What would it be like to visit Mars—to explore the distinctive, untouched terrain that inspired astronomers and stirred so many sci-fi writers’ imaginations? Two highly capable robotic geologists—Spirit and Opportunity—made that amazing voyage, and spent the last four years roaming the Red Planet’s unique landscape. Thanks to 120 stunning 3-D and color images shot by these rovers, we can come along—and right now, it’s the closest we can get to actually setting foot on Mars. These super-realistic pictures pop off the page, allowing us to see for ourselves the rocks, craters, valleys, and other geologic configurations that define the Martian terrain. Compelling and accessible text guides us on this exhilarating tour, revealing the thrill of each discovery, along with the perils and near misses. Featuring a fold-out flap with embedded 3-D viewer (which actually allows customers to view the three-dimensional images right in the store), it’s the perfect gift for any armchair astronomer.
"Jim Bell takes us on an extraordinary journey across often mysterious, sometimes perilous, and always fascinating Martian terrain. A must-read for anyone who's ever dreamed of exploring the Red Planet." --Buzz Aldrin, Apollo 11 astronaut
"See this other world like no one before you could. . . make discoveries that fiction writers only dream about!" --Bill Nye, "The Science Guy," and member of the Mars team
"Bell has accomplished the impossible—he has brought the surface of Mars down to Earth." --Neil deGrasse Tyson, Astrophysicist, American Museum of Natural history Author of The Pluto Files
"Experience Mars as never before . . . the next best thing to going there." --Ann Druyan, co-writer COSMOS, co-creator, Contact
“These images transport us Earthlings to new depths of Martian discoveries.” --Dava Sobel, author, Longitude and Galileo's Daughter
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Jim Bell is a scientist, author, and an extremely active and prolific public communicator of science and space exploration. He is a Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University, an Adjunct Professor of Astronomy at Cornell University, and President of The Planetary Society. He is a frequent contributor to popular astronomy and science magazines like Sky & Telescope and Scientific American, and to radio shows and internet blogs about astronomy and space. He has appeared on television on the NBC "Today" show, on CNN's "This American Morning," on the PBS "Newshour," and on the Discovery and National Geographic cable channels. He has written a number of photography-oriented books that showcase some of the most spectacular images of the solar system and beyond acquired during the space program: "Postcards from Mars" (Dutton/Penguin, 2006), "Mars 3-D" (Sterling, 2008), "Moon 3-D" (Sterling, 2009), and "The Space Book" (Sterling, 2013)
Jim grew up in Rhode Island and received his B.S. in Planetary Science and Aeronautics from Caltech in 1987 and his Ph.D. in Geology & Geophysics from the University of Hawaii in 1992. His research primarily focuses on the geology, geochemistry, and mineralogy of planets, moons, asteroids, and comets using data obtained from telescopes and spacecraft missions. Jim spent 3 years as a National Research Council postdoctoral research fellow at NASA's Ames Research Center in the early 1990s.
Jim is an active planetary scientist and has been heavily involved in many NASA robotic space exploration missions, including the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR), Mars Pathfinder, Comet Nucleus Tour, Mars Exploration Rover, Mars Odyssey Orbiter, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, and the Mars Science Laboratory rover mission. As a member of the Mars Exploration Rover team, Jim has served as the lead scientist in charge of the Panoramic camera (Pancam) color, stereoscopic imaging system on the Spirit and Opportunity rovers. As a professional scientist, Jim has published more than 30 first-authored and 140 co-authored research papers in peer reviewed scientific journals, has authored or co-authored more than 400 short abstracts and scientific conference presentations, and has edited two scientific books for Cambridge University Press (one on the NEAR mission, the other on the surface composition of Mars). He has been an active user of the Hubble Space Telescope, and of ground based telescopes at Mauna Kea Observatory in Hawaii.
To arrange a speaking engagement with Jim Bell, please contact the Penguin Speakers Bureau at speakersbureau@us.penguingroup.com.
This is one of the more ingenious and creative books I've seen in a long time. Chock full of great facts and information about the Mars rovers, the Mars project, and Mars itself. The photos are the real gem, though. Built-in 3D glasses fold out from an inside-cover flap and transport you to the surface of Mars via a ton of 3D images (acquired by the rovers). Mars is, needless to say, both alien and mesmerizing. Truly one of the most enjoyable astronomy books on the market for kids and adults. Great fun.
Mars 3-D: A Rover's-Eye View of the Red Planet (Hardcover) was an excellent compilation of 3D photo's which only required some good 3D glasses (which are available from Amazon) to make it work. The only negative thing I can say is that the books glasses, which have been integrated with the cover, do not make the photo's come to life the way a real pair can. NASA also maintains a web site of 3D mars photo's which will also work very well with standard 3D glasses, however, this book has compiled an excellent collection and saved you much hunting on the web for good quality 3D images of mars.
I have several of Jim Bell's books and they were all very well done. This one however left me wondering why the publisher used this format of 3-D. It is very inconvenient to use and unless the book is placed on a flat surface at eye level, one has to fiddle with the 3-D lenses and the photo. The content is interesting and allows the viewer to see Mars as if one were there and the explanation/description is informative. Were it not for the arrangement of the 3-D lenses, I would have rated this 4-1/2 stars. Likewise the same format was used for his publication of the Moon in 3-D. Unfortunate. Paul
