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Comments
Should NOT be a spoiler but if un-trusting, look away. Weir was interviewed by Neil deGrasse Tyson, who tactfully had Weir admit that the premise of the catastrophe that set in motion all that followed, the Martian winds, is made up. Don't exist. A McGuffin of sorts. I believe they agreed that the rest is pretty good science.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGuffin
Hmm..interesting..never would have guessed that mars didn't have wind/dust storms.
OT But if Mars had wind, it would likely have rain, and therefore would likely have life. There are many things that make Earth habitable for life. Ocean deep water currents are one more. We're special.
I totally agree with your recommendation of this series. I’m halfway through the third installment. You could liken it to the Hunger Games as too I guess. I didn’t read those. I always thought “ I’d never read something like that.” But I got the first book (Red Rising) for $4.99 and just kept going.
I read that Brown is working towards making it into TV series.
Have you read past the initial trilogy?
I think most adults find joy in things other than children's books.
On Human Nature by E.O. Wilson is an all time great, but it's not a self help book, it's a serious academic study of the primal roots of human nature and our resulting behaviors.
Mars has enormous dust storms.
I'm not sure what DeGrasse Tyson was suggesting, but some Martian dust storms circle the planet and last for weeks.
I'm not sure where this is coming from, but Mars has such huge dust storms they can be seen from Earth with telescopes.
Most adults stay silent when comfronted with things about which they know nothing....there are exceptions to all things it seems.
E.O. Wilson is a profound thinker. Consilience is the work I found to be the most impactful for me. Unfortunately as a Bama alumni, his credibility is immediately suspect.
Also, Prachett is excellent fantasy satire...while he writes some children's books (which my son loves) you are missing out if you write him off without giving it a chance.
I'm actually about to start the 4th one, Iron Gold. It had been a few years since I read the 1st three and I didn't realize he was going to keep on past the trilogy until I stumbled on it.
Just re-read Martin Amis' "Money" (Good), Reading "Damned to Fame" (Knowles' bio of Samuel Beckett) and Oh the Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss. For French practice, "L'étranger" by Camus. Really easy read either in French or in English. In the former the entire thing is either in present or passé composé. On the lighter side, I hate the trendy resurgence of Lovecraft, but I'm reading a buncha different stories by kids who try their best to recreate his cosmic horror and fail. I'd rather read Leonard or Philip K. Dick for pop fiction. The former because he's a great story-teller, the latter because he da man.
Follow-up: At 19:35 of the below link, Neil Tyson explains that the wind PRESSURE would be far too low to 'blow over' the space craft. The gist is the same as is my follow-on comment regarding winds-rain-life +/-
https://soundcloud.com/startalk/surviving-on-mars-with-andy-weir
Sounds like something I could get into as well though. I love anything psychological but also I've always been a believer that we're far more beastly or animalistic in nature than I think a lot of people are willing to admit, even in a modern day "civilized" society.
Also just started reading this book called "Sum: 40 Tales from the Afterlives" by David Eagleman. This one is actually extremely captivating throughout and delves into the afterlife obviously, but in 40 different possible hypothetical depictions where each one is described in a way that comes off as completely factual. It's been kinda mind-blowing at some points honestly.