Managing Martians

by Donna Shirley

Book Overview

Donna Shirley's 35-year career as an aerospace engineer reached a jubilant pinnacle in July 1997 when Sojourner--the solar-powered, self-guided, microwave-oven-sized rover--was seen exploring the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0767902408
• ISBN13: 9780767902403
• Release Date: June 1998
• Publisher: Broadway Books
• Length: 276 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Excellent example of life in space exploration

This book vividly tells the story of the intense and exhiliarating adventure scientists and engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) experience at the cutting edge of the technological exploration of our solar system. In addition, it is a gripping and optomistic tale of the journey of one woman's success in a usually all male fraternity. It frankly portrays the difficulties and triumphs along the way. Ms. Shirley has broken ground for many young women in the future for careers in the area of science and engineering. In addition, it is a fun read for anyone interested in technology, management and the progress of women in our society. It also is a very accurate portrayal of life at JPL.

A Delightful Book That Shows How to Do the Impossible

If you've ever wondered what engineering is all about or are trying to decide whether or not to enter the field, this book is for you It's an adventure story, that starts with a youngster's dream to go to the planets. Many of us, especially boys growing up in the early sixties, will nod in recognition with Donna Shirley pouring over Arthur C. Clarke's "The Sands of Mars" and then looking up wistfully at the red planet amidst the constellations. So, too, the dream of flying an airplane and even sneaking out to take a friend up when their parents weren't looking. It's the dreams of youth, which made made many of us strap slide rules on our belts and sweat over endless labs and analysis courses in college. From there, you must face the long road from rote beginner tasks, to being able to design a product, run the necessary tests, and declare that what you have conceived will fly, long before it is built. The toughest step, perhaps, is getting others to finance your dreams.This is what Donna Shirley has accomplished. She had developed the skill and competence to conceive of ways to push back the final frontier, successfully do combat to get the funding, and then round up and lead teams of opinionated geniuses to make the seemingly impossible appear before our very eyes. It is more than a story of space travel, it's a personal and career story that shows what one insistent person can do despite almost continuous obstacles. Donna's story is an inspiration for anyone who dares to up the ante or change the status quo. It should be required reading for engineers, managers and, really, anyone in business.

Managing Martians should be on every woman's reading list.

In Managing Martians, Donna Shirley shows the interaction that takes place in the solution of complex engineering problems with mostly male colleagues. We learn that it is the interaction among team members to find solutions that makes for success. We also find that real women can do engineering and managment of complex projects, even if they were Miss Wynnewood. This has been an eye opener for my college students that one of their fellow Oklahomans from right down the road is working on the frontiers of space exploration.I love this book because I have used it for a model of working together for my students. It should be on every woman's or manager's reading list. Dr. Nedra C. Sears East Central University Ada, Oklahoma

A unique insider's view of NASA's interplanetary missions

A century from now, when this year's Oscar-winning films, hit sitcoms, and top ten CDs are gathering dust in some media archive, and the feats of contemporary sports figures are known only to the most compulsive of trivia buffs, school children will be studying the pioneering missions of space exploration such as Mars Pathfinder-Sojourner. "Managing Martians" by Donna Shirley gives the reader a rare insight into the occupational culture that made these epic adventures possible.Readers who are familiar with the "Mars and Venus" series of books on the psychological differences between men and women will no doubt catch the double meaning of the book's title. Much of Ms. Shirley's autobiographical narrative describes her struggle to reach her career goals in a historically male-dominated profession during the Sixties. It is a world in which pioneering women swim against the stream in a culture in which young women were (and to some extent, still are) taught that studying subjects such as science, math, and technical drawing was "unladylike", and the few women who did continue their education beyond high school were pressured to graduate with an "Mrs." degree and settle into the cozy, familiar role of middle class housewife-mother. Her interests in science fiction, flying, and a life of adventure set her apart from her peers, and she manages to avoid the cultural traps set for her and perseveres in her aim of becoming an aerospace engineer.In the last part of the book, Shirley relates the challenges and frustrations of managing a space project against a background of tightfisted budgets. The NASA of the 1990's is no longer awash in cash, and a spirit of "make-do-or-do-without" pervades the organization. Competing groups fight over the dwindling pool of money, and rivalries can be fierce. Her team struggles not only with the technical problems of building their robot rover, but also the perception that it is an unnecessary frill that only adds weight and cost to a mission that is already stretched thin. Shirley herself is forced to defend her project in bitter confrontations that sometimes degenerate into shouting matches. Her account of the attempts to derail her rover are not only entertaining, but also uncover internal politics to which the lay person or the taxpayer seldom exposed. In the end, as we all know, the rover Sojourner is recognized as a technical triumph and captures the rapt attention of the world for weeks.In conclusion, you don't have to be a techie or a woman to enjoy Shirley's narrative of growing up in pre-"Flower Power" America and becoming an aerospace engineer in the Golden Age of space exploration. Her book successfully conveys not only the incredible tension and exhilaration of participating in a planetary mission, but also the trials and frustration of achieving recognition in a traditionally male-dominated field.

A great book for background on the Pathfinder mission.

This book gives the reader great background on the mission and the inner workings at JPL. It does not go into great detail about the actual time spent on Mars. The author's tale of being one of the few professional women at JPL is also inspiring.