Packing for Mars by Mary Roach
I love Mary Roach. She writes science books for those of us who just want to know the important stuff, you know, like whether or not it is possible to propel yourself across a space station using your own farts. (spoiler, results inconclusive) In this book we get to learn all of the fun facts about space explorations with none of the math (or smells). She covers everything from early spaceflight with test animals all the way up to the preparations for a mars expedition scheduled for around 2030. We get to learn about the numerous challenges brought about by a lack of gravity, and She even goes into the challenges of "doing it" in outer space. And while there are no confirmed reports, her investigation into how people might deal with no-gravity hanky panky does give us insight into dolphin mating practices, and why you probably won't ever get to swim with a male dolphin....
Mary Roach always finds a way to make the science fun by covering the gross, sticky, and unpleasant sides that we never get to hear about from important medical journals (you know, if we actually read them). Science is about exploring, and strange things happen in the name of discovery that many research labs aren't usually excited to tell people about. You will never hear a PR rep for space research proudly declare "Hey guys! So we did a test to see how long people can go without bathing, because water is nonexistent in space and we needed to see if the astronauts could survive in close quarters for weeks at a time with no personal hygiene and guess what? Their underwear totally rotted away! Isn't that neat!" It's the kind of this you would need to study, but not the kind of thing taxpayers will be happy to fund. I highly recommend this book, if only to read the part about the toilet camera that astronauts have to use in order to "line up their shot."
8/10
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