Atmosphere is a book that invites you to care about both science and God. It shows that faith and science are not rivals but companions, guiding us toward the same truth: that we are bound to one another and to something far greater than ourselves.
How do you define God in your life? Who is he, and what does he represent? Where do you draw the line between God and science? For Joan in Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid, “the unfolding of the universe is God in action. Which would mean science and maths are a part of God.”
Joan has loved the stars for as long as she can remember. As a child, she devoured books on astronomy, dreaming of leaving Earth to see what lay beyond. To her, space holds the answers to humanity’s oldest questions about why we are here.
In the early 1980s, NASA announced it would, for the first time, recruit women as astronauts. Joan, then a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University, seized the moment. She applied quietly, knowing the men in her department already dismissed her because she was a woman.
That summer, she was chosen from thousands of applicants and began training at Houston’s Johnson Space Centre. Reid takes us behind those locked doors, where ambition is both fuel and fire, and where dreams are as fragile as they are vast. Every choice could tip the balance between glory and ruin.
Away from the training centre, her personal life is tangled in family obligations. Her sister Barbara was never ready to be the kind of mother Frances needed. Marrying Daniel, a man who made it clear he did not want children, meant Frances was sent to boarding school, more for his comfort than her well-being. Yet Barbara still expected Joan to fill the emotional gaps.
Barbara’s choices reveal a selfishness that puts personal comfort above a child’s needs; she assumes others will carry the weight she refuses to bear. Reid makes an unflinching point here. Ambition and self-interest are not inherently evil, but without accountability, they leave someone else to pay the price. In Barbara’s case, her pursuit of the life she wanted came at the expense of her child’s stability and Joan’s life at the Space Centre.
“Why would you marry a man who doesn’t want kids? You have a kid! If you love your daughter, then you need to show her. By taking care of her,” Joan says. “There is no other option.”
Joan wants big things too, but her drive is rooted in discipline, sacrifice, and an awareness of the impact her decisions have on others. Both sisters are chasing their own versions of success, but only one is prepared to carry the weight that comes with it.
Then there is Lydia. Brilliant and competitive, she moves through training convinced she is the most capable, most hard-working candidate in the room, and therefore destined to win. She is willing to sideline others to get ahead.
When Joan is named the first woman assigned to go to space, Lydia is stunned and bitter, demanding to know why it isn’t her. Joan’s answer is simple. It doesn’t always have to be about you. To win, you have to care about the team.
In space, as in life, success is not just about personal brilliance. It is about trust, collaboration, and being part of something bigger than yourself. For anything to work, whether a mission, a workplace, or a relationship, you have to be a team player.
At the Space Centre, Joan finds comfort in Vanessa, a friendship built on mutual respect, shared ambition, and the understanding of women navigating a male-dominated world. Vanessa becomes a constant in Joan’s orbit before she steps back into the high-stakes grind of astronaut training.
Reid, through the women at the Space Centre, shows how difficult it is for women to be trusted to excel simply because they are women. When Donna, one of the trainees and Joan’s friend, becomes pregnant, she is terrified of what it might mean for her career. Women have to consider their health, finances, emotional and physical capacity, and the capacity of the partner they are having children with, because that person plays a crucial role in the mother’s well-being and the child’s stability.
“I’m scared of what NASA and everybody else in the world are going to tell me I can’t do once I am a mother.”
Atmosphere is an emotionally layered story about what it takes to reach your goals and the prices people pay for the life they want. It is about courage, doing the thing while scared, and pushing your boundaries while staying true to yourself.
It is a book that may make you care about both science and God. It challenges us to see that faith and science are not opposites but companions guiding us toward the same truth: that we are connected to each other and to something far greater than ourselves.
Jane Shussa is a digital communication specialist with a love for books, coffee, nature, and travel. She can be reached at [email protected].
