A Traveler's Guide to Mars

A Traveler's Guide to Mars
by William K. Hartmann

A Traveler's Guide to Mars
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Book Summary Information

Author: William K. Hartmann
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2003-08-21
ISBN: 0761126066
Number of pages: 450
Publisher: Workman Publishing Company

Book Reviews of A Traveler's Guide to Mars

Book Review: A collection of fourteen original and unique works
Summary: 5 Stars

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).

Summary of A Traveler's Guide to Mars

Two events will make the summer of 2003 a remarkable one for amateur astronomers. By late August, Mars will come within 34 million miles of Earth, appearing six times larger and shining 85 times brighter than usual-"the most striking and spectacular Mars apparition in tens of thousands of years" (The New York Times). And William K. Hartmann, co-author of The Grand Tour, Out of the Cradle, and The History of Earth, is publishing A TRAVELER'S GUIDE TO MARS.

Conceived and created like a real Baedecker-factual, accessible, heavily illustrated, in a carry-around size-A TRAVELER'S GUIDE TO MARS brings together all the astonishing information scientists have recently learned about Mars, and conveys it in the engaging, lively style that made Dr. Hartmann the first-ever winner of the Carl Sagan Medal for public communication of planetary science. Taken around the planet like tourists, readers will discover mysterious dry riverbeds, the largest volcano in the solar system (three times higher than Mount Everest), a possible ancient sea floor, giant impact craters, "the face on Mars," and other wonders.

Throughout is an Extraordinary selection of photographs, maps, and paintings, including images from Mariner 9 and the Viking explorations, the Hubble Space Telescope, and the ongoing Mars Global Surveyor mission. Four gatefolds show the latest topographic maps of the entire Martian surface. Sidebars advise readers on what to wear and landing procedures. In addition, Hartmann's "My Martian Chronicles" spotlight his life and times as a planetary scientist.


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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