Damn it, Jim, I'm a botanist, not a chemist! - The Martian, by Andy Weir

First: my mini-review on Goodreads.

"A genius NASA botanist and mechanical engineer finds his true calling as a potato farmer. It's better than it sounds. 

(there's also explosions, duct tape and resin MacGyver shenanigans, tons of near-death experiences, Martian sand storms, and nail-biting NASA decisions)". 5/5 stars

The intro claims that this book is Apollo 13 meets Castaway and I enjoyed both these movies. That being said, I am going to take a page out of Aristotle's book and say “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” In other words, I immensely loved this book even more than I loved both of those movies and they (the movie producers for this one) better not screw this up!

The basic gist is that Mark Watney, (NASA astronaut, botanist, and fix-it guy of his crew), is mistaken for dead and left behind... on Mars!  He uses his massive intellect and creativity to perform resourceful ghetto-hacks with the materials his crew left behind in the Hab.  I prefer to call these hacks MacGyverisms. From there, the book covers 3 main perspectives: Mark's journal, Houston, and  the Ares 3 Crew.

As an alum of a math and science academy and former chemist, I appreciate how Mark is detailed enough in his journal entries to describe exactly what he doing (i.e. 'create' water by liberating dihydrogen from the hydrazine and then reacting the dihydrogen yield with oxygen from the carbon dioxide converter via forced exothermic reaction - nice).  However, at other times,  he explains things in an easy-to-follow manner so readers don't space out on him (PUN INTENDED).  He thinks outside of the box, goes over multiple approaches, and weighs out all the options like a problem-solving champ.

Of course, one can have solid, theoretical yields in mind, but actual concrete results are sometimes left to chance.  Mark almost gets himself killed many, many times. The book is surprisingly light despite the dire situation because Mark is hilarious and maintains that his failures are "learning experiences". When he screwed up a chemical reaction once, his reaction was "Damn it, Jim, I'm a botantist, not a chemist!" (Star Trek, anybody?)

As a reader, you'll want to root for him so badly because he has the resources, but limited time before they run out.  He has the brilliance and expertise, but not the experience.  He has the determination, but not the optimal conditions or luck. In essence, you're reading an amazing story that balances just the right amount of humor and suspense without any heavy-handed jokes or trauma to detract from the bigger picture.

Check out other reviews @ the terrible desire, what red read, nylon admiral, and as the crowe flies and reads!