Non-equilibrium Thermodynamics and the Production of Entropy: Life, Earth, and Beyond (Understanding Complex Systems)

Book Description

The present volume studies the application of concepts from non-equilibrium thermodynamics to a variety of research topics. Emphasis is on the Maximum Entropy Production (MEP) principle and applications to Geosphere-Biosphere couplings. Written by leading researchers from a wide range of backgrounds, the book presents a first coherent account of an emerging field at the interface of thermodynamics, geophysics and life sciences.

Customer Reviews:

if you want to understand how Gaia works........2006-03-23

I saw this book reviewed in Nature magazine. It had a rave review there, so I bought a copy. I wasn't dissapointed, this is a reprint of all the seminal papers on the subject of MEP (Maximum Entropy Production). It is a modern version of Schroedinger's famous book - "What is Life".

My only wish is that the book could be a little MORE mathematically complete.

Life beyond Earth : the intelligent earthling's guide to life in the universe

Average customer rating:

Life beyond Earth : the intelligent earthling's guide to life in the universe
Gerald Feinberg , and Robert Shapiro
Manufacturer: W. Morrow
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0688036422

Strange Universe: The Weird and Wild Science of Everyday Life--on Earth and Beyond

Average customer rating:

"Ther looked for dung and found gold."
Go ahead, be astounded and make your day
Inspiring work!
A new edition of previously published books.

Strange Universe: The Weird and Wild Science of Everyday Life--on Earth and Beyond
Bob Berman
Manufacturer: Holt Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Astronomy | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

Astrophysics & Space Science | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Cosmic Adventure: Other Secrets Beyond the Night Sky
Secrets of the Night Sky: Most Amazing Things in the Universe You Can See with the Naked Eye, The
Cosmic Adventure: A Renegade Astronomer's Guide To Our World And Beyond
Celestial Delights: The Best Astronomical Events Through 2010

ASIN: 0805075836
Release Date: 2004-12-09

Book Description

"Touches on a dizzying array of subjects, including UV rays, inert gases, fossils, meteorites, microwaves, rainbows . . . Like many a good teacher, Berman uses humor to entertain his audience and liven things up." Los Angeles Times Bob Berman is motivated by a straightforward philosophy: everyone can understand science-and it's fun, too. In Strange Universe, he pokes into the bizarre and astonishingly true scientific facts that determine the world around us. Geared to the nonscientist, Berman's original essays are filled with the trademark wit and cleverness that has earned him acclaim over many years for his columns in Astronomy and Discover magazines. He emphasizes curiosities of the natural world to which everyone can relate, and dishes on the little-known secrets about space and some of science's biggest blunders (including a very embarrassing moment from Buzz Aldrin's trip to the moon). Fascinating to anyone interested in the wonders of our world and the cosmos beyond, Strange Universe will make you smile and think.

Customer Reviews:

"Ther looked for dung and found gold.".......2006-08-07

This is a delightful little book for anyone who likes reading about Science .Berman is a scientist but also writes for popular magazines;so he is very adept at simplifying the complicated so that virtually everyone can grasp an understanding of what he is writing about.He writes for Discover and Astronomy magazines,the Astronomy editor of the Old Farmer's Almanac,appeared on TV shows and written and written other books.
He slips humor into his writings and catches the reader with a surprise when least expected.He tells us about two Astronomers at Bell Laboratories who discovered cosmic background radiation while using the radio telescope for an entirely different purpose. Berman asks,"Who would have imagined that the birth of the universe would have been discovered in New Jersey?" Then he goes on to say,"They looked for dung and found gold,which is just the opposite of the experience of most of us." I guess that just goes to show you that nerds like to see fun and humor,like the rest of us.
I have a little dog and I often watch her ,especially when she sees something different.She never seems to wonder why anything is as it is or where it came from. We like to think we
operate on a higher level than that,but when you see how most people wander through life,totally obilivous to the universe around them,you gotta wonder.
Then again, some people don't see where anything is complicated.Like the two fellows having a beer on a hot day.The "thinking" one says to the other."I wonder why my beer gets warm?" His pal responds,"What's to wonder about?,you're not drinking it fast enough."
So if you want to have the answer on many of the universe's great inponderables; like black holes,shooting stars,life on other planets,rainbows,why the moon looks flat,how big is the sun,or why things go wrong. Amaze your friends and become be an expert on Murphy's Law."Anything that can go wrong will go wrong".
"Right this moment,somewhere on our spinning globe,people are experiencing food shortages,water shortages,and certainly money shortages,but there's never a shortage of goof-ups.Government,corporate,personal,minor to monumental,there may be only one way to do something right,but an almost infinite number of ways to mess things up.
As an example Berman gives this gem;
"Goof-ups in space science are usually costly,often spectacular,and always instructive. The archetypal U.S.foul-up was the Hubble Space Telescope fiasco in 1991.Its 94-inch mirror was the most precisely polished ever made--except that it was polished to the wrong shape".This was a billion dollar snafu!
A great read,you might even learn something;then again,it might even scare you. One thing for sure,after reading this book,you'll never look at the moon or a rainbow the same way again;or for that matter--the Night Sky.

Go ahead, be astounded and make your day.......2005-10-16

"The briefest inquiry into even ordinary substances can rivet the mind."

A book that describes your entire morning in terms of science that, acc to the author, when you walk into the office and someone asks you "What's Happening", when you'd normally reply "Nothing Much", now you'd say, "Refraction, Reflection, Diffraction, Polarization, Bernoulli's Effect, Dopppler Shift, Electron Resonance, Pendulam effect on walkers...". And that's when you'd be cemented in to the Geek Hall of Fame.

No seriously though, geek or not, this is a good book to read, simply to be astonished that science breathes and walks amongst us every second and yet beyond the pedantic chore we are obligated to go through in school, we are rarely aware of Nature's curiosities in our everyday moments.

The book encourages you to find magic and mystery in commonplace things of not just our Earth, but the entire Universe, from shadows to water. For one small example, a building in North America is struck every fifteen months on average, by a small object from space - an asteroid rock or meteroid.

Inspiring work!.......2005-10-12

As a lifetime amateur astronomer, I can appreciate the mastery an inspiring insights of this wonderful author. Written with wit and scientific accuracy, I recommend this book without reservations to the lay audience and professionals alike. Excellent job!

A new edition of previously published books........2005-03-23

I read "Secrets of the Night Sky" and loved it. Then "Cosmic Adventure" was very good too, so I when I found this book I was thrilled... That is, until I read it.

Bob Berman decided he could "improve" many of the articles of Cosmic Adventure and Secrets of the Night Sky by twisting the text a little, and maybe removing a few words. Usually, when an author wants to update a book, a second or third edition is published. Instead, Bob Berman took his other two books and changed the cover, to fool people into buying the same articles again.

Below I compare the index of this book with articles in Cosmic Adventure. Some articles even have the same name:

* Look Out Below! - Unwelcome Surprises, from Cosmic Adventure.
* Physics in the Morning
* We've Got Gas - It's a gas, from Cosmic Adventure.
* The Man Who Fell to Earth
* View from a Window Seat - View from a Window Seat, from Cosmic Adventure.
* Fathoming Water - Everyday Alchemy, from Cosmic Adventure.
* The Underworld
* Odd Odds
* Measuring Madness
* Say What?
* Eat the Aliens
* Out of the Blue
* Sky Spectacles
* The Shadow Knows
* Egg-quinox
* Deadly Light
* Nature and Numbers, Rivers and Pi
* Now You See Us, Now You Don't
* Oops - Cosmic Blunders, Cosmic Adventure.
* The Discovery That Shook the World - The Most Astounding Discovery Ever, Cosmic Adventure.
* The Forbidden Light
* Our Nearest Neighbor
* Voodoo Moon
* Space Frolics - There are a couple of paragraphs coming from Strange Moon, Cosmic Wonders.
* The Big Stink
* Constellation Consternation
* Cosmic Name Calling - Naming the Universe, from Cosmic Adventure.
* BANG!!!
* Travels in Spacetime
* Light-Speed Magic
* Black Holes: Twisted Space, Frozen Time
* Going to Extremes - Going to Extremes, from Cosmic Adventure

The comparison is not comprehensive. A friend has my copy of "Secrets of the Night Sky", but topics such as the ones in Voodoo Moon and the eclipses from Sky Spectacles appear on that book.

This book was a complete let down. If this had been my first Bob's book, I might have given it four stars.

There are a few original articles, but most of the content is recicled stuff. To top it all, this book (compared to "Secrets..." and "Cosmic...") lacks illustrations, it's the shortest one of the three, and - I can't stress this enough - it is the one with less original material.

Atom: A Single Oxygen Atom's Journey from the Big Bang to Life on Earth...and Beyond

Average customer rating:

Stars are the cosmic incubators for all natural elements
Can you anthropomorphize an oxygen atom?
The Passion of the Krauss!
Excellent Premise, Poor Execution
a cosmic wonder

Atom: A Single Oxygen Atom's Journey from the Big Bang to Life on Earth...and Beyond
Lawrence M. Krauss
Manufacturer: Back Bay Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Cosmology | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Cosmology | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books

Fear of Physics: A Guide for the Perplexed
Quintessence: The Mystery of the Missing Mass
Hiding in the Mirror : The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions, from Plato to String Theory and Beyond
The Physics of Star Trek
Beyond Star Trek : From Alien Invasions to the End of Time

ASIN: 0316183091

Book Description

Now in paperback: the book in which the author of the national bestseller The Physics of Star Trek traces the history of the cosmos by telling the story of a single oxygen atomfrom the beginning of time to the present moment and deep into the future. Writing with grace and wit, Lawrence Krauss explicates cutting-edge science as he takes us on a thrilling, millennia-spanning journey that tells the truth of matterwhat it is, where it came from, and where its going. A book that readers of The Elegant Universe will read with fascination and pleasure. As he did in The Physics of Star Trek, Krauss once again makes reading about physics fun for scientists and nonscientists alike. Krauss has hosted documentaries for The Learning Channel, Paramount, Nova, the BBC, and Discovery, and a multi-part documentary series on Atom is planned for PBS. Krauss is a contributor to The New York Times, Natural History, and Discover.

Customer Reviews:

Stars are the cosmic incubators for all natural elements .......2007-08-23

This book requires basic knowledge of physics and chemistry. Chapters 1 - 7 introduce cosmology; Chapters 8 - 9 describes evolution of stars, and physical and chemical process for the production of chemical elements; Chapters 10 - 13 addresses the evolution of life on hospitable planets such as earth. Chapters 8, 9 and 11 provide significant amount of information, while some chapters are too descriptive and boring.

When the universe was at its infancy, it consisted of clouds of hydrogen and helium molecules that started to collapse over millions of years (mass accretion) under gravity. Progressively the temperature increased due to compression and the molecules started to dissociate into atoms and finally to ions at high pressure and temperatures. At 15 million degrees, about one in a 100 million protons gain sufficient energy to collide and fuse with each other to produce deuterium nuclei, further nuclear reactions generated helium-3 nucleus. Collision of two helium-3 nuclei results in helium-4 and two protons, generating intense radiation (energy) and pressure (centrifugal force) to counter the gravitational (centripetal) force. Thus thermonuclear reactions produce heat and light of a star over billions of years of its existence which affects geological process and biological evolution in orbiting planets. If a star is massive, gravitational collapse continues and the temperature at inner core rises to 100 million degrees when two helium-4 nuclei fuse to form berylluim-8 nuclei; at higher core temperatures collision of helium-4 with beryllium-8 results in carbon-12. After millions of years of burning helium, the inner core continues to fall as the compression continues to raise core temperature and this promotes carbon-12 and helium-4 nuclear fusion producing oxygen-16 nucleus. When helium nuclei are completely exhausted; the star would have produced significant quantities of carbon and oxygen nuclei. This result in two shells; an inner core of carbon and oxygen followed by an outer shell of burning helium, which is surrounded by a shell of burning hydrogen. When helium is exhausted, the inner core is compressed further raising temperature, then two carbon nuclei fuse to produce a plethora of nuclei from oxygen to sodium and magnesium. When carbon burning is completely exhausted, the core compresses further raising temperature and pressure to promote fusion of oxygen nuclei to produce silicon, neon, and then sulfur. As the temperatures rises to one billion degrees, fusion of silicon nuclei results in iron-56 nucleus; beyond this point no further elements are generated, since heavier nuclei bind less tightly. At this stage when the temperature is 5 billion degrees, the density reaches 10,000 tons per cubic centimeter. The core starts to lose energy in the form escaping neutrinos, and fusion of protons and electrons results in increasing amounts of neutrons. As the core energy decreases, the gravitational force of matter dominates. At a density of 100 million tons per cubic centimeter, the core predominantly contains neutrons and at this point laws of quantum mechanics precludes neutrons squeezed any further thus forming a neutron star. Eventually the star collapses in a gigantic explosion called supernova. At this point the temperature is very high and during this hot expanding neutron-rich environment capture of neutrons by various elements quickly produces all natural elements up to uranium. These are expelled into the interstellar medium to great distances in spacetime, eventually cooling the debris. During cooling process; the nuclei capture electrons to become atoms and elements such as iron, silicon, aluminum and carbon will condense into microscopic solid grains at appropriate temperatures. Low molecular weight compounds such as carbon monoxide, iron oxides, silicates and water are formed at right temperatures and pressure. Photochemical reactions in presence of iron and aluminum produce carbon dioxide, methanol, ethanol, formaldehyde, and glycine (amino acid) etc. Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen continue to form more complex organic and biomolecules, the source material for life. Oxygen remains adhered to grains of aluminum oxide. As the stellar dust and gas collapse inward toward a central plane of rotating material which will fragment to form planetismals (planetary nebula) around a star. Much of water was provided by comets (from Oort clouds outside the solar system) hitting earth over millions of years. The planet turned from state of high levels of carbon dioxide and nitrogen to a more tolerable levels, and habitable temperatures which lead to the raise in oxygen concentration. It is a concerted effort of sun and the Jupiter; geological process followed by biological evolution created the blue planet. This book contains an exhaustive amount of scientific material that could serve as a reference material, and it is highly recommended.

Can you anthropomorphize an oxygen atom?.......2006-04-23

The variance in ratings for this title is interesting; I suspect it has largely to do with the fact that this book is a bit focussed and takes an unusual vantage point -- that of an atom. If you don't like the idea of anthropomorphizing an oxygen atom, this book probably isn't going to work for you.

It worked for me. Mind you, you need to have a healthy interest in nuclear physics and cosmology to read this much of it, so if you can only take 30 pages of that sort of thing then this isn't your book. Having said that, the book nicely ties in some geology and biology, and goes on to consider possible futures for our planet (as the temporary home of our oxygen atom).

After reading the final page of Atom I imagined myself sitting at a bar with an oxygen atom who tells me about his life, his participation in the birth and death of stars and so on - a huge, fantastic journey. And then when he is done, after a pause, he says "But enough about me, tell me about your life." I sit there looking blankly back at him, realizing how utterly puny the most significant (to me) events of my incredibly short life would seem to him. OK, so I was born in St. Louis -- his womb was the Big Bang!

The Passion of the Krauss!.......2004-09-25

Simply put, I found Atom to be one of the most remarkable books I've read. It is difficult to find a physicist who can successfully throw in literary flair when describing scientific processes. When I read The Physics of Star Trek, I knew I had stumbled on a unique and talented author, and Atom did not disappoint. Rather, it blew me away! The first three chapters were somewhat intense, and probably the most "heady." From there, it is a roller coaster ride of cosmic wonders! From the universe as a "primordial baseball" we witness the birth, growth and violent death of a star, then the miracle of rebirth and the scattering of stardust to the eventual creation of life and self-aware entities questioning their place in the universe... The book is dramatic, poetic, romantic, dreamy (but not without Krauss' lighthearted wit)... I couldn't believe I was reading a book about atoms, the evolution of the universe and chemical/biological/geological processes. I was sad when it was over... This book will take you through a profound experience, and allow you to view the world through new and humbled eyes. Lawrence Krauss has captured the legacy of the minutest of things in the grandest of ways, and has succeeded in presenting hard science through wondrous and passionate art.

Excellent Premise, Poor Execution.......2004-03-24

I must first and foremost give Mr. Krauss his respects: This is one of the most factual, scientifically enlightening books on the microcosmos of atoms that I have ever read. However, I suppose my outward praise ends there. The premise of "Atom" is refreshingly interesting: The history of the universe told, so to speak, from the perspective of of a singular Oxygen atom. However, the execution of such a potentially interesting topic is slagged down by Krauss' seeming ability to make even the exciting uninteresting.

Unfortunately, this soporific wonder seems to become so caught up in inundating the reader with facts and statistics (and seemingly never-ending description) that it loses all enthusiasm. It took me a few tries to finally get through this entire book. Unless one is interested in the depth and breadth of the information covered in this book (from linear accelerators such as CERN to the Japanese detection of nanoparticles in gigantic underground caverns), this book will be totally uninteresting. Probably the most painful aspect of reading this book is the knowledge that this could have been a truly remarkable book, instead of a writing for a niche market.

This book does not require an extensive background in science, nor does it play off the reader's intelligence. Krauss sets the stage for a romp through the atomic cosmos, leading the reader through the journeys of an Oxyten atom. It is overall interesting and enlightening, but only providing the reader has an underlying knowledge in the subject at hand.

If you are truly interested in atomics, then this book is for you: Really. But if it is just a passing phase, then it's best to leave this one be -- it is not a story so much as a stringing together of facts and analysis: Excellent for the atom afficionado, not so excellent for the atom amateur.

a cosmic wonder.......2002-11-30

I found this book made me think about the universe in ways I never had before. I will never think of a glass of water the same way again. Recognizing that each atom in my body has had a biography that is not so different from the atom described in this book is remarkable.

Faint Echoes, Distant Stars: The Science and Politics of Finding Life Beyond Earth

Average customer rating:

Empty Rehash at a Middle School Level
Does life exist anywhere but Earth?
A readable but limited introduction to astrobiology
Good, but where's the Politics?
Interesting ideas

Faint Echoes, Distant Stars: The Science and Politics of Finding Life Beyond Earth
Ben Bova
Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Astronomy | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

Astrophysics & Space Science | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

Cosmology | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Evolution | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Cosmology | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books

Book Description

Our neighboring planets may have the answer to this question. Scientists have already identified ice caps on Mars and what appear to be enormous oceans underneath the ice of Jupiter's moons. The atmosphere on Venus appeared harsh and insupportable of life, composed of a toxic atmosphere and oceans of acid -- until scientists concluded that Earth's atmosphere was eerily similar billions of years ago.

An extraterrestrial colony, in some form, may already exist, just awaiting discovery.

But the greatest impediment to such an important scientific discovery may not be technological, but political. No scientific endeavor can be launched without a budget, and matters of money are within the arena of politicians. Dr. Ben Bova explores some of the key players and the arguments waged in a debate of both scientific and cultural priorities, showing the emotions, the controversy, and the egos involved in arguably the most important scientific pursuit ever begun.

Customer Reviews:

Empty Rehash at a Middle School Level.......2006-12-12

I guess you can't tell a book by the cover. I read WHERE IS EVERYBODY (Stephen Webb) at the same time as I read this work. A flying saucer with little green men adorned EVERYBODY whereas a majestic Milky Way galaxy was the selected cover art for this book. The contents, though, was exactly opposite of what one would expect. Where EVERYBODY is erudite, FAINT ECHOES is almost junior high level. EVERYBODY asks, explores and attempts to formulate answers to deep philosphical question / FAINT ECHOES is a light review of well-known knowledge with a dose of politics.

First complaint - the font is huge and there's LOTS of empty space. If the same font as EVERYBODY had been used and the useless, numerous subtitles had been omitted it could have been reduced by half. Second complaint - the science is a stripped down MTV version for those who want quick, glib answers without a lot of serious inquiry. A case in point - the evolution from prokaryotes to eurakyotes is discussed in both books. EVERYBODY offers a vibrant detailed discussion; FAINT ECHOES has a breezy, overview that hurriedly skips to the next subject. EVERYBODY has an extended, in-depth discussion (with multiple illustrations) on the role of amino acids, the building blocks of genes. FAINT ECHOES makes a few references to the subject. It's dreamlike, one of those streams of consciousness where the next thought simply spills out on the page - Mars Rover, Drake Equation, asteroids, evolution, SETI, blah blah. To generate a little interest he throws in such nonsense as ancient astronauts, Roswell, abductions, Velikovsky, Martian "canals", etc

Finally the author admits he is a true believer in intelligent life beyond Earth and issues a call to unite and become brothers and sisters of humanity. Calling all Kumbaya singers for the next rehearsal. My grade: F.

Does life exist anywhere but Earth?.......2006-05-15

A nice introduction to the nature & requirements for life.

Will we someday find life in our own solar system (outside of earth)? I personally think so. Will we find signs of INTELLIGENT life in the universe?

Food for thought.

A readable but limited introduction to astrobiology.......2004-04-28

Science writer and science fiction writer extraordinaire, Ben Bova (only people like Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke and Carl Sagan, and maybe one or two others, have done those two things any better) has two primary purposes in writing this book. The first is to bring the general reader up to date on the current status of the search for life beyond earth and the likelihood of its existence. The second is to report (and critique) the state of the political and economic wars pertaining to that search. Along the way Bova updates us on how the solar system was formed, concentrating in turn on each of the planets. He reports on the status of extra-solar planets (over 100 have been discovered as he went to press) and on why it is now believed that life may (in the form of "extremophiles") exist in places previously thought to be completely inhospitable such as deep underground, at the bottom of deep oceans, such as under the ice of Jupiter's moon, Europa, or even in interstellar clouds.

The main strength of the book is Bova's always readable prose; the main weakness is a kind of "introductory" treatment that may be too limited or simplistic for more sophisticated readers. For myself--a reader somewhere between the extremes of novice and expert--I found the book reasonably informative and certainly in no sense dumbed-down. Of course I did not need to be told (as Bova does in a gray sidebar on page 80) that "a meteorite is what is left of" a meteor "if it survives to the ground." Nor did I need to be reminded that "Einstein's special theory of relativity showed that matter can be converted to energy" as Bova does in a footnote on page 67. Or even that living organisms seem to (but do not) violate the law of entropy. There are many other examples of this concession to the beginning reader, but not so many that I was annoyed or felt my time was being wasted. The editors are to be commended for putting most of the elementary material in gray boxes, footnotes, or in some of the eleven appendices.

The book is organized into five sections beginning with what Bova calls "The Path to Astrobiology," and ending with "Tomorrow," in which he laments the lack of consistent funding for space exploration and argues that, if humans are to survive any of the catastrophes likely to strike earth (including the near certainty of the sun's expansion, explosion, and collapse in the very, very distant future) we must learn to live in places other than earth.

For the real afficionado of astrobiology, this book will indeed be much too basic. For the fairly well-informed reader wanting to know just where we are in the search for life beyond earth, there are several better books. Two that I can recommend are, Stephen Webb' outstanding Where Is Everybody?: Fifty Solutions to the Fermi Paradox and the Problem of Extraterrestrial Life (2002), the excellent The Life and Death of Planet Earth: How the Science of Astrobiology Charts the Ultimate Fate of Our World (2002) by Peter D. Ward and Donald Brownlee, and the delightful Lonely Planets: The Natural Philosophy of Alien Life (2003) by David Grinspoon. Bova includes a discussion of the famous Drake equation and his take on the probabilities implied therein, but if you want the real in-depth treatment read Stephen Webb's book

As far as the politics at NASA and in the Congress of the United States goes, I cannot recommend a better book, but can tell you that Bova's treatment here has taught me little that I didn't know. That the late Senator William Proxmire stupidly bestowed upon SETI one of his infamous "Golden Fleece" awards is old news, as is the fact that Nevada Senator Richard Bryan ridiculed the search for extraterrestrial life back in 1992 and helped to persuade Congress to cut SETI projects from NASA's budget. However Bova does report the efforts of private citizens (notably Microsoft's Paul Allen) to fund SETI projects as well as the efforts of some people at NASA and in Congress to emphasize the possibility of finding at least microbial life under the surface of Mars or elsewhere in the solar system as a means of exciting the public's fancy. If the public's fancy can be sufficiently excited, that will surely persuade our representatives to vote funds to support such projects.

Certainly Bova has a clear understanding of what goes on in Congress. He writes, "Politicians make their decisions for political reasons, not scientific. The first question a politician asks when faced with a decision is, How will this affect my chances for reelection?" (p. 273)

Nothing is going to change that. That is the way a representative democracy works. What needs to be done is to educate the public (and Congress itself!) on (1) the real value of the search for life beyond earth and (2) the real value of being able to colonize, e.g., the moon and Mars. In the first case we have that most beautiful quote from Lee DuBridge (or was it Pogo?) that sets the tone for Bova's book: "Either we are alone in the universe or we are not; either way it's mind-boggling." (p. ix) In the second case we have the specter of any number of earth-confined catastrophes that colonists on the moon or Mars might avoid, such as an unstoppable disease, nuclear warfare, or a huge meteor striking the earth.

Good, but where's the Politics?.......2004-04-09

I enjoyed this light work of nonfiction, but was disappointed. Bova's insights science-wise are very good, there is very little to do with politics in the the book besides Congess cancelled these missions, this happened when he becamre head of NASA, and so on.

Interesting ideas.......2004-03-03

Noted author, Dr. Ben Bova evaluates the age old question of whether humanity is alone in this vast universe. Whether he looks back to Copernicus and earlier or to the SETI project, Dr. Bova provides insight into the past and present scientific wars, the religious dogma, and the political benefit/cost analysis skirmishes. The author uses planet earth to make a case that life probably exists on other orbs in the universe and even in our solar system. He argues that life on earth survives hostile planetary environs that for centuries was assumed nothing could live there and bacteria brought to the moon thrives in conditions that would kill humans. Perhaps the Martian icecaps or the Jovian moons will prove to have living organisms.

FAINT ECHOES, DISTANT STARS: THE SCIENCE AND POLITICS OF FINDING LIFE BEYOND EARTH is at its best when Dr. Bova makes the inductive case that we are not alone. The nonfiction is also quite fun to read when it looks into the past to show those times that science clashed with politics/religion. When the book goes deep into the current skirmish over funding something somewhat esoteric and not easy to see the benefits, it is fascinating but loses some of the propulsion that the history and the science provides. Still this is another strong effort by Dr. Bova, who makes no pretense on which side of the debate he supports.

Book Description

Every atom in our bodies was once inside the fiery core of a star that exploded billions of years before our solar system was formed. Like the original Homeric epic, the atom at the center of this book makes its way across a truly cosmic stage. Exploding supernovas, solar winds, collapsing stars preceded the rise of life on earth and one day may foretell its end. Yet the story that Krauss tells is inextricably our story. Throughout this astonishing and monumental work, he manages to stoke our wonder at the powers and unlikely events that conspired to create our solar system, our eco-system and us.

Download Description

We are all, literally, star children. Every atom in our bodies was once inside the fiery core of some supergiant star which exploded billions of years before our solar system formed. Lawrence Krauss takes us along for the ride of the life of a single particle, an oxygen atom, and helps us understand where matter came from, how many stars and galaxies helped create our universe, how the Milky Way formed, and how the thousand million lives and deaths our atom experiences will affect all life on earth. Krauss presents the most cutting edge science in the world though understandable everyday phenomena. The story begins when the universe was the size of an atom itself, and we follow it throughout its continuous transformations of matter and energy, from heat to gas, from mountains to people. The breath you just took is as likely to contain atoms from the final breath of Julius Caesar as it is to contain a virus from the cough of your child's classmate. And that same atom, 100 billion years from now, when all the stars have burned out and the sun has swallowed the earth-- that atom's life span will continue. Krauss predicts what will be spawned to soak up the fruits of our universe, and what, if anything, will survive.

Customer Reviews:

An amazing book.......2002-09-13

This is the best introductory book for those who think they don't have what it takes to dab into cosmology but would like to give it a try. My mom who never went beyound the 8th grade in school would have an easy time reading and understanding the topics of this book (but then again, she enjoys the countless hours we spend outside staring through the telescope's eyepiece even when we can't find anything cool to observe). If you have always wanted to give cosmology a try, this book is for you.

The arrow of Time.......2002-03-09

A great read. From Antarctic research, to greenhouse gas and galaxy collision. An easy to follow thread.

Failed Attempt-Stick to Star Trek.......2002-01-20

I had high hopes for this book, but they quickly evaporated.
The author introduces a device (one that has been tried
before, actually) of following the cosmic history of an
atom to discuss many aspects of science. But within
a few chapters the approach gets stale and feels totally
forced and awkward. This is partly due to the author's
incessant and clumsy attempts to be chatty, and partly
due to his just not being able to communicate the science in
an interesting and informative manner. I really did love his
Star Trek books--somehow in that totally pop-science arena
his style worked. But here, with real science, it fails.
(And, as an aside, his using semen as an example of bodily
fluids that we all inhale was, really, beyond tasteless. I
do like writing that pushes the envelope, but this is
just silly,forced, and embarrassing.)

odd one.......2001-09-05

This is an odd book. It is another brave attempt to tell the whole story of creation, this time using the oxygen atom as a main character. In some ways it works as a literary device, but in some ways the concept of the single atom just gets in the way and seems attached to the story even when the author no longer has anything interesting or useful to say about oxygen. The idea of following a single atom is more of a marketing device. There are parts that are well written, some that remain confusing, and more complicated than they need to be. I did like some of the material on the formation of the solar system. But, of course, the author is not able to do much with inflation. Actually nobody has, yet. Nothing new on quantum mechanics. (I thought his comments regarding our daily intake of material from someone else's sweat and sperm to be in poor taste even if highly original. His ideas of what can make a story more entertaining can be a little off. A good editor would have helped here. ) There is also a distressing lack of even simple charts and graphs and timelines which would have helped keep track of many concepts far better than referring to the atom as a unifying concept. A good budget would have helped here. Krauss is an earnest writer (I prefer Quintessence), and he knows what he is talking about. But with a little care and genuine interest from a good publishing house this book could have been much better.

Incidentally, Atom in no way compares to Jacob Bronowski's classics either in style, gravitas, or subject matter. If you are interested in the history of science or just the history of science writing you would do better to read them first before you begin to make comparisons with anything written in the last twenty years.

The long and winding road of oxygen.......2001-08-01

I've looked for a book like this one for a long time. The book's scope is fantastic - covering the Big Bang to the evolution of the solar system. The author does an admirable (and detailed) job translating results from simulations of solar system evolution. My main complaint is that sometimes following those oxygen atoms around was confusing and distracting. Overall, though, I recommend this book.

Average customer rating:

Excellent, thought-provoking book on the search for life
Are we alone in the universe?

Life Beyond Earth
Timothy Ferris
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Astronomy | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

The Whole Shebang : A State of the Universe(S) Report
Coming of Age in the Milky Way
The Red Limit: The Search for the Edge of the Universe
SEEING IN THE DARK : HOW BACKYARD STARGAZERS ARE PROBING DEEP SPACE AND GUARDING EARTH FROM INTERPLANETARY PERIL
Einstein: His Life and Universe

ASIN: 0684849372

Amazon.com

Rock-solid science writer Timothy Ferris has covered this ground before. In the two-hour PBS documentary that he wrote and narrated--which shares the title, text, and many of the images of this generously illustrated book--Ferris tackles two age-old questions about the potentially universal nature of life: Are we alone, and, if not, is anybody listening?

He's quick to warn that Life Beyond Earth isn't a "textbook," that its "aim is not so much to provide answers as to help improve the quality of the questions we all ask." Given that caveat, what Ferris has put together here is a very approachable--and certainly very beautiful--survey of the evolution of life on Earth, and the implications of that for possibly finding tenacious pockets of life elsewhere, maybe even in our own solar system.

Ferris begins with the twin assumptions that we know now that life is tougher than we ever imagined, and that we "should never underestimate the scope of human ignorance." From there, he uses creatively illustrated examples to explain everything from Earth's geological and biological timeline (with a Porsche C4S on 5 kilometers of salt flats) to why Fermi's question might deserve a good-hearted poke (as he waits for an uninvited lobster to crawl onto his plate at a dinner table in Florence). Ferris has also pulled together scores of gorgeous photographs from Hubble and other sources, eye-opening if brief accounts of explorers past and present (both human and robotic), and short observations from scientists in multiple disciplines.

Unless you're already well-read in the subject, you'll likely find that Ferris achieves his goal. Life Beyond Earth doesn't just raise questions, it raises particularly interesting ones that you might not have even thought to ask. --Paul Hughes

Book Description

The search for life beyond Earth takes the human mind and spirit back down long corridors of cosmic history, probing the ancient questions of who we are and where we came from. Life Beyond Earth is the story of this exploration.

A stunning blend of words and photographs crafted by Timothy Ferris, whom The Christian Science Monitor called "the best popular science writer in the English language today," Life Beyond Earth combines more than 100 illustrations with Ferris's rich, thought-provoking text and observations from such leading scientists as Freeman Dyson, Richard Gott, and Stephen Jay Gould. Drawn from Ferris's critically acclaimed, two-hour PBS documentary, the book covers broad swaths of time and space, from the South Pacific explorations of Charles Darwin and Captain James Cook to the latest space-probe searches for life and organic matter on Mars, Europa, and Titan.

Ferris fans and newcomers to his work alike will celebrate this, his most ambitious picture book since the classic Galaxies, which was hailed by Isaac Asimov as "a very good candidate for the most beautiful book in the world." As James Gleick, author of Chaos, remarked about Ferris's most recent bestseller, The Whole Shebang, "What luck that the universe has Tim Ferris to report on its condition!"

Customer Reviews:

Excellent, thought-provoking book on the search for life.......2001-07-14

I first encountered the writing of Timothy Ferris more than a decade ago, when I read Coming of Age in the Milky Way, a book about astronomy's origins and its memorable historic figures. It was one of the first astronomy books I bought, and it is one of only a small number of books that I have read a second or third time.

Since then, Dr. Ferris has written several highly acclaimed books. This, his most recent book,is a companion volume to the television documentary with the same name. It is an ambitious and thought-provoking work, written in an almost poetic style. The book is lavishly illustrated, containing hundreds of images, including many breath-taking space photos. It asks many questions, but the two main questions are "Are we alone?" and "Is anybody listening?"

Although Life Beyond Earth presents facts and theories, it is mainly an exploration of who we are, where we came from, and whether we are alone in the Universe. Although the book is based on the latest and most accurate research about life on Earth and in the universe, Ferris poses many more questions than he answers. If you have even the most basic knowledge of the topic, this book holds few new facts. Its goal is not to educate but to provoke thought and wonder. In this, Ferris succeeds.

Again, a single reading of this book was not adequate. The text was too tantalizing, the pictures too wondrous and distracting. According to Ferris, life is an "emergent property"--something that can only be studied as a system rather than as a collection of parts. Perhaps that applies to Life Beyond Earth also. It seems that I always read a Tim Ferris book more than once. I recommend that you do too.

Are we alone in the universe?.......2001-07-04

Are we alone in the universe? Contemporary science is attempting an answer and Life Beyond Earth provides a companion to the two-hour documentary of the same name, examining the various approaches to the problem, including hundreds of photos and illustrations, and considering how life and intelligence began. A fine visual and text history of the search for life in the cosmos.

Questions from Earth, Answers from Heaven: A Psychic Intuitive's Discussion of Life, Death, and What Awaits Us Beyond

Average customer rating:

Boring and Commercialized to Say the Least
Ahh..
Ahh..
Kind of interesting, but no real advice
Lots of practical advice and common sense but...

Questions from Earth, Answers from Heaven: A Psychic Intuitive's Discussion of Life, Death, and What Awaits Us Beyond
Char Margolis , and Victoria St. George
Manufacturer: St Martins Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | New Age | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

ESP | Occult | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Parapsychology | Occult | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Questions from Earth, Answers from Heaven
The Gift: Understand and Develop Your Psychic Abilities
One Last Time: A Psychic Medium Speaks to Those We Have Loved and Lost
Don't Kiss Them Good-Bye
Crossing Over

ASIN: 0312241992

Amazon.com

Witty and winning, celebrity psychic Char Margolis tells it like it is on the subject of talking to the dead for a living. Margolis wrote Questions from Earth, Answers from Heaven to help people "awaken their own instinctive intuitive abilities," which they can use as a guide to what she terms "the Age of Awareness," the upcoming shift from a material world to a spiritual one. She warns people away from psychic hotlines in the hope that readers will be convinced to develop their own powers. According to Margolis, the five reasons to use your own intuition are: 1) Intuition helps us prepare for the future and eliminate worry. 2) Intuition allows us to help others, especially our loved ones. 3) Intuition lets us know when we're in sync with the universe. 4) Intuition teaches us to trust our own inner wisdom. And, 5) Intuition helps us to grow and develop as souls. If this sounds like reason enough for you, Questions from Earth will help you tune into answers from heaven to your most heartfelt queries. --Randall Cohan

Book Description

Ever since she was a child, Char Margolis saw, heard, and felt things that were beyond the tangible, explainable world. As she became aware of her psychic gift, she realized several profound truths: we don't die; we don't have to fear death; our loved ones are waiting for us when we pass over; we can communicate and receive messages from the other side. Now, in this remarkable and inspiring book, Char tells her story and delivers, through powerful anecdotes, this message of wisdom and love. In this book, you will learn what death is really like, why and how deceased loved ones are trying to talk to you, how to discern messages from the universe and make decisions about your own life. Questions from Earth, Answers from Heaven also provides the key for true seekers everywhere to explore your own natural psychic abilities and tap into your own God-given intuition. By unlocking your sixth sense, you will learn not only about the joys (and dangers) of the spirit world, but also how to use your intuition to enhance your life in many ways. As Char says, "Life is a school and we are all here to learn." You can begin today.

Customer Reviews:

Boring and Commercialized to Say the Least.......2007-06-06

This book did not seem to touch the heart of the matter at all! It read as a hardcover commercialized billboard directing people to overly expensive information, readings and websites with "friends" backing both.

Yes, the work is interesting. And, we all interact within this world. But really...information coming through is going to be pretty much the same with the exception of the reader's strengths (what they specialize in). The search becomes in personality and who we connect with physcically or feel most comfortable in helping to understand and relay it.

Honestly, the writer and information is very flat-lined! There are better books out there if you are really intersted in pursuing psychic abilities and development, I would search further.

I personally would not purchase this book.

Ahh.........2007-03-26

a book for the soul.A lovely lady and enchantress delights us with her splendiforous whimsy of a woman who knows how to reach the dead.Ahh..Tea is good with this.I must say the dead do seem to come to us and we'd best know how to handlE theM.(Char I bOw..) Spleniforius if I may say without stuttering.

Ahh.........2007-03-25

the whimsy of a butterfly:The enchantress Ms. Margolis is my sexual inspiration and her ability is like chocolate cake with white icing.Christine Orszula is who she looks like so I'm in love.My breast will be autographed by her and she'll tell me the whereabouts oF(wheres Sarolta..murDered) Darlene Ferrin.I love you.YoU can be psychic.Char will show you how.

Kind of interesting, but no real advice .......2006-08-21

I have read a lot of these kinds of books, and I found this one to be a little disappointing. I agree with all of her philosophy, and based on her checklist, I am very intuitive myself. But just telling me over and over that everyone is intuitive doesn't help me learn how to harness this skill to actually help myself or others! She basically tells about all the ways that intuition helps a person, and then points out how skilled she is at it with anecdote afer anecdote of her prowess, but never gives any REAL concrete advice. I finished the book with no more clue about how to actually use my intuition than when I started.

Lots of practical advice and common sense but..........2006-02-26

For some reason I just did not connect with this book the way I have others of its kind.I'm not sure why. It just didn't grab my attention or leave a lasting impression with me.Theres nothing wrong with the book and I couldn't really pinpoint anything that I felt was lacking.
The thing I have to praise about the book is that the Author gives practical advice, but is very encouraging at the same time. She keeps reminding you that you can use your intuition to your fullest advantage, you can be psychic, it is very possible for you to do all that and more.A lot of just ordinary people who have psychic ability are often egotistical and exclusionary,but Char seems pretty down to earth, especially for a psychic of her vast accomplishments and thats something that I appreciated.

Catastrophic Events and Mass Extinctions: Impacts and Beyond (Special Paper (Geological Society of America))

Average customer rating:

Catastrophic Events and Mass Extinctions: Impacts and Beyond (Special Paper (Geological Society of America))

Manufacturer: Geological Society of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Environmental Science | Earth Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Evolution | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Weather | Environment | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Outdoors & Nature Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0813723566

Voyage to Mars: NASA's Search for Life Beyond Earth

Average customer rating:

A Behind the Scenes Book about Mars Exploration
Excellent look inside a science team...
In many ways, this book was not really about Mars!
Mars: A Personal Odyssey

Voyage to Mars: NASA's Search for Life Beyond Earth
Laurence Bergreen
Manufacturer: Riverhead Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Aeronautics & Astronautics | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

Astrophysics & Space Science | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

Capone: The Man and the Era
Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe (P.S.)
Into Africa: The Epic Adventures of Stanley and Livingstone

ASIN: 157322894X
Release Date: 2001-10-09

Book Description

Voyage to Mars is the gripping story of an elite group of visionary scientists and their passionate quest to explore our closest cousin in the solar system. Acclaimed biographer Laurence Bergreen "goes to where the action is-NASA-profiling the scientists who are trying to make a manned mission to Mars a reality" (San Diego Union Tribune). It is a true adventure story of our time, about a modern-day odyssey that will not only push the limits of science, but will change our understanding of the universe and ourselves.

"Voyage to Mars makes a compelling case for the inevitability of a [manned] mission to Mars... Bergreen does a good and serious job. By focusing on selected individual men and women, he brings to life the rather abstract scientific and bureaucratic processes that drive NASA's Mars program. The reader gets a sense of the drama, the intense joys and disappointments, of science at the outer edge of knowledge." (Los Angeles Times)

"It's not hard to get caught up in the spirit of the enterprise, and it's impossible not to like the irrepressible Garvin or admire his unself-conscious, unabashed commitment to Mars. Bergreen is particularly engaging on the intense (and intensely personal) controversy-as yet unresolved-over ALH 84001, the Martian meteorite. In a heart-thumping, stomach-churning final chapter, Bergreen harrowingly relates what it would be like to be an astronaut on the way to Mars. Voyage to Mars is likely to draw even the sourest reader into the ranks of cheerleaders. Mars or bust! (Wired)

Customer Reviews:

A Behind the Scenes Book about Mars Exploration.......2001-06-29

While Laurence Bergreen's book "Voyage to Mars" does contain some information about Mars space missions, robotic probes, and scientific study of Mars, it is primarily about the scientists, both men and women, who study Mars and design experiments for NASA robotic explorers and how they dedicated their lives to the study and exploration of this planet. Most of the book covers the people involved in Mars research since the Mars Observer failure in 1992.

This book follows the lives (personal and professional) of several NASA scientists who study Mars, whether they're off in some remote location studying geology that's similar to Mars or designing an experiment for a robotic exploration mission. The book includes the many battles that each one fights, whether is with NASA bureaucracy, their personal lives, with each other for experiments to be flown on an upcoming Mars spacecraft, or dealing with each other's conflicting theories on Martian geological history. One of the things that I gleaned from reading this book is that while each of the people maybe specialized in a given area, they all have a board background in planetary sciences and spacecraft design. Also, there seems to be a lot jealously between scientists, especially for those people who worked on the "Life on Mars" Rock. It was also nice to see that a good portion of the people that NASA employs are women.

Since I've known several of the people involved in Mars research who are described in this book for over a decade, I can definitely say that the stories presented are true and I found the personal descriptions of various individuals to be dead on as well as those of NASA facilities. The book could, however, benefit from some photos and illustrations instead of the detailed of various Martian geological features. It also would have been nice to some parts of the book devoted to the engineers who help make these missions possible, but that might be an inappropriate topic for this book.

Excellent look inside a science team..........2001-03-29

Bergreen's book is a very intimate look at how science really works. In successive chapters, he takes us inside four groups of men and women: the team of scientists that worked on the Martian meteorite ALH84001; the Mars Pathfinder/Sojourner team, the team in charge of the Mars Global Surveyor's laser altimeter, and finally, inside Dan Goldin's NASA. What we see is a far cry from the polished interviews on TV, or the neatly written articles in Nature or Science. The truth is that scientists rarely agree on anything other than very broad assumptions, and often not even on those. Instead, scientists, even those working together on the same project, can heatedly disagree with one another's assumptions or interpretations, making it difficult to agree on the best way data should be released to the public.

An example from the MGS laser altimeter team (specifically the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter or MOLA). This instrument shoots blasts of laser light from the orbiting spacecraft to the surface of Mars, and times their return to the sensor. By doing so, an incredibly accurate topographical relief map of Mars can be created. However, Mars has no absolute altitude marker like Earth (sea-level). Therefore, the scientists have to agree on an altitude reference against which all other measurements are compared. The specific reference chosen is critical because it will be used in all subsequent analyses of MOLA data. Any error could potentially be a spoiler for generations of future reserachers. Bergreen was there when they discussed whether they were ready to commit to an altitude reference and start releasing data (many team members argued "yes!") or whether more data and study were needed before the team published such critical information (other team members said "wait!").

Also typical was the conflict in choosing a landing site for the Mars Polar Lander. Scientists pour over the data from MGS and pick a site that is geologically interesting. Engineers pour over the MGS data and pick a site that is safe. The two goals are often at direct odds with one another. The engineers want stastical rock-counts so that they can ensure their craft won't topple over a boulder. Scientists argue that the sites chosen by the engineers will nullify all the science objectives of the mission. Such discussions can quickly become personal as emotions boil over and passionate beliefs give way to shouting contests.

Bergreen's book is in many ways reminiscent of Overbye's Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos, only directed at Planetary scientists instead of cosmologists. This book will be of extreme interest to Marsophiles, but will also be enlightening to those who want an inside look at Dan Goldin's NASA, or at the process actually followed by scientists in the trenches. I recommend this book highly to these two groups as well as anyone else who hasn't updated their knowledge of Mars exploration since Viking.

In many ways, this book was not really about Mars!.......2001-03-07

Although on the surface this is a book about the recent robotic missions to Mars, the book is really an exploration of the culture of the project scientists at NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Bergreen paints very full portraits of many key people involved in NASA, JPL, etc including the scientists, graduate students, industry representatives, etc. The book reminded me very much of Jim Watson's excellent account of his work to elucidate the structure of DNA, "The Race for the Double Helix" in that it showed the human side of science. Jim Garvin, Jim Head, Sean Solomon, and the other scientists in this book seek good and solid data, but also (understandably) seek publications in prestigious journals to advance their careers. They worry openly about funding and grant support. Jim Garvin has what sounds like a strained relationship with his wife, who does not really seem to understand her husband's passion and dedication. Some of the investigators don't like each other, and show this openly. These sorts of interludes were very interesting as many books about science and scientists are sterile and portray scientists as absent-minded-professor types who are not grounded in the real world (which is only very rarely the case).

The book is very readable and well written. My only complaint is that the book would have benefited from some illustrations. The images from the Mars Orbiter were discussed ad nauseum, but no representative images were between the covers of the book! Also, I would have liked to have seen a few photos of some of the hardware and researchers discussed.

Mars: A Personal Odyssey.......2000-12-19

Travelers often opine that the experience of a trip itself, the way stations and characters encountered, rather than the final destination, is the most exciting aspect of a journey. After reading Laurence Bergreen's latest offering, VOYAGE TO MARS: NASA'S SEARCH FOR LIFE BEYOND EARTH (hardcover edition), one may reasonably conclude that the peripatetic author is as fascinated with the personas and psyches of the various individuals he encounters along the way as he is with the ostensible subject of the book: Mars. Indeed, a glance at Bergreen's previous books, works covering the gamut from Al Capone to Louis Armstrong to Irving Berlin, shows that the author is a keen observer and no stranger to character studies; his most recent book is no exception.

Bergreen's tour, which starts on Surtsey, a volcanic island off the Icelandic coast, eventually ends on Mars. Throughout, he manages to weave an interesting narrative, replete with detailed personal observations of the scientists and engineers he encounters along the way, which is interspersed with some fairly decent Mars science written in layspeak. The author recounts the often-rancorous Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) team meetings and the clash of egos between scientists pushing their own competing theories and hypotheses about Mars. He encounters scientists in the nascent astrobiology community, some of who are veterans from the Viking mission to Mars of the mid-1970's, and who have bittersweet memories of the main finding from that mission, namely that Mars was a lifeless world. He smoothly segues into the modern view (based on more recent analyses) that the question of life on Mars, either extant or extinct, may not be a closed issue. The reader is caught up in the excitement and the glimpses into the inner sanctum, which is made all the more fascinating because the subject is the Red Planet. The reading is pleasurable (I read the entire book in two sittings) and insightful, but there are a few problems. As a scientist, I am trained to be alert to what is termed "observational bias", which, upon careful reading, appears to raise its head in the pages of the book. It is almost axiomatic that scientists, as well as science teams, tend to be very competitive. So it is not surprising that Bergreen appears to view the world primarily through the prism of the MOLA team. Indeed, he seems to accept their characterizations of others (especially competitors on the other MGS science teams); an interesting parallel to Stockholm syndrome. Additionally, given that Bergreen is really not a "participant" in the normal sense of the word, there are the inevitable factual errors (mostly minor) that are sprinkled throughout the book. Without wanting to appear as a nitpicker, I'll list a few that came to my attention:

Page 104: "...the same moment in 1993 when Mars Observer slipped behind Mars and never resumed contact with Earth." Fact: The failed Mars Observer spacecraft lost contact with Earth three days BEFORE Mars Orbit Insertion and Earth occultation.

Page 104: "For the first time in twenty-one years, a spacecraft [Mars Global Surveyor] was orbiting Mars." Fact: The author is apparently unaware of the Soviet Phobos 2 spacecraft, which successfully entered Mars orbit on January 29, 1989, although the spacecraft was lost in March of 1989 when controllers lost contact while it was approaching its primary target, Phobos, the larger of the two Martian moons.

Page 111: "...[Mars Observer] and finally launched in 1991." Fact: Mars Observer launched in 1992.

Page 114: "He's [Malin] a member of the MOLA team." Fact: Dr. Michael C. Malin is Principal Investigator for the Mars Orbiter Camera team and a Co-Investigator for the Thermal Emission Spectrometer team; he is not a member of the MOLA team, and would therefore normally not be expected to attend their meetings. This "factual error" by the author is less innocuous than it appears and perhaps was colored by observational bias accruing from his association with the MOLA team. Moreover, the misidentification is used to strengthen his claims that Malin is secretive, elusive, one who holds onto data, and one who does not respond to email, etc., which do not appear to be well-supported by the facts, although one can easily believe that the MOLA team encouraged this view. In fairness, though, it is possible that the author simply confused membership on the MOLA team with membership on the much larger and more inclusive MGS Project Science Group.

Page 138: "...and the Journal of Geophysics Review." Fact: After checking with the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) online database, I discovered that no such journal exists. It is likely that the author confused two separate journals, the Journal of Geophysical Research and Geophysical Research Letters, both of which are key publications for planetary scientists.

Page 205: "Stardust will swing around Mars..." Fact: The Stardust spacecraft did not and will not "swing around Mars." It does, however, travel beyond Mars' orbit, but never comes closer than several million kilometers to the Red Planet at any time during its baseline mission.

Page 216: "And a little camera will pop up..." Fact: The author, while apparently describing a portion of the mission profile for the two Deep Space 2 penetrators (part of the failed Mars Surveyor 98 mission), incorrectly describes their instrument packages. There was no camera aboard either of the impact probes; however, Bergreen may be referring to the Surface Stereo Imager, a camera system aboard the Mars Polar Lander.

Despite these errors (which might have been eliminated by more careful proofreading and better research), the book is a fascinating read and, given the relative lack of publicity on the subject, a good source of information on the current state of Mars exploration efforts. If for no other reason, though, I would recommend the book for its introduction to the reader of some of the key figures in Mars exploration, past and present, which gives a personality to the often obscure names that are only found in science journals.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books