Science and Inquiry discussion

December is almost over...so it's time to nominate books for the Book Club for February. Nominations will remain open through December 30, and then we will take a vote. Lots of good books have been mentioned in the discussions recently...write them in!

I would like to nominate The Seven Mysteries of Life. I've heard good things...

I would like to nominate What we leave behind by Derrick Jensen.

Taja wrote: "I would like to nominate What we leave behind by Derrick Jensen."

That would be: What We Leave Behind

I bet David wants to make sure when we nominate that we use the book link method so that all the books mentioned are listed over to the right under Books Mentioned In This Topic.

That makes it really simple to set up a poll and not miss a book someone recommended!

How about The Eerie Silence: Renewing Our Search for Alien Intelligence ?

How about Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach. I heard a podcast interview with her and it sounds pretty enlightening and funny.

Inspired by a thread elsewhere here, and in the spirit of finishing books I have on my shelves, I nominate Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origin of Species by Sean Carroll.

Does God: A Biography count for us? Sorta sketchy, there. Probably not. I got it for Christmas and I'm gonna read it soon regardless, so I thought I'd mention it.

Alex wrote: "Does God: A Biography count for us? Sorta sketchy, there. Probably not. I got it for Christmas and I'm gonna read it soon regardless, so I thought I'd mention it. ..."

Personally, I would like to read this book--it looks quite interesting. But, from the book synopsis on Goodreads and from the reviews, the book doesn't seem to have a connection to science.

I agree, David. Nice try by me, but...well, by its title alone it doesn't connect to science.

I like the concept, which is to analyze God as a literary figure, as opposed to as...well, God. That appeals to me as, an atheist who appreciates the impact that the concept of God(s) has had on us. I'll let you know when I start it, in case you have room to come along.

Alex, you might also want to take a look at the book, The Evolution of God. This book examines the development of the God of three Western religions, and draws some interesting conclusions. I gave it 5 stars.

Oh, you dug it? Cool. I've been eyeing that book for some time. Glad to hear a personal recommendation. That'd make a cool double feature.

Heather wrote: "How about Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach. I heard a podcast interview with her and it sounds pretty enlightening and funny."
I heartily endorse this - Roach is in fine form in this book. She has a great talent for finding really weird facts. Like the report that NASA has rooms full of freezers that contain the results of all bowel movements performed in space sorted by mission, astronaut and sequence! Tax dollars at work.....

It looks like Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void will be February's book of the month. I look forward to reading it!

so where do we post what we thought of it? is there a chatroom discussion? i finished already, it was that good. oh wait, it's not even february yet, i'm a little ahead. oops.

This is the correct folder for discussion of the February book, and you can start discussing it now, if you like!

I just finished Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void. What a fascinating, funny book. I loved the behind-the-scenes look at figuring out how humans can function in space.

I was a little disappointed that it seemed more of a look back rather than forward. Most of the stories dealt with the Mercury/Gemini/Apollo era rather than current research geared specifically toward Mars, as the title seemed to promise. It was totally entertaining though. I hadn't read anything by Roach before but I can now see the appeal and I will be checking out her other books.

I've got about two chapters left and have thoroughly enjoyed it so far. So many fascinating and horrible things go on to get up to space and stay there. Just the little things you don't even think about. I have a new appreciation for astronauts.

Like you Donna, I was hoping for some more insight into current research on traveling to Mars.

I read it a couple months ago. Ditto, Donna & Heather. I too was hoping for a little more about what it's going to take to get humans to Mars and back. She barely touches on the problems of solar and cosmic radiation. And I have yet to hear anyone other than Rob Manning of JPL discuss the problem of landing a heavy mass payload on Mars--we don't know how to do it. Still, it was humorous and informative, just not what I expected or hoped for.

i like that the book doesn't focus on those problems. the problem she focuses on is humans, which is incredibly more interesting than the technical details of why we can't go to mars. technology will eventually work those problems out, but it's much harder to deal with the problems she focuses on.

Has anybody else read Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void? What did you think of the book?

Just finished today. Here's my review:

Space technology has been a series of amazing feats of engineering. Some of the more personal and minor seeming problems of sending humans into space are explored here. There were a lot of interesting tidbits of knowledge about NASA and the space programs in this book. A lot of questions I didn't know I had were answered about living in a close quartered, zero gravity environment. I learned a lot about all kinds of stuff including: going to the bathroom in space, the development of astronaut food, pros and cons of different bathing methods, and what zero gravity is like in general. Also cool is all about how they test everything and choose astronauts.

I'm certainly no expert in physics, engineering, or the space program, but this was not difficult reading at all. The author was able to keep my interest with her funny style. I'll read some more of her books in the future.

Well, I finished Packing for Mars a few days ago, and I really enjoyed it overall. I love that Mary Roach was careful and thorough with her research, and she even debunked several popular space "myths." I would have liked more information about Mars, but the book was still a really fun read. Roach does a great job of including lots of fun little factoids in each chapter so that you feel like you learned a lot more than just what the chapter was about.