Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void, (Hardcover)

from ladycato

I read Roach's book STIFF a few months ago, and loved it more than I ever thought possible considering the subject matter (i.e. the things you do with dead people). She applies that same humor in PACKING FOR MARS. Though the subject matter isn't as morbid, it's still not your normal dinner-with-t...

from tututhefirst

Roach gives us hilarious examples of almost every problem NASA and other scientists ever had to deal with, along with very detailed scientific explanations in language readers can get their arms around. It's not dumbed-down, but with her deft handling, and bawdy sense of humor, she manages to exp...

from meganreads

By the end of chapter five, it hit me that Mary Roach would be a tremendously apt happy hour companion. I imagine us chatting animatedly, swapping anecdotal stories until our cheeks are pink from liberal helpings of both libations and laughter. After parting, it would hit me that despite all the ...

from railarson

It wasn't until nearing the end of Oakland journalist Mary Roach's latest fun fact-finding foray that the five-year-old boy deep inside of me finally shut the hell up about flying into outer space. Much to his chagrin, he had been dutifully keeping a litany of the astro-indignities Roach gleefull...

from charlierb3

About: Roach tackles the difficulties involved getting humans to space, keeping them alive there and returning them to Earth. Food, bathing, using the toilet and keeping sane in the vast blackness are all covered. A few interesting things I learned: * You can't hang yourself in space, due to the ...