Life Lessons from The Martian (it's not all about physics)

Everyone's talking about The Martian, a nerdy novel (and soon-to-be film) about a stranded astronaut's self-reliance on Mars. The story is a whirlwind of adventure and its science is spot on. Unlike your typical superhero, the hero of this novel is equipped with scientific and practical know-how that allows him to (just) scrape through many disasters in the unforgiving Martian environment.More than any other story I've read, this book emphasizes the need for a broad scientific literacy that lies...