusses the physical challenges astronauts face during space flight, i.e., the zero-gravity realities of disposing of bodily waste, bathing, eating, having sex, and getting sick, along with all of their malodorous consequences. She also tracks NASA engineers' attempts to find solutions to these dilemmas in order to improve astronauts' physical and psychological experiences. Burr narrates in a matter-of-fact tone that well matches Roach's scientific approach. Recommended for adult audiences interested in the curiosities of space flight; not for the queasy. [The New York Times best-selling Norton hc received a starred review, LJ 7/10.âEd.]âIlka Gordon, Siegal Coll. of Judaic Studies Lib., Cleveland
[Page 51]. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 2010 July #1
Roach is back with another irreverent romp, this time through "an entire odd universe of mock outer space." Spaceflight subjects both astronauts and equipment to unusual stresses, so NASA and other space agencies first conduct correspondingly extreme (and often bizarre) tests on people and technological instruments in earthbound settings. Yet even the most imaginative engineers can't foresee everything that can go wrong in space. Readers who enjoyed the author's previous books will be pleased to know that the cadavers of Stiff return (they're used in space capsule crash tests), and so does the sex research of Bonk (albeit mostly in the form of debunked hoaxes). Other areas Roach examines include the psychology of isolation and confinement, space motion sickness, the difficulties of bathing and defecating in zero gravity, and innovations in space food. While there are occasional somber passages, most of the descriptions of the many and varied annoyances of space travel are perversely entertaining. VERDICT An essential purchase. Roach devotees and science fans will devour this one.-Nancy R. Curtis, Univ. of Maine Lib., Orono Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information. - Library Journal Reviews : LJ BookSmack
This completely awesome book's awesomeness is so awesomely awesome that it's difficult to get across just how awesome it is. It's a fun, intelligent, and engrossing read, something that a dude can get excited about. As a bonus, it considers sex in space, something I think only Kim Stanley Robinson and Barbarella have done. Space work-as in orbiting Earth, going to the moon, or getting to Mars-is quite romantic in the abstract. Think of relaxed, competent Bruce Dern in Silent Running or George Clooney in Solaris. In reality, space stuff is smelly, hot, and gross. Roach insightfully researches and chronicles all sorts of topics, like what happens when you sneeze in a space suit or how NASA uses cadavers to test how crashes affect the body. Roach's greatest plus is how quickly she gets to the proverbial donkey punch on the varying experiments. For example, when NASA tested astronauts' ability to withstand a 20-day mission, they put men close together in a room with no bathing. They found that after about day eight, astronauts' noses sort of stopped working-it went beyond "smelly." Roach tells readers why: B.O. combines with "bodily emanations that have built up on the skin: grease, sweat, and scurf, to be specific." Scurf? It's shed skin. Nice! (See also LJ's review in the July issue, posting 7/15/10.)-Douglas Lord, "Books for Dudes," BookSmack! 7/1/10 Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information. - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 2010 March #1
After Stiff, Bonk, and Spook, Roach expands her horizons (and title length) to consider all the consequences of space travel, e.g., what's it like to bail out at 17,000 miles an hour, and how we can investigate such things here on Earth. Rumored to be entertaining-no surprise there-and this column's most important popular nonfiction. With a nine-city tour. Copyright 2010 Reed Business Information.