An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth
Colonel Chris Hadfield has spent decades training as an astronaut and has logged nearly 4,000 hours in space. During this time he has broken into a Space Station with a Swiss army knife, disposed of a live snake while piloting a plane, and been temporarily blinded while clinging to the exterior of an orbiting spacecraft. The secret to Col. Hadfield's success - and survival - is an unconventional philosophy he learned at NASA: prepare for the worst - and enjoy every moment of it. In An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, Col. Hadfield takes readers deep into his years of training and space exploration to show how to make the impossible possible. Through eye-opening, entertaining stories filled with the adrenaline of launch, the mesmerizing wonder of spacewalks and the measured, calm responses mandated by crises, he explains how conventional wisdom can get in the way of achievement - and happiness. His own extraordinary education in space has taught him some counterintuitive lessons: don't visualize success, do care what others think, and always sweat the small stuff. You might never be able to build a robot, pilot a spacecraft, make a music video or perform basic surgery in zero gravity like Col. Hadfield. But his vivid and refreshing insights will teach you how to think like an astronaut, and will change, completely, the way you view life on Earth - especially your own.
Stats for nerds
15recommend
23mentions
22people
2013–2024years
70% recommend30% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- It's one he wrote, titled "An astronaut's guide to life on Earth"
He's also written a children's book, which is great.
- Liked it too! I recommend An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield if you haven't read it already.
- My kids, who are in that age range, like to listen to audio books. “Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!” was a hit with them. They also liked Chris Hadfield’s book, “An astronaut's guide to life on Earth“.
But in general I listen to what their interests are and where their natural curiosities take them and supplement that.
- Better to communicate with co-workers as equals/peers. Bragging is not necessary if people are aware of what everyone is working on and for what reasons, because the group's overall goal is what ultimately matters, not the status of each member.
There is a very good book on leadership and how to be a team member by the astronaut Chris Hadfield ("An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth"): https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316253030. It's a worthwhile read because if everyone tried to be as professional as an astronaut then most workplaces would be fantastic places to work. That book has generally good advice that is applicable in every workplace where teamwork is required to accomplish a bigger goal (which I figure is almost every workplace these days).
- "No Shortcuts to the Top: Climbing the World's 14 Highest Peaks" by Ed Viesturs and David Roberts tells the whole career of Viesturs and a great account of his way of handling safety on the mountain. My whole family loved it, great book. Full of lessons that can be applied to life in general.
"An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth" by Chris Hadfield is a similar book in terms of applicable lessons to life, work ethic, relationships with peers and overall being a good human being. The part about the concept of aiming to be a zero is a marvelous read, for example.
I'd love to hear suggestions for similar books.
- Non-Fiction:
- Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman | book on human rationality and irrationality
- An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield
Fiction:
- Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality | Petunia married a professor, and Harry grew up reading science and science fiction. http://www.hpmor.com/
- Off to Be the Wizard (Magic 2.0 Book 1) by Scott Meyer | Reality is defined in a text file, making the protagonist a wizard when he discovers it while hacking a company.
- The Magicians (series) by Lev Grossman
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