Customer Reviews

Mars 3-D: A Rover's-Eye View of the Red Planet

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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

While superior in some ways to the horrible Moon 3D book, which I ordered at the same time, I have similar problems with Mars 3D. The viewer is awkward to use and seems imbalanced in color density. Many of the views appear to be off-register and do not work...there simply is no depth to them. The two books are terrible examples of 3d photography. I forced myself to look through both books and then threw them away.

This is a fascinating book on the planet Mars.
There are a plethora of full color pictures,
multi-colored rocks and variable length craters.

The Martian tropics are 50 degrees by day and
-220 degrees by night. Tremendous winds on Mars
could support windmill energy and keep solar
panels clean in perpetuity. Scientists would be
required to sort out the practical details of
transmitting electrical energy from Mars to the Earth
without incurring too much cost. The engineering
mean time between component failures would have to
be worked out because Mars is a great distance from
the Earth for routine maintenance purposes. Although,
robots could perform some maintenance functions
in the future.


The Gusev Crater Plains have dusty dunes and
miles of variable rock sizes. Bluer soil
contains deposits with increased salty sulfur
minerals and silica - rich soil. Rocks are pitted
from years of sandblasting by the wind.

There is extensive wind-carved volcanic rock
which conjures up the possibility of geothermal energy.
Traces of water abound. i.e.

o evaporated ancient salt and water stains
o geologic evidence for rainfall, lakes and glaciers
o weatherization of rocks
o evidence of significant water processes on the Gusev Crater

The acquisition would make a perfect gift for the
scientifically inclined.