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Book Salon
The Martian

  • This month we're reading The Martian by Andy Weir. Our faculty host is Roger Romani.

    Listen to an interview with our Book Salon host.

    "Described as 'MacGyver on Mars', the wise-cracking solo protagonist battles his way through a plausible series of life-threatening challenges. What a ride..."

    Roger Romani, professor of physics and a member of the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology

How to Participate

Read what Professor Roger Romani has to say about The Martian

Join the online book discussion and connect with Stanford alumni around the world!

To post to the discussion email themartian@lists.alumni.stanford.edu

About this quarter's book selection

The Martian follows botanist turned astronaut Mark Watney, one of the first people to walk on Mars. After a dust storm threatens his mission on Mars, his crew evacuates quickly, leaving Mark behind to fend for himself on the Red Planet.

Faced with the prospect of dying a quick death from lack of supplies and also having no way to contact his crew, Mark must think on his feet in order to survive. Readers are treated to Mark’s wildly creative solutions to seemingly unsolvable problems and are left to wonder if he will make it off of the planet alive.

Originally self-published by Andy Weir – a software engineer, science and “space nerd” – The Martian soared to the top of the science fiction charts on Amazon.com, leading to a major publishing deal. It has recently been made into a major motion picture. Learn why readers are wrapped up in this futuristic survival story.

 

 

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