All of my books tend to be about things going on in labs that you wouldn't really expect. — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
I talk to a lot of people who, when you try to sum them up in a couple of sentences, seem like… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
I have a nice little office, with a nice little window in it, but I do basically spend huge amounts of time… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
If you get a colonoscopy, you should really insist they give you no drugs - then you do get to see what… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
I didn't really realize that writing... would be fun and people would pay you to do it. Being an astronaut is a… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
Fletcherizing is gross. I tried it once. I tried to go until it's all liquid, and it just creeps you out to… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
Science is you! It's your head, it's your dog, it's your iPhone - it's the world. How do you see that as… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
When someone tells me, 'Oh, we have so many problems on Earth; space exploration costs too much money,' I say, 'I absolutely… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
Saliva has antibacterial properties. It also has things called nerve growth factor, skin growth factor, histatins which help with wound closure. So… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
Chew on this: Human teeth can detect a grain of sand or grit 10 microns in diameter. A micron is 1/25,000 of… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
Meteorite hunting is not for wimps. The best places to look are also the coldest and windiest. You need very old ice,… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
Mushy food is a form of sensory deprivation. In the same way that a dark, silent room will eventually drive you to… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
People are surprisingly off put just by saliva, the substance that you carry around in your mouth. You swallow it. You have… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
Dead people never seem to address the obvious - the things you'd think they'd be bursting to talk about, and the things… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
Any time you can take a book a little beyond the realm of pure entertainment, I think it's a good thing. But… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
It seems odd to think of tasting without any perceptive experience, but you are doing it right now. Humans have taste receptor… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
I had a bike accident a few years ago, and I went to the emergency room, and I had to have a… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
Eighty percent of flavor comes from your nose, including a set of internal nostrils. When you chew food and hold it in… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
In terms of sustainability and what we eat and what its footprint is on the environment and the consequences of eating one… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
When you buy my books, you kind of know what you're in for. It's kind of self-selecting. If you have a delicate… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
For the most part, if somebody approaches me and says, 'I'd like to interview you,' who am I to say no, when… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
I have not eaten a lot of insects. I ate a termite in Africa, but it was on a bet. It was… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
I don't know of many people who've done sex research with an eye toward people saying sex is bad for you, except… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
Follow your instincts. Do the kind of writing you love to do and do best. 'Stiff' was an oddball book - I… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
Weightlessness was unbelievable. It's physical euphoria: Nothing about you has any weight. You don't realize that you are weighed down all the… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
To keep your he-man jaw muscles from smashing your precious teeth, the only set you have, the body evolved an automated braking… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
Spacewalking is a little like rock climbing in that everything, including and especially oneself, must be tethered or docked at all times.… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
I love words, but I also love finding out that there is a word for something that you've experienced but didn't know… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
We exist in this weirdly schizo culture, where sex is everywhere in the media, and yet, at the same time, you don't… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
Everybody is going to die, so people are enthralled by the possibility that they don't have to completely die, that there is… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
“Rawson points out that although snakes can’t taste, they have a primitive sense of smell. They’ll extend their tongue to gather volatile molecules and… — Mary Roach Copy Share
“As the number of Inuit who hunt has dwindled, so has the consumption of organs (and other anatomy not available for purchase at the… — Mary Roach Copy Share
For the most part, if somebody approaches me and says, 'I'd like to interview you,' who am I to say no, when I spend… — Mary Roach Copy Share
“If you look at survivable crashes, it’s rare that even half the emergency exits open,” says Shanahan. “Plus, there’s a lot of panic and… — Mary Roach Copy Share
“…he was doing a breath hydrogen test. If you know the amount of hydrogen someone is exhaling orally, it's a simple matter to extrapolate… — Mary Roach Copy Share
“Viagra isn't the only drug being prescribed off-label for women with arousal problems. Los Angeles urologist Jennifer Berman told me some doctors are prescribing… — Mary Roach Copy Share
Sharing a room with a cadaver is only mildly different from being in a room alone. They are the same sort of company as… — Mary Roach Copy Share
Every now and then, someone will tell me that one of my books has made them laugh out loud. I never believe them because:… — Mary Roach Copy Share
“panel applicants at the initial screening were asked not only to describe the cat foods but also to rate them according to how much… — Mary Roach Copy Share
“* Kissing is a less aggressive form of bacterial transplant. Studies of three different gingivitis-causing bacteria have documented migration from spouse to spouse. Periodontically… — Mary Roach Copy Share
“Nirlungayuk reached a similar conclusion. I tracked him down, seventeen years later, and asked him what the outcome of his country-foods campaign had been.… — Mary Roach Copy Share
Astronauts are like these mythic legends, but really, they are just regular people, people who wear chinos. — Mary Roach Copy Share
“Olive trees grow in the same climate and soil conditions as grapes. The olive oil people have been up in Napa Valley all along,… — Mary Roach Copy Share
“A patient on the way to surgery travels at twice the speed of a patient on the way to the morgue. Gurneys that ferry… — Mary Roach Copy Share
