Mars has been getting a lot of attention recently, relatively speaking, and the movie “The Martian” premiering 2 October will probably stimulate more. “Welcome to Mars” by Buzz Aldrin and Marianne Dyson is a welcome insight into what happens after the first hesitant steps composed of photo ops and exploration. “Welcome to Mars” goes far beyond what will be required for one trip to Mars and enters the realm of becoming permanent settlers and building a life there.
Okay, admittedly I am biased, given that all of my books are concerned with the long-term settlement of Mars. The Earth-Mars Chronicles: Hope for Humanity However, I contend that having a vision for the future is the most important and powerful stimulate available when it comes to tackling seemingly overwhelming problems. That is another thing that I appreciate in this book; the problems and challenges are not swept away with a simple “that is just an engineering detail.” Quoting from the first sentence of the first paragraph on page 74, “To put it bluntly, the surface of Mars is deadly.” I like it.
Marianne Dyson is an accomplished author in multiple fields, especially those that bring science and space to young people in a fun yet challenging fashion. Her work in “Welcome to Mars” is excellent. Buzz Aldrin is well known for his position on Mars exploration and settlement, and, in some circles, for his enthusiastic promotion of the “Aldrin Cycler” concept. He and Ms. Dyson break the fundamentals down to very understandable descriptive language and graphics, but that is only one of dozens of concepts well presented.
Another dimension of the Mars story is of course, its history, and that is not neglected. It is all here, from discovery and controversy over “canals” and Martian invasions to a history of orbiters and surface rovers. As with every other topic in the book, the history lesson is well illustrated.
There is much more that I could say about this work, but hopefully these few words will inspire the reader to discover the rest. My assessment of the appropriate age range for this book would be 12 to whatever. Adults who have a desire to be somewhat conversational on the subject of Mars after their children see “The Martian” should definitely add this book to their library!
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Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2015
- Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2015
- Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2015
- Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 2016
- Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2015
- Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2019
- Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2015
Top reviews from other countries
- arindamdasbabun@gmail.Reviewed in India on November 4, 2019
Awesome book
It's a very nice and interesting book by Buzz Aldrin.Awesome bookarindamdasbabun@gmail.
Reviewed in India on November 4, 2019
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- DAVE RReviewed in the United Kingdom on October 13, 2015
Great book for adults too , very informative ...
