by William K. Hartmann
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| List Price: | $18.95 |
| Average Rating: |  |
| Lowest New Price: | $6.15 |
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Product Description
In this extraordinary Baedeker—accessible, up-to-date, and prodigiously illustrated with photographs from Mariner 9, Viking, Pathfinder, the Hubble Space Telescope, and the ongoing mars Global Surveyor spacecraft—visitors will encounter: - Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the solar system, rising three times as high as Mount Everest and covering an area the size of Missouri
- Tharsis Planitia, the "high plains of Mars," with plains rising 29,000 feet—wide enough to cover Europe.
- Valles Marineris, an equatorial canyon so vast that America's Grand Canyon would be a mere tributary.
Plus: the "face" on Mars, the White Rock, the "Canals" of Xanthe—and the first possible evidence of an ancient Martian life-form.
Amazon.com Review
A Traveler's Guide to Mars revitalizes the Red Planet, leaving readers with the urge to don a spacesuit and take a long trip. With the look and heft of a guide to someplace you might actually go, the book presents Mars as a place of canyons and volcanoes, mesas, and barren plains, not that dissimilar from parts of Earth. Author William K. Hartmann, who participated in the Mars Global Surveyor mission, uses all the photos and data collected by scientists in decades of research to give a thorough, yet not boring, overview of the planet. The most exciting stuff is about water--whether it ever flowed on Mars, where it went, why it's hard to find. Beyond that, there are the rocks, dust, and weather to talk about, and Mars has lots of all three. Sidebars, maps, and chronologies help keep the regions and geology of Mars organized. Hartmann never forgets he's writing for the lay reader, and his style is personable and clear. When answering claims of NASA cover-ups, ancient civilizations, and hidden structures on Mars, he calmly lays out the facts and pictures, urging readers to simply examine the evidence. Hartmann offers a tourist's-eye view of one of our most intriguing planetary neighbors and does more to polish NASA's tarnished image than a thousand press releases. --Therese Littleton
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
A collection of fourteen original and unique works , 2008-09-06
Ian Tescee draws upon his more than twenty-two years of experience and expertise with creating electronic music to compose and perform "A Traveler's Guide To Mars", a collection of fourteen original and unique works inspired by space scientist William K. Hartman and utilized in the major planetarium production about Mars at the Carnegie Science Center's Duhl Digital Dome in Pittsburgh. Tescee utilizes keyboard synthesizers and electronic drums, analog guitars, and even sings on one of the tracks. Enhanced with a half-dozen NASA commands and a countdown, a cello solo by Nancy Snustad, the faint quoting of a line from the Ray Bradbury short story 'The Lost City of Mars', "A Traveler's Guide To Mars" also features music written by electronic musician Russell Story, and 'The Wooden Prince' based on a theme by Bela Bartok. The individual pieces comprising this flawlessly produced and highly recommended CD include The New World (5:27); Passport (6:01); Earthrise (4:01); The Lost City of Mars (4:16); Aquamarine (3:43); The Wooden Prince (2:24); Dust-Red Sky (2:02); God of War (2:42); Beneath the Ice (2:09); It's Time to Go Back: Part 1 (2:48); It's Time to Go Back: Part 2 (3:54); Space Tourist Mars (5:23); Life on Mars (4:50); Billions and Billions of Stars (3:54).
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Going to Mars...take this book!, 2008-03-07
This is a fun and exciting trek around the Red Planet. I absolutely love the "hike" format, and this book is probably the next best thing to actually being there on Martian soil. Tidbits like what to wear on Mars and how to tell time definitely give the book a light-hearted personality. Another great feature is the author's own "personal experiences" / Mars exploration observation sections entitled "My Martian Chronicles." Thanks to the author, a great guide, I felt so involved in my "trip" that I wanted to buy a souvenir T-shirt! LOL I love the Classic Martian Map and Topographic Map foldouts at the front of the book. I especially like the easy-to-read large font of the text. I didn't have to squint while reading the book, which is a good thing.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Nice pictures, 2007-08-31
In this book, we see Mars treated almost as if it was a tourist region. The author has divided Mars into areas of interest. He then discussed separately each area. Just like Earth, Mars has many different regions and scenery.
Although I am keen on space, somehow this book did little for me. After awhile I found it too much and lost interest in the details of each region. What I would have preferred on Mars is fewer notes and more pictures.
The other point is the book is full of interesting pictures unfortunately to appreciate them you need a large size book then this one.
Having said that if your interested in Mars geography though you will find this author knows his information, it is current and he explains his points well.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
A fascinating look at the Red Planet, 2006-12-11
A Traveler's Guide to Mars is well written and quite fascinating for anyone with an interest in the planetary geology of Mars.
Hartmann breaks down the history of Mars into three geologic eras (Noachian, Hesperain, and Amazonian) based on the amount of cratering on the Martian surface. From there, he explores each one of these regions in detail.
From the majestic Mons Olympus volcano and 2500 mile long Valles Marineris Canyon to the probable glacial "melting mountains" of Promethei Terra and controversial ancient ocean shorelines of Vastitas Borealis , Hartmann provides the reader with a sweeping scope of Martian history, replete with stunning aerial photography and images, that is simply quite amazing. He even discusses the "microbial fossil" Martian meteorites as well as the notorious "Face on Mars" in the Cydonia highlands.
Take a trip to Mars ... you won't be disappointed
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
May I Kindly Say This Book Kicks Some Serious Butt?, 2005-11-08
This is a really cool book! I didn't know we had the so-called red planet (a better name is the butterscotch planet) mapped out to the extent that we do. I've always loved geography and to take a tour of the features of another world is thrilling. If you like astronomy, geography, or have an optimist's bent on human destiny being among the stars, read this great book!
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