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Mars has always been shrouded in mystery. It is very difficult to resolve through a telescope. For many centuries it remained just a reddish blur in the sky. Even in ancient times, its blood-red color evoked fear and gave rise to myths and legends that are still with us today.
Over the centuries, bits and pieces of data on Mars have accumulated, and as more probes have made their way to the Red Planet, its veil of mystery is falling away. Nearly every week we are seeing exciting new pictures of Mars and learning more about its geology, weather, and history.
What do we actually know about Mars? Is it different from what people once thought they knew about Mars? Is there water on Mars? Is there possibly life that we have missed? What would it be like to live on Mars? What resources are there? Can Mars be terraformed to make it habitable for humans?
Markus Hotakainen's engrossing tale of Mars: From Myth and Mystery to Recent Discoveries will fill you in and entertain you with unbelievable stories that were once believed about Mars. We have come a long way in knowing our neighbor in space. Join Markus on this journey from myth to reality, and find out what we do know about Mars, and what is still a mystery.
- Preface
- Foreword
- Fourth Rock from the Sun
- God of War, Heavenly Body
- Martian Canal Engineers
- Planetary Ups and Downs
- Unidentical Twins
- The New Mars
- Museum of Water
- Dead or Alive?- Gallery Mars
- Fear and Panic
- One Really Giant Leap
- Green Thumbs of the Red Planet
- Little Green Persons
- Mars Rocks!- Author's Final Note and Acknowledgements
- For Reference and Further Reading
- Appendix A: Finnish Mars Research
- Appendix B
- Mars Probes
- Index
"With an easily readable, understandable style [...] Hotakainen begins this book with a long history of Mars, particularly concentrating on the early-20th-century speculations that the planet contained canals indicating the presence of intelligent life. [...] There is an excellent colored map of Mars near the back flap, many photographs accompanied by good explanations [...] . Summing Up: Highly Recommended. Libraries serving general readers, lower- and upper-division undergraduates, and two-year technical program students."
- W. E. Howard, Choice, Vol. 46 (9), May, 2009
"The book covers the early observers like Herschel, Schiaparelli and Lowell right through the latest space missions of NASA in the USA and now ESA in Europe. The style is light-hearted, almost flippant in places, and non-technical, as befits a book aimed at a general readership. [...] As a beautifully presented, very readable, not-too-technical but scientifically respectable and up-to-date account of interesting things about Mars, the latest contribution [...] about the Red Planet is to be welcomed by interested non-specialists everywhere."
- F. W. Taylor, Contemporary Physics, November, 2009
