suzemo

This is the third of Roach's books that I have read, and while I found it fascinating and interesting, I probably liked it the least of the three.

I love Roach's doggedness in chasing down every fact, rumor, or story that she's heard. She is unabashed and asks questions that most of us would be embarrassed to ask, to some amazing men and women astronauts, and it makes the book really interesting and fun.

She leads you into the minutiae of every detail and all of the difficulties of doing everything in space, and what NASA and other space agencies have had to do to research and hone each part, minute, and mission.

I think my favorite parts were about the animals used to research potential space phenomena, physiology, and other biological intricacies.

And I do love that Roach is a natural scientist. She questions everything. Everything. How do you live, sweat, eat, drink, sleep, have sex, poop, fart, not die on re-entry. Everything. Things that other people wouldn't think to question (oh? exercise is damage and damage causes bones to be stronger? why don't we punch the legs/hips of the elderly to build up bone so they don't break hips? why was this monkey a national hero, and this one forgotten about? etc.)

She chases down every rumor, every paper, every remotely questionable "fact" and it makes for an interesting book. The humor isn't quite up to what I expected (or enjoyed, especially in Stiff). I found this book enjoyable, just not quite as enjoyable as the rest of the ones I've read.