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The Calculating Stars (Lady Astronaut Universe, #1)
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2019 Reads > TCS: The science

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Jenny (Reading Envy) (readingenvy) | 2898 comments OKAY I need someone to explain the science to me. I'm still very near the beginning.

(view spoiler)


message 2: by Rick (last edited Feb 04, 2019 10:21AM) (new) - added it

Rick Keep going, the protagonist actually calculates this. Answer? (view spoiler)

Also, read the notes at the back once you're done - She's done a really awesome little essay on the science, where she took liberties and where some things that might have been close but not really worked got tipped to "yeah, that works" for the story. Mostly, MRK used plausible science here with only a relatively few liberties taken


Jenny (Reading Envy) (readingenvy) | 2898 comments Rick wrote: "Keep going, the protagonist actually calculates this. Answer? [spoilers removed]

Also, read the notes at the back once you're done - She's done a really awesome little essay on the science, where ..."


Thanks. I hope the audio has the backmatter.


terpkristin | 4407 comments It doesn’t. I didn’t know there was back matter until this thread.


Dara (cmdrdara) | 2702 comments That's a shame. I usually don't read the backmatter because I'm lazy but I did here and it was really insightful.


message 6: by Scott (last edited Feb 04, 2019 11:43AM) (new) - rated it 5 stars

Scott | 312 comments Not precisely "on point" with OP but if you want even more insight into how Mary Robinette approached the NASA jargon, procedures, etc., she spoke about it on several episodes of Writing Excuses (the podcast she does with Brandon Sanderson and several other authors) last year. There's even a half dozen or so episodes where they interview the NASA contacts she used to fact check her work.


Iain Bertram (iain_bertram) | 1740 comments 1/2 m v^2 will get you in the end.


message 8: by Rick (new) - added it

Rick Jenny, TK... I have the book in ebook form. I don't want to post the note here because it's her stuff, not mine to share publicly but PM me your emails and I can send you the text if you want.

It's interesting but not vital to understanding the novel. She also has an FAQ here that talks a little about this. http://maryrobinettekowal.com/faqs/la...


message 9: by John (Nevets) (new)

John (Nevets) Nevets (nevets) | 1903 comments We've had similar discussions before, and I know Audible is not the only way people listen to audio books, but you would think with there ties to Amazon and the kindle, it wouldn't be hard to include this back-matter as text in the reader some how. But I'm sure it has to do more with contracts and legal requirements then an actual technical problem. Oh well, we can always dream.


message 10: by Rob, Roberator (last edited Feb 04, 2019 04:04PM) (new) - rated it 4 stars

Rob (robzak) | 7204 comments Mod
I didn't know about the backmatter either. I've had a few audiobooks from audible with downloadable pdfs, but sadly not this one.

It'd be nice if they all did that. Probably not how the book rights work though.


Trike | 11197 comments John (Nevets) wrote: "We've had similar discussions before, and I know Audible is not the only way people listen to audio books, but you would think with there ties to Amazon and the kindle, it wouldn't be hard to inclu..."

One of the recent audiobooks I listened to had all sorts of extra stuff after the novel, at least 40 minutes’ worth, so they do include that stuff occasionally.


message 12: by Tassie Dave, S&L Historian (last edited Feb 04, 2019 11:04PM) (new) - rated it 5 stars

Tassie Dave | 4076 comments Mod
MRK does give the approximate details of meteor strike on her website.

I have made the conversions to both Metric and Imperial.

They are: (view spoiler)


Trike | 11197 comments A fun (?) source for similar explosions is Nukemap, which allows you to set different parameters for nuclear detonations.

https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/


Adrian | 43 comments Could somebody reach out to Mary Robinette Kowal or Audible about them adding the PDF to the book? I don't know if it works that way but I would love to see this appendix/back matter...


message 15: by Rick (new) - added it

Rick Folks... PM me and I can send you a PDF of the Historical Note. I won't put it in a place where it's just available but I don't feel bad about sending it to a few of you in the group.


message 16: by Veronica, Supreme Sword (new) - rated it 5 stars

Veronica Belmont (veronicabelmont) | 1831 comments Mod
Scott wrote: "Not precisely "on point" with OP but if you want even more insight into how Mary Robinette approached the NASA jargon, procedures, etc., she spoke about it on several episodes of Writing Excuses (t..."

She'll also be doing it on Sword and Laser, so they tuned!


Jenny (Reading Envy) (readingenvy) | 2898 comments Veronica wrote: "Scott wrote: "Not precisely "on point" with OP but if you want even more insight into how Mary Robinette approached the NASA jargon, procedures, etc., she spoke about it on several episodes of Writ..."
Awesome!


Trike | 11197 comments Veronica wrote: "She'll also be doing it on Sword and Laser, so they tuned! "

Tell her Wabash says hi.😊


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