The Sirens of Mars: Searching for Life on Another World
- ISBN-10
- 1101904828
- ISBN-13
- 9781101904824
- Category
- Science
- Pages
- 304
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2020-07-07
- Publisher
- Crown
- Author
- Sarah Stewart Johnson
Description
“Sarah Stewart Johnson interweaves her own coming-of-age story as a planetary scientist with a vivid history of the exploration of Mars in this celebration of human curiosity, passion, and perseverance.”—Alan Lightman, author of Einstein’s Dreams NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • Times (UK) • Library Journal “Lovely . . . Johnson’s prose swirls with lyrical wonder, as varied and multihued as the apricot deserts, butterscotch skies and blue sunsets of Mars.”—Anthony Doerr, The New York Times Book Review Mars was once similar to Earth, but today there are no rivers, no lakes, no oceans. Coated in red dust, the terrain is bewilderingly empty. And yet multiple spacecraft are circling Mars, sweeping over Terra Sabaea, Syrtis Major, the dunes of Elysium, and Mare Sirenum—on the brink, perhaps, of a staggering find, one that would inspire humankind as much as any discovery in the history of modern science. In this beautifully observed, deeply personal book, Georgetown scientist Sarah Stewart Johnson tells the story of how she and other researchers have scoured Mars for signs of life, transforming the planet from a distant point of light into a world of its own. Johnson’s fascination with Mars began as a child in Kentucky, turning over rocks with her father and looking at planets in the night sky. She now conducts fieldwork in some of Earth’s most hostile environments, such as the Dry Valleys of Antarctica and the salt flats of Western Australia, developing methods for detecting life on other worlds. Here, with poetic precision, she interlaces her own personal journey—as a female scientist and a mother—with tales of other seekers, from Percival Lowell, who was convinced that a utopian society existed on Mars, to Audouin Dollfus, who tried to carry out astronomical observations from a stratospheric balloon. In the process, she shows how the story of Mars is also a story about Earth: This other world has been our mirror, our foil, a telltale reflection of our own anxieties and yearnings. Empathetic and evocative, The Sirens of Mars offers an unlikely natural history of a place where no human has ever set foot, while providing a vivid portrait of our quest to defy our isolation in the cosmos.
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2021-07-20
- 304 pages
- Paperback
- Crown Publishing Group (NY)
-
- 2020
- 290 pages
- Paperback
- Crown Publishing Group (NY)
Similar books
-
Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars: Space, Exploration, and Life on Earth
By Kate GreeneIn Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars, Greene draws on her experience to contemplate humanity’s broader impulse to explore.
-
Discovering Mars: A History of Observation and Exploration of the Red Planet
By William Sheehan, Jim BellA History of Observation and Exploration of the Red Planet William Sheehan, Jim Bell. Praise for Discovering Mars “Discovering Mars provides a breathtaking panorama ... —Amy J. Williams, University of Florida, and team member on NASA's ...
-
Red Rover: Inside the Story of Robotic Space Exploration, from Genesis to the Mars Rover Curiosity
By Roger WiensCovers the development and construction of the Mars rover Curiosity, the most sophisticated vehicle ever sent to the "Red Planet."
-
Siren Spell
By Cidney SwansonFrom Kirkus Award Winner Cidney Swanson, a dark tale of Sirens, Ballet, and Theatre.
-
The Smallest Lights in the Universe: A Memoir
By Sara SeagerI called ahead to a hotel on the North Rim and asked if they had any rooms. One was left. A sign. We pulled into the Grand Canyon Lodge, and it was one of the most gorgeous places I could imagine. The rooms feel like log cabins.
-
The Martian Chronicles
By Ray BradburyBradbury's Mars is a place of hope, dreams and metaphor - of crystal pillars and fossil seas - where a fine dust settles on the great, empty cities of a silently destroyed civilization.
-
Alien Oceans: The Search for Life in the Depths of Space
By Kevin HandAlien Oceans reveals the science behind the thrilling quest to find out. Kevin Peter Hand is one of today's leading NASA scientists, and his pioneering research has taken him on expeditions around the world.
-
Swords of Mars
By Edgar Rice BurroughsJohn Carter is back and in the Barsoonian city of Zodanga, where he discovers the Assasins guild is alive and well!
-
Rescuing the Planet: Protecting Half the Land to Heal the Earth
By Tony HissBeginning in the vast North American Boreal Forest that stretches through Canada, and roving across the continent, from the Northern Sierra to Alabama's Paint Rock Forest, from the Appalachian Trail to a ranch in Mexico, Tony Hiss sets out ...
-
Alone at Night
By K. J. EricksonIn 1986, seventeen-year-old Andrea Bergstad was working alone at night at a rural Minnesota gas station when she vanished without a trace.