Mars: Uncovering the Secrets of the Red Planet

by Paul Raeburn

Book Overview

In the bestselling tradition of Orbit, this brilliant showcase of the most up-to-the-minute images of the Red Planet complements an authoritative analysis of the history of Mars over three decades of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0792273737
• ISBN13: 9780792273738
• Release Date: August 1998
• Publisher: National Geographic Society
• Length: 232 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 4.1" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Wonderful introduction to our cold and dry neighbor

This outstanding book is published by National Geographic and it shows! Enough colorful pictures to qualify as a coffee table book but plenty of interesting text to work through as well. The book is written for the "educated layman", not too technical but at the same time assuming a basic understanding of science. The ratio of text to pictures is similar to the National Geographic magazine, perhaps a bit heavier on the text.Raeburn begins with a summary of the different beliefs held about Mars before the spacecraft era, including the widely held one initiated by Lowell about canals constructed by intelligent Martians. Raeburn spends the bulk of the book taking us through NASA's various missions to Mars: Mariner, Viking, Pathfinder, and Global Surveyor. The book was published in 1998 and hence only provides a "preview" of the Global Surveyor findings. Today, of course, we have a complete global map of Mars in astonishing detail.Also, Raeburn optimistically looks forward to NASA's continuing "faster, cheaper, better" program of Mars exploration. We already know that the orbiter and polar lander failed, so let's hope that the craft to be launched this year fare better. Raeburn also notes that in 2005 a craft will be launched that should bring rocks from Mars back to Earth!Overall, definitely worth the price of entry for the pictures alone. There are even some neat 3-D pictures inside and the book provides 3-D glasses!

The best book on Mars exploration in over five years!

When I saw the large size of the book I was expecting a nice coffee table/waiting room book for readers to glance through. However, with Matt Golombek as a contributor I knew that some serious science would be on the agenda. After reading the book, I was amazed at how the author(s) weaved a fascinating narrative together with solid science. This book is for the serious student as well as the public at large.

The most spectacular photographs I've ever seen.

The photographs of Mars are spectacular, and there are a lot of them. The pictures clearly show how water -- oceans of it -- etched canyons six times deeper than the Grand Canyon. The pictures of Olympus Mons illustrate where the volcanic sediments in the river banks came from. The description of "on the fly" programming of the 41 explosive bolts necessary to land Pathfinder was touching, dramatic and fascinating. The book provides a breathtaking story of interplanetary scientific adventure. Edward B. Flowers, St. John's University

An awe-inspiring book!

The authors have done a magnificent job of capturing the mystery, excitement, and wonder of our nearest planetary neighbor. Beautiful photos! Captures all the excitement from the recent Mars Pathfinder (Sojourner Rover) landing!

Remarkable

"MARS - Uncovering The Secrets of the Red Planet" is absolutely stunning. There is no better way to tour the red planet short of actually going there.