Photo de l'auteur
23+ oeuvres 28,825 utilisateurs 1,413 critiques 114 Favoris

A propos de l'auteur

Mary Roach was born and raised in Etna, New Hampshire. She has a BA degree in psychology from Wesleyan University. She spent a few years as a free-lance copy editor before she landed a job at the San Francisco Zoological Society turning out press releases. She then moved on to write humor pieces afficher plus for such periodicals as The New York Times Magazine, The San Francisco Chronicle and Sports Illustrated. Her article "How to Win at Germ Warfare" was a National Magazine Award Finalist, in 1995. In 1996, her article on earthquake-proof bamboo houses took the Engineering Journalism Award. She published several books such as Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (2003) and Packing for Mars (2010). Mary's title Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War, made the New York Times Bestseller list in 2016. (Bowker Author Biography) afficher moins

Comprend les noms: Roach Mary

Crédit image: At TED conference 2009-02-06. Photo by Bill Holsinger-Robinson.

Œuvres de Mary Roach

Oeuvres associées

Science Ink: Tattoos of the Science Obsessed (2011) — Avant-propos — 252 exemplaires
Japan: True Stories of Life on the Road (1998) — Contributeur — 124 exemplaires
Bad Girls: 26 Writers Misbehave (2007) — Contributeur — 64 exemplaires
Drivel: Deliciously Bad Writing by Your Favorite Authors (2014) — Contributeur — 28 exemplaires

Étiqueté

Partage des connaissances

Nom canonique
Roach, Mary
Date de naissance
1959-03-20
Sexe
female
Nationalité
USA
Lieu de naissance
Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
Lieux de résidence
Etna, New Hampshire, USA
San Francisco, California, USA
Alameda, California, USA
Oakland, California, USA
Études
Wesleyan University (BA ∙ psychology ∙ 1981)
Hanover High School
Professions
columnist
copywriter
non-fiction writer
Relations
Rachles, Ed (husband)
Organisations
Salon.com
Reader's Digest
Agent
Erin Lovett (publicist)
Jay Mandel (agent)
Courte biographie
Mary Roach grew up in a small house in Etna, New Hampshire. She graduated from Wesleyan in 1981, and then moved out to San Francisco s. She spent a few years working as a freelance copy editor before landing a half-time PR job at the SF Zoo. During that time she wrote freelance articles for the local newspaper's Sunday magazine.

Though she mostly focuses on writing books, she writes the occasional magazine piece. These have run in Outside, National Geographic, New Scientist, Wired, and The New York Times Magazine, as well as many others. A 1995 article of herse called "How to Win at Germ Warfare" was a National Magazine Award Finalist, and in 1996, her article on earthquake-proof bamboo houses took the Engineering Journalism Award in the general interest magazine category. Mary Roach also reviews books for The New York Times.

Her first book, Stiff, was an offshoot of a column she wrote for Salon.com. Her other books include Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex, and Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void.

http://www.bookbrowse.com/biographies...

Membres

Critiques

The Muslim view was not included with other religions in this book:
Abu Huraira* reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “A man suffered from thirst while he was walking on a journey. When he found a well, he climbed down into it and drank from it. Then he came out and saw a dog lolling its tongue from thirst and licking the ground. The man said: This dog has suffered thirst just as I have suffered from it. He climbed down into the well, filled his shoe with water, and caught it in his mouth as he climbed up. Then he gave the dog a drink. Allah appreciated his deed, so He forgave him.” They said, “O Messenger of Allah, is there a reward in charity even towards the animals for us?” The Prophet said, “Yes, in every creature with a moist liver is a reward for charity.”
Source: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 6009, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2244
* Abu Huraira was a reliable reporter from the companions of the prophet peace and blessings be upon him and them. Wikipedia says he was named Abu Huraira “in reference to his attachment to cats,” but the accurate story is that he raised a kitten by keeping it in his sleeve, and people started to call him thus. One of those things that has to happen to you before you understand….Abu Huraira was a source of broad Islamic science, but this would have been relevant given the book’s title. I have a sense that that kitten was the one who settled upon the reporter, not the other way around. In Islam buying and selling of pets is discouraged, putting a purely monetary value on Allah’s creation isn’t appropriate.

In Islam, if you can define “pests” as such you can exterminate them, albeit humanly and without using fire. Only Allah [The Most Glorified, the Most High] penalizes with fire. I know Muslims who will not use pest zappers because of this.

The book itself wanders at times. The ricin arguments weren’t applicable, for me, because the cases cited were of humans seeking a natural product, both separate and isolated from nature’s agency. It would have perhaps been more appropriate to say…. some plants that we as humans are often urged to eat may even contain cyanide (in the plant section), for example the seeds of some fruits. Or some other thing along the lines of the unexpected toxicity of some plants. There, it would have been nature exceeding the limits we would like it to stay within.

There is a liberal use of the theory of evolution. For one thing, the theory of evolution is just that, a theory. But more importantly, evolutionary ideas are operating on such a macro, massive level, that they are almost inhuman in span. We, humans, live for a century or so on average, why should we be repeatedly cognizant and meditative of what we ultimately will not control? “Theories” that rely largely on “belief” are ineffective “science” at best.

And yet…And yet, I might have overlooked all that, and chosen this book as ‘one of the best’ this year but for the obscenity, which for me always weighs, in measures and magnitudes, unfavorably. I nearly never can exempt it, when reading is bad for you.
… (plus d'informations)
 
Signalé
AAAO | 65 autres critiques | Dec 24, 2021 |
Un bon livre pour les gens morbides comme moi !
Un peu ostracisé apparemment - j'ai dû le faire sortir de la réserve centrale des bibliothèques de la ville de Paris pour pouvoir le consulter.
Très instructif, très drôle, bien écrit et bien traduit, plein d'anecdotes... savoureuses !
 
Signalé
nursus | 453 autres critiques | Jun 30, 2009 |

Listes

Prix et récompenses

Vous aimerez peut-être aussi

Auteurs associés

Malcolm Gladwell Contributor
Jill Sisson Quinn Contributor
Jon Mooallem Contributor
George Musser Contributor
Jonathan Franzen Contributor
Jaron Lanier Contributor
Abigail Tucker Contributor
Rowan Jacobsen Contributor
Amy Irvine Contributor
Tim Zimmermann Contributor
Jon Cohen Contributor
Andrew Grant Contributor
Luke Dittrich Contributor
David H. Freedman Contributor
Dan Koeppel Contributor
Burkhard Bilger Contributor
Evan I. Schwartz Contributor
Sandra Steingraber Contributor
Leonard Mlodinow Contributor
Atul Gawande Contributor
Ian Frazier Contributor
Stephen Hawking Contributor
Oliver Sacks Contributor
Sandra Burr Narrator
Jamie Keenan Cover designer
Julia Druskin Production manager
Scott Garrett Cover artist
Leo Nickolls Cover designer
Fred Wiemer Copyeditor
Chip Kidd Cover designer
Mary Babcock Copy editor
Gregg Kulick Cover designer
Abby Elvidge Narrator
Wakil Kohsar Cover artist
Angela Dawe Narrator

Statistiques

Œuvres
23
Aussi par
5
Membres
28,825
Popularité
#697
Évaluation
3.9
Critiques
1,413
ISBN
191
Langues
14
Favoris
114

Tableaux et graphiques