Overview

Mars has long offered the prospect of another living world near Earth, a key reason NASA plans to land two spacecraft on the planet just after Christmas. And it is a truly fascinating world - with ancient volcanoes taller than any of our mountains, giant canyons, snowy polar caps and devastating dust storms. Though the very first spacecraft dashed colourful visions of little green men tending canals, more recent spacecraft have painted a picture of a world that long ago may have been similar to Earth, with warm temperatures, water, and possibly life. MAGNIFICENT MARS is visually stunning, it features colour photographs from space observatories such as the Hubble Space Telescope, Pathfinder, Mars Global Surveyor, and more - digitally reprocessed by an expert photographer to look better than NASA's own versions. Here are images and discoveries that have never appeared in any book, including dramatic foldouts, topographic maps of the Martian surface, and details of the recent discoveries of water flows down Martian hillsides and huge quantities of water ice.

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9780743226011

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Reviews

Sir Arthur C. Clarke Our little neighbor Mars will be the first New World of the century that has just dawned. Ken Croswell has done a superb job in outlining what is known, and what is suspected, about the next home of mankind beyond the Moon. Dr. Owen Gingerich Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Ken Croswell has done it again! By combining specially processed images of Mars with an elegant and informative text, he offers us a feast for the mind as well as the eyes. Dr. Michael H. Carr U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, and author of The Surface of Mars and Water on Mars In Magnificent Mars, Ken Croswell has succeeded in producing a fitting tribute to our spectacular neighbor. It is an accurate, up-to-date, and highly readable account of how the planet with its huge volcanoes, deep canyons, and dry riverbeds might have formed and evolved, and whether some form of life might have gained a foothold there. The numerous large-format images, many culled from the latest spacecraft returns, make one gasp in wonderment and awe at this truly magnificent Mars. Dr. Robert Zubrin author of The Case for Mars and president of the Mars Society At last, a work that synthesizes the latest discoveries on the red planet into an accessible yet accurate form. Magnificent Mars is a magnificent book. Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson astrophysicist and director, Hayden Planetarium, New York City In Magnificent Mars, Ken Croswell explores the science, the culture, and the romance of the red planet. So thorough is Ken's treatment that, at times, I felt as though Mars had written its own autobiography. Dr. Robert Jastrow director (retired) of the Mount Wilson Institute Ken Croswell's Magnificent Mars is visually exciting, beautifully written, and includes an excellent account of the greatest treasure hunt of all time -- the search for signs of Martian life. Keay Davidson author of Carl Sagan: A Life At last, that rare hybrid: a visually striking and scientifically reliable popular book on Mars for those who quit trusting NASA's hype machine after the Mars rock fiasco. Although Magnificent Mars sparkles with entertaining history, it also offers an unusually balanced, fluff-free summary of research on, and debates about, the red planet. Taxpayers, legislators, and presidential candidates who seek straight talk on what we've found there -- or might find after spending billions of additional dollars -- couldn't get a trustier guide than Ken Croswell, one of the world's best astronomy writers. Marina Benjamin author of Rocket Dreams Magnificent Mars is packed with interesting facts and statistics, yet Ken Croswell weaves the planet's physical credentials into a story of discovery so fluent and compelling that you forget you are reading a science book.

Dr. Michael H. Carr<p>U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, and author of The Surface of Mars and Water on Mars <p>In Magnificent Mars, Ken Croswell has succeeded in producing a fitting tribute to our spectacular neighbor. It is an accurate, up-to-date, and highly readable account of how the planet with its huge volcanoes, deep canyons, and dry riverbeds might have formed and evolved, and whether some form of life might have gained a foothold there. The numerous large-format images, many culled from the latest spacecraft returns, make one gasp in wonderment and awe at this truly magnificent Mars.<p>

Sir Arthur C. Clarke Our little neighbor Mars will be the first New World of the century that has just dawned. Ken Croswell has done a superb job in outlining what is known, and what is suspected, about the next home of mankind beyond the Moon.

Author Information

Ken Croswell is an astronomer in Berkeley, California. He is the author of ALCHEMY OF THE HEAVENS and PLANET QUEST.

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