Summary Of The Martian By Andy Weir

The idea of space exploration and/or colonizing in outer space is fascinating to many people. In fact, it has intrigued societies for decades. The book, “The Martian” by Andy Weir, is a fictional story that presents the possibility of manned space exploration to Mars. Although, no country has sent a manned spacecraft to Mars, Weir does an excellent job making this task seem like a reality. He seemed to portray space travel accurately. The story presents problems, mathematical, scientific, and sociological, in such a way that draws the reader into the dilemmas of the characters without the reader doubting the accuracy or probability of the situation (Weir 18-20). The manner in which the author does this indicates that he either has a scientific

The author shows that there are certain elements needed in order to support life. Although Earth has the ideal atmosphere and environment for life, it is possible to re-create these elements on other planets. Fortunately, the botanist was the one left behind on Mars in this story. This knowledge would become important in his struggle. Through the main character, Weir was able to make the point that life is possible on Mars, if there are the right environmental factors, such as oxygen, water, temperature, etc. Another point that Weir made is that sometimes science is trial and error. This is evident when reading all the different ideas Watney had to overcome his obstacles. For example, Watney had to figure out how to make H2O for the potatoes he was planting. This meant that he had to create O2 and separate the Nitrogen from the Hydogen. This did not end well on his first attempt (Weir 28-31). He had to try different things sometimes before something worked. Weir also shows events unfolding from NASA’s point of view, as their team works diligently to put a workable plan in place for Watney’s rescue. They, too, had many trial and error experiments while planning the rescue and food delivery to Watney during his wait (Weir 184-191). Although there were some frustrations that he had and days he wanted to give up, he always stepped away, then re-approached the problem at hand. He

One of the best indicators we have of this is our TV shows, movies, and books. Entertainment is one of the best reflections of what a society deems as important. When we look at our nation, we see TV shows such as The Twilight Zone, or books such as “The Martian”. This shows that our nation is interested in space travel and colonization for several different reasons. For one, decades ago, we were in a space race with other nations to prove we were the dominant nation. This sparked a great interest in outer space among the public. Another reason we may be fixated on space travel is that our nations itself was built by explorers. It is in our nature to explore and go where we have not been