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rowiash's review against another edition
funny
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Love me some Mary Roach. Her irreverent sense of humor and unflinching approach to ”unsavory” subjects (like the mechanics of pooping in space) make this another fascinating read.
mborer23's review against another edition
4.0
How would you feel if you couldn't take a walk in the sun, watch TV, drive to the Starbucks, or have sex for a year? How about five? How about for the rest of your life? How would you feel about being stuck in a room with two other people for two weeks or more without a shower?
Questions like these are asked by NASA scientists as they choose astronauts, design spacesuits, and put food into sealed pouches for space missions. Things we take for granted, like eating, washing, and, yes, going to the bathroom, are a lot more complicated in space, and if humans are going to colonize other worlds, we have to figure some of that stuff out.
I love Mary Roach's writing, and Packing for Mars does not disappoint. Facts and whimsy in a pretty even proportion fill this book that expresses hope for humanity's future among the stars.
Questions like these are asked by NASA scientists as they choose astronauts, design spacesuits, and put food into sealed pouches for space missions. Things we take for granted, like eating, washing, and, yes, going to the bathroom, are a lot more complicated in space, and if humans are going to colonize other worlds, we have to figure some of that stuff out.
I love Mary Roach's writing, and Packing for Mars does not disappoint. Facts and whimsy in a pretty even proportion fill this book that expresses hope for humanity's future among the stars.
meginsanity's review against another edition
3.0
Oh my gosh, people, I am so tired of typing and writing. So guess what? I'm going to type some more.
Mary Roach reminds me a lot of myself in that she knows a lot about totally random things. She, like me, is the type of person who can be having a perfectly normal conversation and then something reminds her of the first chimpanzee in space, or how they tried to measure the weight of a person's soul (that's in one of her other books). The difference is that since her nonfiction randomness is written down, she sounds a lot smarter than I do, because she has dates, and full names, and stuff like quotes.
This book is about how you prepare for space travel, but it's also about a lot more than that. There is a lot of information here. Unfortunately, at times I felt like it got really slow, and I also had a hard time remembering the names of everybody she interviewed, so I kept forgetting who was who. But it definitely added a lot of fodder for my conversations.
Mary Roach reminds me a lot of myself in that she knows a lot about totally random things. She, like me, is the type of person who can be having a perfectly normal conversation and then something reminds her of the first chimpanzee in space, or how they tried to measure the weight of a person's soul (that's in one of her other books). The difference is that since her nonfiction randomness is written down, she sounds a lot smarter than I do, because she has dates, and full names, and stuff like quotes.
This book is about how you prepare for space travel, but it's also about a lot more than that. There is a lot of information here. Unfortunately, at times I felt like it got really slow, and I also had a hard time remembering the names of everybody she interviewed, so I kept forgetting who was who. But it definitely added a lot of fodder for my conversations.
belwood303's review against another edition
4.0
I love this writer, I love the seemingly endless adventures her curiosity takes you on. NASA and space travel and playing explorer have always fascinated me so this book was a pleasure. But as this was my 3rd Roach book in 6 months I think I need to slow down some...
davechua's review against another edition
4.0
Roach explores all the complexities of sending a human into space, particularly the stuff that folks don't talk about. Enjoyable though not as interesting as her other works.
multiplyoctopi's review against another edition
challenging
funny
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.75
jonlewis's review against another edition
5.0
I found this book highly entertaining and couldn't recommend it more. It covers a number of aspects of life off of earth and the unique challenges that presents. From food to water to clothing to hygiene and many places in between, this book takes a critical look at all these things and, through the author's combination of humor and exposition, she keeps the book moving right along. The book walked the fine line between informative and entertaining and it walked it well. Highly recommended.
celiapowell's review against another edition
2.0
Didn't get into this enough to want to finish it unfortunately - I just didn't find this as funny or engaging as the other books of Mary Roach's that I've read and enjoyed.
leasummer's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this book. It was fast paced and packed with information. I was so into the book I got nauseous during the vomit chapter. It really doesn't have that much to do with Mars specifically, more space travel in general and what goes in to getting people to space and the science of all that drama. If you're at all interested in space, I highly recommend this book.
Some of the information is already a little outdated, my 5 star rating is based on the information at the time of the writing.
Some of the information is already a little outdated, my 5 star rating is based on the information at the time of the writing.