Hmm I really did like this one, although I will admit that there are some overlaps with Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers around utilizing cadavers to experiment with some of the rocket capabilities.
One of the most interesting things I learnt in high school physics was the utter logistical impossibility of leaving planet Earth. We’ve got no other options, people, there is no Wall-E way to get us off this planet with enough supplies to keep us going. The fuel costs are exorbitant as is, and for each thing that we need to take (seeds, water, machines to synthesize these things) it just gets heavier, which needs more fuel, which is in and of itself heavy and it’s a Catch-22.
Climate change is real, people, and it’s ruining the only home we have. MOVING ON.
Roach does a great job of laying out the endless series of ways in which space can kill you without making it seem entirely boring and hopeless. If anything, reading this book and going through the history of space travel gives you a sense of what all humanity has overcome to get as far as we’ve gotten (which is…not that far! The moon is pretty much in our backyard!). We need oxygen, and food and water, and then both of those things need to exit our bodies but our bladder literally needs gravity to operate.
I guess that’s another point that I didn’t notice but which makes me chuckle. This book is a decent sneaky introduction to the vagaries of evolution. Why exactly does gravity need to be involved in bladder function? Who knows! It worked and so that’s how it works!