Fast forward to my first book now, written in English:
Mino – a Young Scientist’s Lifelong Journey through Outer and Inner Space.
Mino – a Young Scientist’s Lifelong Journey through Outer and Inner Space.
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Since the Daniel&Daniel Publishing House has closed, please send your inquiries to my email address: [email protected] |
Katharina Mommsen, Professor Emeritus of Comparative Literature, Stanford University, wrote:
This is the story of a sparkling childhood and teenage years, nourished by the confluence of three cultures – Europe, USA and Japan – laying the foundation for a stellar career at NASA. A life that explored the universe from its largest dimensions to the smallest nano-scale. A life rich in art and music, full of nature and gods. A life carried by optimism and joy, tragically cut short at its zenith by an unrelenting brain tumor. The eternal question runs through: Where are we going after death?
This is the story of a sparkling childhood and teenage years, nourished by the confluence of three cultures – Europe, USA and Japan – laying the foundation for a stellar career at NASA. A life that explored the universe from its largest dimensions to the smallest nano-scale. A life rich in art and music, full of nature and gods. A life carried by optimism and joy, tragically cut short at its zenith by an unrelenting brain tumor. The eternal question runs through: Where are we going after death?
Dr. Pete Worden, Director of the NASA Ames Research Center, wrote:
Mino was one of the most brilliant people I’ve ever met. He was full of ideas, many truly revolutionary. In his congenial way Mino was quite an activist, a zealot and a visionary. For him everything was possible. As early as 2006 he came up with new ways to put swarms of nano-satellites into orbit, hundreds of them, flying in formation, communicating with each other with lasers, doing science, and providing links to places around the globe. At first, we laughed a bit about it, coining the word “MinoSats”. Today, his vision is being pursued around the world. MinoSats have become a reality.
Mino, wherever you are: Godspeed to your future and the future you imagined for us.
Mino was one of the most brilliant people I’ve ever met. He was full of ideas, many truly revolutionary. In his congenial way Mino was quite an activist, a zealot and a visionary. For him everything was possible. As early as 2006 he came up with new ways to put swarms of nano-satellites into orbit, hundreds of them, flying in formation, communicating with each other with lasers, doing science, and providing links to places around the globe. At first, we laughed a bit about it, coining the word “MinoSats”. Today, his vision is being pursued around the world. MinoSats have become a reality.
Mino, wherever you are: Godspeed to your future and the future you imagined for us.
Robert Weil, Executive Editor of Liveright/Norton, who is quite familiar with my German books, had this to say:
“The writing is exceptional. I'm in awe that Hisako Matsubara can express so evocatively in three languages. There is a poignancy and a biographical precision to her recall, and the story both moves and haunts me. She memorializes Mino so exquisitely in the way only a fine writer can do.”
“The writing is exceptional. I'm in awe that Hisako Matsubara can express so evocatively in three languages. There is a poignancy and a biographical precision to her recall, and the story both moves and haunts me. She memorializes Mino so exquisitely in the way only a fine writer can do.”
My publisher, Daniel & Daniel, thought long and hard how to call the book:
Mino, an extraordinary autobiography. How so?
Hisako Matsubara’s first book in English is Mino—A Young Scientist’s Lifelong Journey Through Outer and Inner Space. The blurb on the front flap claims: “This extraordinary autobiography is unlike any other life story you’ll ever read.” What makes Mino so extraordinary?
The book’s plot is chronological. The narrative arc builds from early childhood to a climactic battle with an unrelenting brain tumor. Throughout, the story is supported by facts and feelings sure to ring true to any parent.
Mino, a rising star at NASA, as brilliant as he is likable. His universe extends from the smallest of the small – nanotechnology – to the scale of the universe measured in billions of light years. He was the first to develop at NASA the concept of swarms of hundreds of tiny satellites, communicating with one another by lasers and sending information down to earth. His ideas, once considered revolutionary, are now implemented in the USA and in countries around the world.
Mino’s brilliance showed up early in his life. His father introduced him as a young boy to the wonders of nature — critters and plants outdoors, the colors of the rainbow, and the magic of liquid nitrogen in his lab. Mino was an accomplished pianist. He was fluent in French, German, English, and Japanese. He was a fine artist and examples of his ink drawings are included in the book. He contemplated his mortality and rejected palliative concepts of the afterlife, preferring the Shinto belief that souls live as long as the dead are remembered by those who continue living.
But is it really an autobiography? The Prelude tells us that Mino couldn’t have been the author. Hisako Matsubara wrote the book. Here we have a novelist who has gone through the terrifying experience of losing her son Mino and has recreated his life in his own voice.
Mino, an extraordinary autobiography. How so?
Hisako Matsubara’s first book in English is Mino—A Young Scientist’s Lifelong Journey Through Outer and Inner Space. The blurb on the front flap claims: “This extraordinary autobiography is unlike any other life story you’ll ever read.” What makes Mino so extraordinary?
The book’s plot is chronological. The narrative arc builds from early childhood to a climactic battle with an unrelenting brain tumor. Throughout, the story is supported by facts and feelings sure to ring true to any parent.
Mino, a rising star at NASA, as brilliant as he is likable. His universe extends from the smallest of the small – nanotechnology – to the scale of the universe measured in billions of light years. He was the first to develop at NASA the concept of swarms of hundreds of tiny satellites, communicating with one another by lasers and sending information down to earth. His ideas, once considered revolutionary, are now implemented in the USA and in countries around the world.
Mino’s brilliance showed up early in his life. His father introduced him as a young boy to the wonders of nature — critters and plants outdoors, the colors of the rainbow, and the magic of liquid nitrogen in his lab. Mino was an accomplished pianist. He was fluent in French, German, English, and Japanese. He was a fine artist and examples of his ink drawings are included in the book. He contemplated his mortality and rejected palliative concepts of the afterlife, preferring the Shinto belief that souls live as long as the dead are remembered by those who continue living.
But is it really an autobiography? The Prelude tells us that Mino couldn’t have been the author. Hisako Matsubara wrote the book. Here we have a novelist who has gone through the terrifying experience of losing her son Mino and has recreated his life in his own voice.
