Astronaut culture has come a long way since the brash, swaggering days of “the right stuff.” The gentle, avuncular style of narrator Jonathan Todd Ross captures the more thoughtful and reflective character of this engaging memoir by one of Canada’s most accomplished astronauts. Dave Williams—who adds authenticity by narrating the audiobook’s introduction and epilogue—comes across as a remarkably laid-back guy, considering how intense a person needs to be to become an expert scuba diver and emergency physician, not to mention overcoming a cancer diagnosis between his two shuttle flights. This well-crafted audiobook is also just the right length. Rather than bogging down in extraneous detail, author and narrator offer the listener just enough wonder and adventure. D.B. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
An inspirational, uplifting, and life-affirming memoir about passion, resilience, and living life to the fullest from Dr. Dave Williams, one of Canada¿s most accomplished astronauts.
I had dreamt about becoming an astronaut from the time I watched Alan Shepard launch on the first American suborbital flight on May 5, 1961. Eleven days before my seventh birthday, I committed to a new goal: One day, I would fly in outer space.
Dr. Dave has led the sort of life of which most people only dream. He has set records for spacewalking. He has lived underseas for weeks at a time. He has saved lives as an emergency doctor, launched into the stratosphere twice, and performed surgery in zero gravity.
But if you ask him how he became so accomplished, he¿ll say, ¿I¿m just a curious kid from Saskatchewan.¿ Curious indeed.
Dr. Dave never lost his desire to explore nor his fascination with the world. Whether he was exploring the woods behind his childhood home or floating in space at the end of the Canadarm, Dave tried to see every moment of his life as filled with beauty and meaning. He learned to scuba dive at only 12 years old, became a doctor despite academic struggles as an undergraduate, and overcame stiff odds and fierce competition to join the ranks of the astronauts he had idolized as a child.
There were setbacks and challenges along the way amp;mdash; the loss of friends in the Columbia disaster, a cancer diagnosis that nearly prevented him from returning to space amp;mdash; but through it all, Dave never lost sight of his goal. And when he finally had the chance to fly among the stars, he came to realize that although the destination can be spectacular, it¿s the journey that truly matters.
In Defying Limits, Dave shares the events that have defined his life, showing us that whether we¿re gravity-defying astronauts or earthbound terrestrials, we can all live infinite, fulfilled lives by relishing the value and importance of each moment. The greatest fear we all face is not the fear of dying but the fear of never having lived. Each of us is greater than we believe. Together, we can exceed our limits to soar farther and higher than we ever imagined.
An inspirational, uplifting, and life-affirming memoir about passion, resilience, and living life to the fullest from Dr. Dave Williams, one of Canada¿s most accomplished astronauts.
I had dreamt about becoming an astronaut from the time I watched Alan Shepard launch on the first American suborbital flight on May 5, 1961. Eleven days before my seventh birthday, I committed to a new goal: One day, I would fly in outer space.
Dr. Dave has led the sort of life of which most people only dream. He has set records for spacewalking. He has lived underseas for weeks at a time. He has saved lives as an emergency doctor, launched into the stratosphere twice, and performed surgery in zero gravity.
But if you ask him how he became so accomplished, he¿ll say, ¿I¿m just a curious kid from Saskatchewan.¿ Curious indeed.
Dr. Dave never lost his desire to explore nor his fascination with the world. Whether he was exploring the woods behind his childhood home or floating in space at the end of the Canadarm, Dave tried to see every moment of his life as filled with beauty and meaning. He learned to scuba dive at only 12 years old, became a doctor despite academic struggles as an undergraduate, and overcame stiff odds and fierce competition to join the ranks of the astronauts he had idolized as a child.
There were setbacks and challenges along the way amp;mdash; the loss of friends in the Columbia disaster, a cancer diagnosis that nearly prevented him from returning to space amp;mdash; but through it all, Dave never lost sight of his goal. And when he finally had the chance to fly among the stars, he came to realize that although the destination can be spectacular, it¿s the journey that truly matters.
In Defying Limits, Dave shares the events that have defined his life, showing us that whether we¿re gravity-defying astronauts or earthbound terrestrials, we can all live infinite, fulfilled lives by relishing the value and importance of each moment. The greatest fear we all face is not the fear of dying but the fear of never having lived. Each of us is greater than we believe. Together, we can exceed our limits to soar farther and higher than we ever imagined.
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Defying Limits: Lessons from the Edge of the Universe
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Defying Limits: Lessons from the Edge of the Universe
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Product Details
BN ID: | 2940171091880 |
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Publisher: | Simon & Schuster |
Publication date: | 10/30/2018 |
Edition description: | Unabridged |
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