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I found this book on Project Gutenberg a long time ago, but can't find it now. It's a pretty old book. The premise was that there are these four people, two men and two women, who build a spaceship and go explore space in it. The ship had to be controlled by human minds (telepathy/telekinesis are prevalent in this society), but they didn't figure out until the middle of the book that they could actually determine where it went. They interact with a lot of Earth-type worlds with human-ish inhabitants, and theorize that the universe is really just a gigantic organism (they encounter something that's analogous to cancer).

I remember one of the women had green clothes and hair (and maybe skin? I can't remember), and the other was nicknamed "Brownie." Don't laugh, but one of the premises of the book was that all these people who have telepathy and/or telekinesis also just happen to be gorgeously attractive.

Anyone know what book this is? I really wish I could find it. Weirdest book ever, but it was a fun read.

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This is The Galaxy Primes (1959) by E. E. Smith.

From the editorial blurb:

They were four of the greatest minds in the Universe: two men, two women, lost in an experimental spaceship billions of parsecs from home. And as they mentally charted the Cosmos to find their way back to earth, their own loves and hates were as startling as the worlds they encountered. Here is E. E. Smith's great new novel....

The character Lola is nicknamed "Brownie":

I'd like that." She smiled winningly. "And my friends call me 'Brownie'."

Just as in the question, Lola's hair and clothes are green, which are described in the first few lines of the book:

Her hair was a brilliant green. So was her spectacularly filled halter. So were her tight short-shorts, her lipstick, and the lacquer on her finger-and toe-nails. As she strolled into the Main of the starship, followed hesitantly by the other girl, she drove a mental probe at the black-haired, powerfully-built man seated at the instrument-banked console.

Here is a direct link to the Project Gutenberg version: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20898/20898-h/20898-h.htm

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  • From my minute-late answer, the first line of the book: Her hair was a brilliant green. So was her spectacularly filled halter. So were her tight short-shorts, her lipstick, and the lacquer on her finger-and toe-nails. As she strolled into the Main of the starship, followed hesitantly by the other girl, she drove a mental probe at the black-haired, powerfully-built man seated at the instrument-banked console.
    – ImaginaryEvents
    Commented Feb 22, 2016 at 0:07
  • @ImaginaryEvents : I've added in the description of the hair and clothes --- thanks! :-)
    – Praxis
    Commented Feb 22, 2016 at 0:17
  • @ImaginaryEvents : By the way, this has happened to me plenty of times too, where I post the story id only moments after someone else...
    – Praxis
    Commented Feb 22, 2016 at 0:18
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    This story was, unfortunately, my first contact with "Doc" Smith. Not his best.
    – user14111
    Commented Feb 22, 2016 at 7:54
  • 2
    "The hatch dilated to reveal a well-equipped man wearing the uniform of the Deep Space Tool Corps, except for the shirt. 'I'm here to fix your facsimilator,' he said, and smiled winningly."
    – Doug Warren
    Commented Feb 22, 2016 at 15:42

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