Patrick Moore on Mars

Moore, CBE, DSc, FRAS, Sir Patrick

ISBN 10: 1841880043 / ISBN 13: 9781841880044

Published by Cassell Illustrated, 1999

About this Item

Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. This book is in good condition but will show signs of previous ownership. Please expect some creasing to the spine and/or minor damage to the cover. Damaged cover. The cover of is slightly damaged for instance a torn or bent corner. Grubby book may have mild dirt or some staining, mostly on the edges of pages. Seller Inventory # CHL10011519

Bibliographic Details

Title: Patrick Moore on Mars

Publisher: Cassell Illustrated

Publication Date: 1999

Binding: Paperback

Condition: Used; Good

About this title

Synopsis:

Patrick Moore reveals the full story of Mars from ancient myths to the Victorian belief in a Martian canal network, and to NASA's current plans to return a sample of Martian soil to earth. This is Mars as it really is. The possibility of life on Mars is examined in the light of the latest evidence. Our acquaintance with Mars is only just beginning.

Review:

Night falls over the equator, and Phoebus rises from the west. It takes only 4¼ hours for this nearest moon to cross the sky-more than enough time for it to wax, from new to full.

This is the enduring charm of Mars: The more you learn about it, the stranger it seems. Moore's sober, common-sense tale of discovery cannot help but be as much about the garish Mars of the imagination as it is about the physical planet--and the changes wrought upon that imaginary twin have been truly cataclysmic. Lowell's charming canals lie shattered beneath the gargantuan volcanic sierras of Olympus, Ascraeus and Pavonis. The frozen carbon dioxide and thin hoar- frost of the Mars' meagre poles have vanished beneath huge quantities of water ice, bringing with it the nagging possibility of subterranean oceans and, every few tens of millions of years, an intermittent period of fertility.

Moore is better placed than most to give earlier observations and imaginations their due. When he wrote Guide to Mars in 1955, it was commonly believed that the dark areas of the planet's surface were due to vegetation. And, given all the advances in our understanding in the mere 40 years since then, it seems perfectly natural for Moore to conclude his account by writing seriously about the likely shape of future colonies there.

A home astronomer's guide, a memoir, a history that ably demonstrates the interplay between scientific data and interpretation: however you read it, Patrick Moore on Mars is more poetic and inspiring than it knows. --Singon Ings