Crash Test Girl: An Unlikely Experiment in Using the Scientific Method to Answer Life’s Toughest Questions
Written by Kari Byron
Narrated by Kari Byron
4/5
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About this audiobook
Kari Byron—former host of the wildly popular, iconic cult classic MythBusters—shows how to crash test your way through life, no lab coat required.
Kari Byron’s story hasn’t been a straight line. She started out as a broke artist living in San Francisco, writing poems on a crowded bus on the way to one of her three jobs. Many curve balls, unexpected twists, and yes, literal and figurative explosions later, and she’s one of the world’s most respected women in science entertainment, blowing stuff up on national television and getting paid for it! In Crash Test Girl, Kari reveals her fascinating life story on the set of MythBusters and beyond. With her signature gusto and roll-up-your-sleeves enthusiasm, she invites listeners behind the duct tape and the dynamite, to the unlikely friendships and low-budget sets that turned a crazy idea into a famously inventive show with a rabid fanbase.
The truth is, Mythbusters was never meant to be a science show. But attaching a rocket to a car, riding a motorcycle on water, or lighting 500 pounds of coffee creamer on fire requires a decent understanding of chemistry, physics, and engineering. Thus, the cast and crew brought in the scientific method to work through each problem: Question. Hypothesize. Analyze. Experiment. Conclude. And as Kari came to learn in her own life, not only is the scientific method the best approach for busting myths, it’s also the perfect tool for solving everyday issues, including:
Career · Love · Creativity · Setbacks · Money · Sexuality · Depression · Bravery
Crash Test Girl reminds us that science is for everyone, as long as you’re willing to strap in, put on your safety goggles, hit a few walls, and learn from the results. Using a combination of methodical experimentation and unconventional creativity, you’ll come to the most important conclusion of all: In life, sometimes you crash and burn, but you can always crash and learn.
Kari Byron
Kari Byron has been the most recognizable, honored, and beloved woman in science-based reality TV for over a decade. She is best known as a host on Discovery ChannelMythBusters but has gone on to host and produce shows spanning several networks: Head Rush; Punkin Chunkin; Large, Dangerous Rocket Ships; Thrill Factor; Strange Trips; America Declassified; White Rabbit Project; and Positive Energy. Currently she lives in San Francisco with her husband, Paul, and daughter, Stella.
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Reviews for Crash Test Girl
56 ratings10 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Excellent book. It's very encouraging and honest. You get some insight on the show and others related to. But more about Kari and her story, which is fun and honest.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I enjoyed this book. My husband and I are rewatching Mythbusters from the beginning and reliving our childhoods. This book, and Adam Savage's, has made me love Mythbusters even more. I found this book really inspiring and I connected with it creatively. A really good must listen/read.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I very seldom read non-fiction but I was not familiar with this incident and the book had such good reviews, I was anxious to read it. The story is told from the perspective of people who survived. It's written chronologically so it gives the prelude, the collision, the explosion and the aftermath of this horrific incident. The detail given of the moment of the explosion gave me chills. An excellent, well-written book.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I first heard about the Halifax explosion during a visit to Halifax in the 1990s. Why, I wondered, had I never heard of it before? In the United States we knew about the Chicago fire, the San Franscisco earthquake and the Johnstown flood, but just a few miles up the coast from Boston was the largest manmade explosion in history until the Hiroshima A-bomb, and I had heard nothing about it.The 100th anniversary of explosion in 2017 resulted in two books on the subject, one of them “The Great Halifax Explosion” by John U. Bacon. Reading Bacon's book makes me wonder even more how an explosion that leveled most of a city could be remembered by so few people south of the Canadian border.Two major factors led to the explosion: the First World War and carelessness. The explosion might just as easily have blown away a big chunk of New York City, for that is where the ship, the Mont-Blanc, was filled to the brim with explosives and ignitors. Crew members were forbidden to smoke or even to carry matches. Even a sudden bump could have set off an explosion.Yet the disaster, which now seems all but inevitable, didn't occur until the ship was entering Halifax harbor on Dec. 6, 1917. It was intended as the last stop before the Mont-Blanc headed for the war in Europe. Had it been peacetime there would have been no need for a ship to be full of explosives, but if it had been, that ship would have had a red flag to alert other ships to stay clear. But they didn't want to alert any submarines or saboteurs that might be hanging about. So the Mont-Blanc looked no different than any other ship entering Halifax's near-perfect harbor.The problem was there was another ship, the Imo, going the other way in the wrong lane at excessive speed. Its captain expected the Mont-Blanc to get out of its way, but the Mont-Blanc's captain didn't want to risk a sudden shift of its dangerous cargo. This game of chicken led to the collision.Surprisingly the explosion did not occur immediately, but there was an immediate fire. The crew of the Mont-Blanc, knowing the danger, abandoned ship and got as far away as possible. Most survived, though officers were held accountable afterward. Others in the harbor, including those aboard the Imo and those responsible for fighting fires in the harbor, moved in the opposite direction. Many people stood around the harbor to watch the ship burn.The explosion killed nearly two thousand people and destroyed much of the city. Two days later a blizzard struck, burying the ruins under 16 inches of snow. Bacon is at his best detailing the extend of the damage to humans and to their property. Many survivors lost their eyes to the broken glass that flew at high speed from virtually every window in Halifax. Many children were left orphans; many parents were left childless.Yet somehow over the century most Americans forgot about this disaster. The city of Halifax, however, has not forgotten the help they received from Americans at the time. Every December they still send the people of Boston a large Christmas tree to say thank you.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/56 million pounds of explosives loaded onto one ship with some avgas thrown on board to fill out the space. The careless way that this load was managed on nearly every level is boggling. The story of what happened to Halifax is impressive. A disaster of a fairly unique nature visited upon the city. This particular book does a serviceable job telling the story, but it is awkward at times.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5On December 6, 1917, two ships, the Belgian supply ship Mont-Blanc and the Norwegian ship Imo collided in the harbor in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The resulting explosion was the most powerful manmade explosion on a human population excepting Nagasaki and Hiroshima, a force of 2.9 kilotons of TNT. Over 3,000 people lost their lives, and many more were wounded. Huge swathes of the city were flattened, reduced to rubble and burying survivors beneath the destruction. Mr. Bacon's wonderful book was recommended to me by my two sisters and my brother-in-law (his grandfather Ernest Barss is one of the people mentioned in the book). It is an amazing story of resilience and courage as well as the willingness of many to help the survivors. Boston, Massachusetts sent trains and boats filled with supplies and personnel to help; as a result, Halifax has every year since sent a Christmas tree to be erected in that city. A blizzard came in the day after the explosion and just made it even harder for the survivors and those trying to help them. It was a truly astounding event and I'm surprised how little I knew about it. The book mentions how cruise boats today will visit the cemetery where Titanic victims are buried, but nothing is told to them about the Halifax Explosion. That was certainly my experience several years ago when I visited that lovely city. But I guess this book gives me a reason to go back and visit with new eyes.The author has a very comfortable writing style with a good eye for the small details that enhance the story. His narrative doesn't take away from the horror of the event but also addresses the acts of courage that took place. This is probably best exemplified by this quote from the book: "Tragedy comes quick and loud, while the small acts of decency that follow come slowly and quietly."
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In Crash Test Girl, Kari Byron discusses her life from adolescence through her current work as a science presenter, detailing her artistic endeavors, work on Mythbusters, and misadventures as well as the lessons she learned along the way. She breaks each chapter down into a modified version of the scientific method – question, hypothesis, experiment, analysis, and conclusion – applying each to her experiences with career, love, friendship, love, sexuality, depression, and more. Her authenticity and forthrightness fully engage the reader in each chapter and the structure of this memoir makes it possible to read it a chapter at a time or all at once depending on one’s reading style. While many will know her best from Mythbusters or Punkin Chunkin, Byron’s book is a welcome read for anyone who feels adrift or has an interest in STEAM.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Part memoir, part sorta kinda self-help book, with a lot of fun stories along the way, this is a reasonably light, breezy, fun read.
If there's one thing to take away from this book, it's the message that you should take any opportunity that comes your way, and not let fear ever hold you back. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Real "Myths". Real Woman. This memoir from one of the first female "reality tv" stars is an extremely interesting look at both her decade working with the (possibly arguably) the show that made her famous... and how she got there and a bit of what has happened since that fateful day in 2014 when she (and later the world) was informed that she would no longer be on that show. And she doesn't hold back too many punches, usually only being a bit circumspect when it is clear that being more direct could result in legal issues. While some of her work is now directed at getting kids into science, if you're squeamish about f-bombs... she is known to casually drop a few in this text. But ultimately the tale is that of an extremely interesting life on and off camera and how an artsy/ edgy world traveller from San Fransisco wound up working at M5 Industries and becoming world renowned as a "science girl". Overall a very much recommended book.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Entertaining and very conversational, I feel like this could definitely appeal to high school readers. It has enough swearing/conversations about sex that I probably won't bring it to middle schools, but there's lots of relatable stuff about feeling awkward and growing into your confidence plus lots of handy stuff about pursuing your passions as a career.