For the Love of Mars: A Human History of the Red Planet
May 2023 · University of Chicago Press
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About this ebook
A tour of Mars in the human imagination, from ancient astrologers to modern explorers.
Mars and its secrets have fascinated and mystified humans since ancient times. For the Love of Mars surveys the red planet’s place in the human imagination, beginning with ancient astrologers and skywatchers and ending in our present moment of exploration and virtual engagement.
National Air and Space Museum curator Matthew Shindell describes how historical figures across eras and around the world have made sense of this mysterious planet. We meet Mayan astrologer priests who incorporated Mars into seasonal calendars and religious ceremonies, Babylonian astrologers who discerned bad omens, figures of the Scientific Revolution who struggled to comprehend Mars as a world, Victorian astronomers who sought signs of intelligent life, and twentieth- and twenty-first-century scientists who have established a technological presence on the planet’s surface. Along the way, we encounter writers and artists from each of these periods who took readers and viewers along on imagined journeys to Mars.
By focusing on the diverse human stories behind the telescopes and behind the robots we know and love, Shindell shows how Mars exploration has evolved in ways that have also expanded knowledge about other facets of the universe. Captained by an engaging and erudite expert, For the Love of Mars is a captivating voyage through time and space for anyone curious about Curiosity and the red planet.
Mars and its secrets have fascinated and mystified humans since ancient times. For the Love of Mars surveys the red planet’s place in the human imagination, beginning with ancient astrologers and skywatchers and ending in our present moment of exploration and virtual engagement.
National Air and Space Museum curator Matthew Shindell describes how historical figures across eras and around the world have made sense of this mysterious planet. We meet Mayan astrologer priests who incorporated Mars into seasonal calendars and religious ceremonies, Babylonian astrologers who discerned bad omens, figures of the Scientific Revolution who struggled to comprehend Mars as a world, Victorian astronomers who sought signs of intelligent life, and twentieth- and twenty-first-century scientists who have established a technological presence on the planet’s surface. Along the way, we encounter writers and artists from each of these periods who took readers and viewers along on imagined journeys to Mars.
By focusing on the diverse human stories behind the telescopes and behind the robots we know and love, Shindell shows how Mars exploration has evolved in ways that have also expanded knowledge about other facets of the universe. Captained by an engaging and erudite expert, For the Love of Mars is a captivating voyage through time and space for anyone curious about Curiosity and the red planet.
Ratings and reviews
4.0
1 review
Andrea Romance
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May 19, 2023
This book is pretty much what it says on the tin—a human history of Mars. It's not a science book. It's a social science book. History, sociology, politics, ethics, literature—they all play a role in this story. It's more a story of the human imagination than a story of Mars. Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.
About the author
Matthew Shindell curates the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s collection of spacecraft, instruments, and other artifacts related to the exploration and study of our Earth and solar system. He cohosts the museum’s AirSpace podcast. A historian of science, he is also the author of The Life and Science of Harold C. Urey, coauthor of Spaceships and Discerning Experts, editor of Lunar, and coeditor of Smithsonian American Women.
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