Project Hail Mary

by Andy Weir

It’s strangely reminiscent of Apollo spacecraft. The lunar lander was attached below the command module at launch, but they’d separate, turn the command module around, and reconnect with the lander during their trip to the moon. It’s one of those things that looks ridiculous but ends up being the most effective way to solve a problem.

Human beings have a remarkable ability to accept the abnormal and make it normal.

Sometimes, the stuff we all hate ends up being the only way to do things.

Then again, my students all have eyes and they were still amazed when I told them “x-rays,” “microwaves,” “Wi-Fi,” and “purple” were all just wavelengths of light.

“For fifty thousand years, right up to the industrial revolution, human civilization was about one thing and one thing only: food. Every culture that existed put most of their time, energy, manpower, and resources into food. Hunting it, gathering it, farming it, ranching it, storing it, distributing it…it was all about food.