Riding Mars Mania

kw: book reviews, nonfiction, planet mars, popular treatments

As large as the planet Mars looms in history and in the popular consciousness, a 250-page book can at best skim the surface of the many facets and subjects. This is as I expected when I began to read 4th Rock from the Sun: The Story of Mars, by Nicky Jenner.

The book is well written, and I found it enjoyable. I might have preferred the author to settle down to a smaller number of subjects, and to treat them in more depth. But that's just me. For those who have read little about Mars, this is a good introduction, covering history, science and popular culture. Also, with the chance to sign up (for a fee) to actually go there, albeit on a one-way trip with little chance of actually happening in this generation, some folks with Mars dreams but little knowledge could benefit from this book.

We have sent more spacecraft to Mars than any other "place" except the Moon. A useful Appendix lists them all, all 43 Mars missions by all nations, to date. That includes, of course, the USA and USSR (later Russia's Roscosmos), plus Japan, Europe's space agency, China and India.