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Martian summer: robot arms, cowboy spacemen, and my 90 days with the Phoenix Mars Mission
By Andrew Kessler. 2011
Author recounts spending the summer of 2008 in mission control of the Phoenix Mars expedition with one hundred thirty scientists…
and engineers. Describes the team's discovery of ice on Mars, discusses the possibility of life on the planet, and addresses conspiracy stories about the mission's findings. 2011
Sex on the moon: the amazing story behind the most audacious heist in history
By Ben Mezrich. 2011
Detailed account of college intern Thad Roberts's theft of moon rocks from NASA in 2002 and the FBI sting that…
snared him. Describes Roberts's sheltered upbringing, his estrangement from his parents, and his romance with a coworker that motivated the heist. Some strong language. 2011
Until Tuesday: a wounded warrior and the golden retriever who saved him
By Bret Witter, Luis Carlos Montalván, Luis Carlos Montalvan. 2011
Former army captain recalls returning stateside with numerous physical injuries--including traumatic brain injury--and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after two tours…
in Iraq. Describes acquiring a service dog named Tuesday and ways the canine helped him recover. 2011
Gabby: a story of courage and hope
By Jeffrey Zaslow, Gabrielle D. Giffords, Mark E. Kelly. 2011
Arizona congresswoman Giffords and her husband, astronaut Kelly, describe their lives before and after the near-fatal shooting of Giffords in…
January 2011. They discuss their anguish over the other victims, Kelly's support during Giffords's recovery, and Giffords's determination to return to work. Some violence and some strong language. Bestseller. 2011
Chuck Close: life
By Christopher Finch. 2010
Biography of American artist Chuck Close (born 1940), famous for his larger-than-life photo-imitative portraits. Close discusses his learning disabilities, his…
marriage to his former student Leslie Rose, the bohemian 1960s New York, the challenges of balancing career and family, his paralysis at age forty-eight, and his return to painting. 2010
The boy in the moon: a father's journey to understand his extraordinary son
By Ian Brown, St. Martin`s Press. 2011
Award-winning journalist candidly recounts his relationship with his son Walker, who was born with cardiofaciocutaneous syndrome (CFC), a rare genetic…
mutation. Discusses raising Walker at home and the heart-rending decision to place teenaged Walker in a care facility. Reflects on the value of human life. Some strong language. 2009
Theoretical physicist and author of From Eternity to Here (DB 71474) explains the research involved in and the potential impact…
of the 2012 discovery of the Higgs boson, also known as the God particle, that gives particles their mass. Details the role of engineers, theorists, and experimentalists. 2012
Breaking barriers: working and loving while blind : a memoir
By Peter Altschul. 2012
Autobiography of blind musician, composer, and social worker Altschul. Describes his youth in New York state, education at Princeton University…
and the New England Conservatory, and career and marriage. Also discusses his experience obtaining dogs through the Guiding Eyes for the Blind. 2012
A grand complication: the race to build the world's most legendary watch
By Stacy Perman. 2013
Journalist explores the rivalry between financier Henry Graves Jr. and automobile magnate James Ward Packard to build and own the…
most remarkable watch in history. Graves and Packard spurred Swiss watchmaker Patek Phillipe to manufacture the Graves Supercomplication--the most complex mechanical watch ever created. Details early-twentieth-century watchmaking techniques. 2013
Shouting won't help: why I--and 50 million other Americans--can't hear you
By Katherine Bouton. 2013
Former New York Times editor chronicles her own hearing loss and relates the experiences of others with the condition. Investigates…
the causes, effects, and management--with hearing aids and cochlear implants--of this disability. Also discusses tinnitus, vertigo, and research into biological cures. Offers communication tips. 2013
House of prayer no. 2: a writer's journey home
By Mark Richard. 2011
Award-winning author pens his memoir using second- and third-person narratives. Describes a "special child" with a disability growing up in…
the 1960s South, wearing a full-body cast, experiencing a rebellious and dissolute period, becoming a published writer, and finding faith. Some strong language. 2011
Until I say good-bye: my year of living with joy
By Bret Witter, Susan Spencer-Wendel. 2013
After accepting her diagnosis of Lou Gehrig's disease in 2011, forty-five-year-old Palm Beach Post journalist quit her job and took…
seven journeys with friends and family to celebrate her life and create memories. She also met her birth mother, adopted a dog, and got permanent makeup. Some strong language. 2013
Beyond the bear: how I learned to live and love again after being blinded by a bear
By Dan Bigley, Debra McKinney. 2013
Author recounts being blinded during a near-fatal grizzly bear attack in Alaska in 2003 at age twenty-five. Details his recovery…
and his attendance at a center for the visually impaired. Discusses earning a master degree, changing careers, and reuniting with--and marrying--his girlfriend. Some strong language. 2013
The man with the bionic brain: and other victories over paralysis
By Jon Mukand. 2012
Rehabilitation physician discusses BrainGate, the microelectrode system that operates by recognizing thought patterns that can manipulate a computer screen. Recounts…
implanting the device in the brain of Matthew Nagle, a twenty-one-year-old who suffered a stab wound in his neck that severed his spinal cord and made him a quadriplegic. 2012
A universe from nothing: why there is something rather than nothing
By Lawrence M. Krauss, Lawrence Maxwell Krauss. 2012
Arizona State University cosmologist challenges belief in a divine creator and describes modern research in quantum mechanics that suggests the…
universe originated out of nothing--and could eventually return to that. Includes afterword by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, author of The Greatest Show on Earth (DB 70102). 2012
Miracle boy grows up: how the disability rights revolution saved my sanity
By Ben Mattlin. 2012
Writer and National Public Radio commentator's memoir of growing up with spinal muscular atrophy, a hereditary neurological disorder that causes…
progressive muscle weakness. Discusses his college career at Harvard (1980-84), his marriage, and fatherhood. Covers the disability rights movement and its effects on his life. Some strong language. 2012
Paradox: the nine greatest enigmas in physics
By Jim Al-Khalili. 2012
Physicist and author of The House of Wisdom (DB 75023) discusses nine theories and ideas that seem to defy common…
sense, including the Paradox of the Twins and Achilles and the Tortoise. Explains the science and math required to understand these brainteasers. 2012
Unforeseen: the first blind Rhodes scholar : a memoir
By James J. Barnes. 2017
A historian's memoir of becoming the first blind Rhodes Scholar in the mid-1950s. Describes the deterioration of the author's eyesight…
during his first year at Oxford and his determination to press on. Relates his subsequent personal and educational achievments, including a PhD from Harvard and a distinguished forty-four-year teaching career. 2017
My heart is not blind: on blindness and perception
By Michael Nye. 2019
Profiles of forty-five people who are blind or have low vision, including Larry Johnson, a longtime DJ in Mexico, and…
Michael Hingson, a 9/11 survivor who wrote about his lifesaving guide dog in Thunder Dog (DB 73300). Natalie Watkins, who has retinitis pigmentosa, is profiled twice, six years apart. 2019
On my own two feet: from losing my legs to learning the dance of life
By Michelle Burford, Amy Purdy. 2014
A contestant on the television program Dancing with the Stars talks about her experience of losing her legs after contracting…
bacterial meningitis. She nearly died, and the experience left her with a new sense of spirituality and determination. 2014