The Six: The Untold Story of America’s First Women Astronauts
The Six: The Untold Story of America’s First Women Astronauts, Loren Grush, Scribner, 2023, $32.50
In 1978 NASA accepted six women into its previously all-male astronaut corps: Sally Ride, Judy Resnik, Kathy Sullivan, Anna Fisher, Margaret “Rhea” Seddon, and Shannon Lucid. The Six tells the inspiring story of the women’s journeys up to entering the astronaut program, their experiences once they were admitted, and the pioneering missions that made them the first US women to fly into space. According to the author’s note, as part of her research, science reporter Loren Grush conducted more than 100 hours of interviews, consulted archival documents, and reviewed audio and video footage of old interviews and press conferences. The result is a vivid, blow-by-blow account of a groundbreaking period in history. —cc
The Science of Spin: How Rotational Forces Affect Everything from Your Body to Jet Engines to the Weather
The Science of Spin: How Rotational Forces Affect Everything from Your Body to Jet Engines to the Weather, Roland Ennos, Scribner, 2023, $28.00
In this popular-science book, biologist Roland Ennos sheds light on a fundamental physics principle that he claims has not received the attention it deserves. As Ennos points out, the science of spin “pervades” the world around us. Spin helped form the universe, made Earth habitable, allows humans to walk upright, and is integral to machinery and technology. Yet most people don’t really understand how it works. To explain the mechanics of rotation, Ennos eschews mathematical formulas and equations in favor of more intuitive physical explanations of the workings of the universe, human beings, and the machines we’ve created. The result is a highly approachable book for general readers and scientists alike. —cc
Starstruck: A Memoir of Astrophysics and Finding Light in the Dark
Starstruck: A Memoir of Astrophysics and Finding Light in the Dark, Sarafina El-Badry Nance, Dutton, 2023, $29.00
Long fascinated with the stars, astrophysicist Sarafina El-Badry Nance presents a memoir that blends tales of her educational experiences and family life with observations about the universe. Growing up in Texas in the 1990s and 2000s with an American father and Egyptian mother, Nance battled racism, sexism, her parents’ marital strife, and her own insecurities to pursue her dream of becoming an astronomer. But even after gaining entry to the graduate astronomy program at the University of California, Berkeley, she found that life had thrown her yet another curveball—she’d inherited her father’s cancer gene, which prompted her to undergo a double mastectomy. Despite the heavy subject matter, Starstruck is engaging and inspirational. —cc
