I stumbled upon an article about a novel I would not mind reading in The Wall Street Journal, of all places. The title of the article was enticing enough: “A Survival Guide to Mars.” The byline is right on the money, too: “A computer-scientist-turned-novelist explores life on Mars in debut thriller.” The Martian is the title of the novel by Andy Weir, who is forty-one. It began as a self-published science-fiction serial, but it ended up as an international hit with publication rights sold in more than twenty countries and a movie in the works. The story is about an astronaut who gets stranded on the neighboring planet. The last man on Mars, as it were. Knowing that the next mission is planned for four years later and that he has food supplies for one year only, he figures out how to survive on what he has. But Weir leaves nothing to the reader’s imagination. Instead, he uses all the knowledge at hand, starting with physics and chemistry. “I had to do all the math,” he says. And that is the beauty of the novel, no doubt. Pure science. Straight facts. No bullshit. Congratulations, Mr. Weir! Now we need a novel about the last man on earth.