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Andy Weir Biography, Books, and Similar Authors

Author Biography  | Interview  | Books by this Author  | Read-Alikes

Andy Weir
Photo: Andy Weir

Andy Weir

How to pronounce Andy Weir: Weir rhymes with "ear."

Andy Weir Biography

Andy Weir built a two-decade career as a software engineer until the success of his first published novel, The Martian, allowed him to live out his dream of writing full-time. He is a lifelong space nerd and a devoted hobbyist of such subjects as relativistic physics, orbital mechanics, and the history of manned spaceflight. He also mixes a mean cocktail. He lives in California.

Andy Weir's website

This bio was last updated on 04/16/2021. In a perfect world, we would like to keep all of BookBrowse's biographies up to date, but with many thousands of lives to keep track of it's simply impossible to do. So, if the date of this bio is not recent, you may wish to do an internet search for a more current source, such as the author's website or social media presence. If you are the author or publisher and would like us to update this biography, send the complete text and we will replace the old with the new.

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Interview

A Conversation with SpaceGeek and Science Fanatic, Andy Weir, author of The Martian

So it seems you're a bit of a science geek.  You list space travel, orbital dynamics, relativistic physics, astronomy, and the history of manned spaceflight among your interests. How did you incorporate these passions into your debut novel The Martian?
Those interests allowed me to come up with the story in the first place. I love reading up on current space research. At some point I came up with the idea of an astronaut stranded on Mars. The more I worked on it, the more I realized I had accidentally spent my life researching for this story. Early on, I decided that I would be as scientifically accurate as possible. To a nerd like me, working out all the math and physics for Mark's problems and solutions was fun.

In one sentence, tell us what your novel is all about.
It's the story of an astronaut trying to survive after being accidentally left behind on Mars.

Explain how the science in The Martian is true to life.
The basic structure of the Mars program in the book is very similar to a plan called "Mars Direct" (though I made changes here and there). It's the most likely way that we will have our first Mars mission in real life. All the facts about Mars are accurate, as well as the physics of ...

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Books by this Author

Books by Andy Weir at BookBrowse
Project Hail Mary jacket The Martian jacket
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Read-Alikes

All the books below are recommended as read-alikes for Andy Weir but some maybe more relevant to you than others depending on which books by the author you have read and enjoyed. So look for the suggested read-alikes by title linked on the right.
How we choose read-alikes

  • Caroline Alexander

    Caroline Alexander

    Caroline Alexander was born in Florida to British parents and has lived in Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean. She studied philosophy and theology at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and has a doctorate in classics from Columbia ... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    The Martian

    Try:
    The Endurance
    by Caroline Alexander

  • Poul Anderson

    Poul Anderson

    Poul Anderson (1926-2001) was born in Pennsylvania of Scandanavian lineage. He received a degree in physics from the University of Minnesota in 1948, and his solid grasp of physics and science lent his books more credibility... (more)

    If you enjoyed:
    Project Hail Mary

    Try:
    Starfarers
    by Poul Anderson

We recommend 15 similar authors


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