Having missed to see well acclaimed film “The Martian” I read the book written by Andy Weir. When I first heard of the book I automatically uttered the words “21st century Robinson Crusoe” and surprisingly few famous reviewers have used this expression. The writer though not science academia has researched the processes of botany, physics, chemistry, biology, astoundingly and the technical details covered to describe the mission to Mars is so real that one forgets it is a fiction.
Mark Watney an astronaut gets stranded on planet Marsh, this is a story of his resilience to survive in the most hostile and adverse, unknown environment. His style of writing is witty, geeky, full of explanation of his actions and is a most gripping thriller, keeping the suspense to the end. It reminds us of Neil Armstrong’ words when he stepped on the moon “This is small step for man but a giant step for Mankind.
The exploration and migration of human race to unknown land even on earth has been immensely challenging, we as immigrants know. Space missions require expertise of exceptional high caliber intellectuals and is highly costly. However, success in the field has brought immense benefits like in communication and particularly weather forecast which saves hundreds of thousands of lives.
Ila Kapadia
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