Book Review: 'The Martian' by Andy Weir

So I'm completely too late for the 'The Martian' bandwagon. It seems everyone has already read it with a smattering of really likes to the 'meh' verdicts. 

What decided it for me was that one 'meh' from one of my friends on Goodreads said "Too much chemistry".

What?!

Being the huge chemistry nerd that I am it was a calling sign that I was probably going to enjoy it.

And boy was it fun.

The Martian tells the story of Mark Watney, abandoned for dead by his martian crew mates after an emergency when all his life signs showed he was dead. While they rushed back to Earth, Mark wakes up in his very damaged suit to find himself alone on Mars with no hope of survival and no way to communicate with Earth. 

And so The Martian is a suspenseful tale of survival. Watney is a trained botanist and mechanical engineer and he certainly uses his skills to the most. While the character is sarcastic, snarky and a bit immature, on the other hand he is humorous and entertaining. I often thought "Is this what a NASA astronaut would say? Is this how they would act?" And the answer is probably no. NASA astronauts tend to be calm yet charming people. If this is true through selection processes or as a result of running through simulations of terror for years and years we can only guess. But Mark Watney is far removed from Chris Hadfield. And while I may have found the story of an astronaut like Chris Hadfield fascinating, it may not have been a commercial SF success. Mark Watney is the perfect fusion of entertaining protagonist with smart and resourceful astronaut. 

And while the story is full of suspense, it is by no means unpredictable. A quote on the cover does liken it to the recent film 'Gravity' which is a fair call. 'Gravity' was a fun, suspenseful and predictable romp just like this novel. But I'd argue that this book is much more scientifically accurate and has much more heart. 


So despite these concerns, 'The Martian' kept me turning those pages in complete fascination. I was perched on the edge of my chair. I was cheering at Mark's victories, and concerned at with the disasters. And the science was wonderful. Top marks to Andy Weir especially if he isn't a qualified engineer or scientist. It passed my chemistry scrutiny with flying colours.

So I'd recommend this SF to lovers of science and SF. Some may say there is too much science, but others like me will bask in it.

The Martian Southern Polar Cap

From Bad Astronomy Blog

This is a composite image of the south polar cap of Mars by Riding with Robots creator Bill Dunford using images taken by the European Space Agency's Mars Express Orbiter. Most of the white mass is frozen water permafrost covered in a few metres of frozen carbon dioxide, which melts and refreezes during the long martian seasons. The melting of this few metres of carbon dioxide during the summer is enough to noticeably thicken the atmosphere of that hemisphere.

Life From Mars?

No, this is a scientific entry. I'll save my love for Bowie for another time.

Two  prominent scientists has come out and stated that life would have more likely developed with the conditions on Mars four billion years ago, rather than Earth. They both forward that old conjecture, that life started on Mars and was seeded to Earth (panspermia is the term, work that very carefully into workplace conversations).

One chemist postulates that for RNA to develop a certain environmental concentrations of elements such as molybdenum, boron and oxygen needed to be at a certain level which was happening on Mars at that time, but not on Earth. RNA plays a role in coding, regulation and expression of genes and is believed to predate DNA in development. It is believed that very early life was governed by RNA reactions.

While the scientist puts forward a good argument that conditions were ripe on Mars at that time for life to spring forth, I think it is a large jump to assume that life could not also independently arise on Earth. The panspermia argument seems a stretch since that means this RNA would need to survive an impact of an asteroid on the surface of Mars, transportation through the vacuum of space (huge amounts of radiation), entry into Earth's atmosphere and finally impact on the surface of Earth. Not the most likely of events.

Another scientist has stated that the large concentration of phosphates on Mars would have promoted life to flourish there. This is another great argument for life arising independently on Mars, but not panspermia.

Phosphates are chemical compounds that contain phosphorus and oxygen. They are very common in all life, with the framework of your DNA being made of phosphate chains, as well as phosphates being used to deliver energy into your cells. You can see the power of phosphates upon life when you see the runoff of agricultural phosphate fertilisers hit large water bodies. You get algal blooms. The bacteria and algae go batshit crazy for the stuff.

So even if it is a stretch to reason that Earth life was seeded from elsewhere, all this evidence for great conditions for life on Mars means that our searches may not be in vein and that some form of life probably did flourish on Mars at one time.