For the love of Mars A human history of the red planet

Review by Choice Review

For the Love of Mars describes changes in perceptions of the Red Planet since antiquity, from one civilization to another across Earth. Shindell (Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum) emphasizes context for these views. Early civilizations viewed Mars and other planets as gods with the power to affect people and events or thought that their changing appearances, motions, or conjunctions in the sky foretold occurrences on Earth. The advent of telescopic observations revealed Mars as a world, and observations through the early 20th century showed markings widely interpreted as dark seas or light-colored continents. A few astronomers claimed to see canals, envisioning networks constructed by Martians to convey water from polar ice caps to arid lower latitudes. Today, NASA leads efforts to locate water, search for traces of life, and potentially establish astronauts on Mars, with 10 successful landings so far and productive orbiting spacecraft. A rapt, computer-owning public awaits each new image from rovers that climb over rocks and across craters, follows the progress of a tiny Mars helicopter, and comments on social media. Contemporary media, such as the film The Martian (2015), depict science enabling human survival on Mars. Summing Up: Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty; professionals. --Stephen P Maran, American Astronomical Society

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.

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Review by Booklist Review

Smithsonian curator Shindell takes readers on a tour of the changing views of the Red Planet in science, history, and literature. Starting with the ancient Mayans, Chinese, and Babylonians, Shindell examines how the planets were woven in the religious beliefs of these influential civilizations. In the Middle Ages, the Europeans blamed Mars for the bubonic plague as well as other illnesses they attributed to the alignment of the planets. During the Renaissance, as Galileo challenged society's perception of our solar system, the literature of the time depicted Mars as a strange and forbidding place. As books became more readily available, early sf writers like H. G. Wells and Edgar Rice Burroughs conceived of adventure and menace originating from the Red Planet. After an initial push during the space race of the 1960s, efforts to reach Mars stalled and fizzled, but orbiter and lander Viking missions and, more recently, the Mars rovers have given humanity a fuller picture of our celestial neighbor's terrain and past. Armchair astronomers and history buffs alike will find this to be a fresh and engaging account.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Library Journal Review

Shindell, a curator at Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum and author of The Life and Science of Harold C. Urey, examines the changing systems of beliefs and science about Mars, Earth's nearest planetary neighbor. The book starts with depictions of Babylonian, Chinese, and Mayan astrological practices that related to the planet as a god who sent messages for people to interpret. A belief in these omens led many cultures to systematically observe and record what they saw in the night sky. Jewish, Islamic, and Christian natural philosophers later connected Mars to changes in the physical world. Medieval physicians related the planet to human health, even partially blaming Mars for the Bubonic plague. Technology--from maps and telescopes to printing and the internet--further changed people's understanding of the planet, and writers such as Dante and Descartes imagined who might live there. Shindell documents the eras of Mars exploration and colonization, the space race, and the current focus on climate change by looking at the planet from the lens of popular culture and the creation of national space agendas. VERDICT This insightful history will charm readers of popular science, science fiction, and history.--Catherine Lantz

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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