{"id":4345,"date":"2017-10-16T05:00:29","date_gmt":"2017-10-16T12:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=4345"},"modified":"2017-10-15T14:05:34","modified_gmt":"2017-10-15T21:05:34","slug":"mark-reads-the-science-of-discworld-chapters-20-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2017\/10\/mark-reads-the-science-of-discworld-chapters-20-21\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘The Science of Discworld’: Chapters 20 – 21"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the twentieth and twenty-first chapters of The Science of Discworld<\/i>, I REALLY LOVE THE MOON. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Discworld<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you were following along during my read of Young Wizards<\/i>, which is currently alternating with Discworld<\/i>, you know that I possess many, many feelings about the moon. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard not<\/i> to have some sort of thoughts on it because IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S RIGHT THERE, IT IS HARD TO IGNORE. I thought it was cool as a kid, and then, for some reason, Apollo 13<\/i> made it terrifying? I think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got less to do with the moon and more to do with the fact that I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t actually know if Apollo 13<\/i> made it back to Earth. That movie wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a docudrama; it was a mortifying thriller. (For some context, the Challenger<\/i> explosion happened on live television when I was a kid, and it kind of put the idea of space exploration death into the minds of a lot of us.) But I got over that fear quickly, and my continued love of space and all that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s out there grew and grew.<\/p>\n

Do I want to go to the moon? FUCK YES. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know if it will become a reality within our lifetime, and the way our world is going, that seems less and less possible. I briefly entertained being an astronaut when I was in junior high, but once I did the tiniest research on what the tests were like, I knew I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d never make it. (I have really bad motion sickness. Those physical exams would have MURDERED me.) So unless it becomes a viable commercial alternative that plebeians like me can participate it, I will just stare at the moon and observe it from afar, dreaming of the day when I can travel there and observe Earth<\/i> from afar.<\/p>\n

I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really have any personal stories about the moon that I can relate to all of you, but OH MY GOD, I learned so, so much from this chapter. I, too, remember being taught that the moon\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gravity was what was responsible for the tides, so it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wonderful to find out that this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the case at all. One thing I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m digging about this book is how the authors try<\/i> to explain things in the most accessible terms. But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not done in a way that results in lies-to-children. Sometimes, reality is complicated, and this chapter literally prepares us for a complicated understanding of the tides. But that complexity allowed me a better knowledge of what is actually<\/i> happening, and LEARNING IS REALLY GREAT. I also thought the Moon formed simultaneously with the Earth, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not sure where<\/i> I learned that. Regardless: has there been an update in our knowledge of what might have happened all those billions of years ago? ALSO: WHEN DO I GET TO THE DINOSAUR CHAPTER??? Oh shit, are there going to be dinosaurs in the Project??? I won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be able to handle that.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/youtu.be\/nUEEia8QjtU?a<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– My YA contemporary debut, ANGER IS A GIFT<\/a>, is now available for pre-order!\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"