From one of the worldâs leading planetary scientists, a luminous memoir of exploration on Earth, in space, and within oneselfâequal parts ode to the beauty of science, meditation on loss, and roadmap for personal resilience
""Fierce, absorbing, and ultimately inspiring."" âELIZABETH KOLBERT
""[A] riveting book, beautifully written."" âWashington Post
Named a Best Book of the Year by Christian Science Monitor and Science News
Deep in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, three times farther from the sun than the Earth is, orbits a massive asteroid called (16) Psyche. It is one of the largest objects in the belt, potentially containing the equivalent of the worldâs total economy in metals, though they cannot be brought back to Earth. But (16) Psyche has the potential to unlock something even more valuable: the story of how planets form, and how our planet formed. Soon we will find out, thanks to the extraordinary work of Lindy Elkins-Tanton, the Principal Investigator of NASAâs $800 million Psyche mission, and the second woman ever to be awarded a major NASA space exploration contract.
The journey that brought her to this place is extraordinary. Amid a childhood of terrible trauma, Elkins-Tanton fell in love with science as a means of healing and consolation. But still she wondered, was forced to wonder: as a woman, was science âfor herâ? In answering that question, she takes us from the wilds of the Siberian tundra to the furthest reaches of outer space, from the Mayo Clinic, where Elkins-Tanton battled ovarian cancer while writing the Psyche proposal, to NASAâs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where her team brought that proposal to life.
A Portrait of the Scientist as a Young Woman is a beautifully-constructed memoir that explores how a philosophy of life can be built from the tools of scientific inquiry. It teaches us how to approach difficult problems by asking the right questions and truly listening to the answersâand how we may find meaning through exploring the wonders of the universe around us.