The Complete Book of Mars
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Summary
Was there water on Mars? Is there life on Mars? How do spacecraft operate on Mars? Is Mars suitable for human habitation? When will humans migrate to Mars? Read this book, and you will understand Mars.
The Mars Book is a complete record of Mars from 4.5 billion years ago to the present. Since ancient times, Mars has been the planet humans most long to reach.
This book introduces Mars's past, present, and future, from observing Mars through telescopes and early theories about Mars, to launching spacecraft to observe Mars, to sending rovers to Mars directly, searching for life on Mars, new horizons in Mars remote sensing, and finding the right answers about Mars, and then also introduces Mars in science fiction and when humans will land on Mars. At the end, it records in chronicle form all of humanity's Mars exploration missions, as well as information about Mars, comparisons between Mars and Earth, Mars's atmosphere, maps of Mars, and more.
In addition, the book includes more than 200 images from authoritative institutions such as NASA, allowing readers to glimpse Mars's spectacular appearance and little-known details. Rich historical facts, detailed knowledge, and exquisite images make a complete record of the great moments of human exploration of Mars, leading you to a comprehensive and thorough understanding of Mars.
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Popular-science enthusiasts with a strong interest in astronomy, planetary science, or space exploration
- Visual learners who prefer to grasp scientific concepts intuitively through high-resolution images and diagrams
- Readers who want a systematic understanding of the history of Mars observation and exploration from ancient times to the present
- Thoughtful readers curious about the future of humans as an interplanetary species
Not a good fit for
- Casual readers looking for a short, lighthearted, fun book about Mars
- Professionals expecting highly technical, purely academic, research-paper-style studies of Mars
Reading tips
- Start by quickly browsing the book's striking images and diagrams to build an intuitive impression, then read the text in depth according to the chapters that interest you.
- You can use the key mission names mentioned in the book (such as Curiosity and Perseverance) to look up the latest exploration news online as you read, cross-checking book knowledge against real-time developments.
- The sections on future base construction are quite thought-provoking; while reading, treat them as a thought experiment grounded in current scientific fact rather than getting hung up on the difficulty of implementation.
About the publisher
Beijing United Publishing Co., Ltd. is a publisher known for its literature and history titles, with 2,065 books in the collection. Its publishing covers foreign literature, contemporary Chinese prose and essays, history, folk literature, and cultural books. Its list ranges from Sima Qian's complete edition of the Records of the Grand Historian to foreign classics such as The Book of Disquiet, All Quiet on the Western Front, Snow Country, The Stranger, and Jean-Christophe, as well as modern Chinese works including Teahouse and Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk. Its authors and translators include Yasunari Kawabata, Fernando Pessoa, Erich Maria Remarque, Jin Xinyi, Zhou Miao, and Chen Chao. Public information is limited, but its catalogue reflects a balance between Chinese and foreign literary classics and historical and cultural works.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 前言
- 译者序
- 作者序
- 第一章 研究起步
- 1．天体运行
- 2．望远镜观测的先驱
- 3．早期地图
- 4．火星的卫星
- 第二章 火星理论
- 1．斯基亚帕雷利约数
- 2．罗威尔的火星人
- 3．火星上的环境
- 第三章 直击火星
- 1．飞越快照
- 2．全球视角
- 第四章 寻找生命
- 1．探测策略
- 2．“海盗号”着陆器
- 3．克里斯平原上
- 4．这也是个乌托邦
- 5．争议四起
- 6．极端微生物
- 第五章 遥感视野
- 1．蹒跚起步
- 2．“火星全球勘测者号”
- 3．食尸鬼的盛宴
- 4．“奥德赛号”的洞察
- 5．欧洲加入
- 6．“火星勘测轨道器”的探测目标
- 7．地质年代序列
- 8．印度的火星轨道器
- 9．丢失的大气层
- 10．嗅寻甲烷
- 第六章 寻找答案
- 1．“火星探路者号”
- 2．探索受挫
- 3．机器人野外地质调查
- 4．古谢夫撞击坑内的“勇气号”
- 5．子午线高原上的“机遇号”
- 6．“凤凰号”找到冰
- 7．盖尔撞击坑中的“好奇号”
- 8．火星内核
- 9．未来火星车
- 10．2020年中国首探火星，一举实现三个目标
- 第七章 火星科幻
- 1．《星际战争》
- 2．《火星（巴松）》与约翰·卡特
- 3．广播剧恐慌
- 4．《火星纪事》
- 5．《红色星球》
- 6．《火星沙》
- 7．太空时代小说
- 第八章 登陆火星
- 1．太空旅行
- 2．早期设想
- 3．阿波罗计划后的提议
- 4．做什么，怎样做，何时做
- 5．先进推进器
- 后记
- 火星地图
- 火星探测任务编年史
- 火星与地球的比较
- 火星大气
- 图片来源中英文对照
- 扩展阅读
- 译者后记
- 致谢
FAQ
Is the content of this book outdated?
What makes this book distinctive compared with other popular science books on Mars?
Can I understand it without a background in astronomy?
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About the author
David M. Harland is an author known mainly for popular science writing. Publicly available information about him is limited, and his nationality, dates of birth and death, and educational background cannot be confirmed. Judging from the one work held in the collection, his writing focuses on astronomy and planetary science, and his representative book, The Complete Book of Mars, falls under the category of popular science. The book centers on Mars, covering the history of human observation of the planet, planetary science knowledge, and related exploration progress, presenting specialized knowledge in a way accessible to general readers. Harland's writing emphasizes turning complex scientific concepts into understandable narrative, balancing informativeness with readability, and is suitable for readers interested in space exploration and planetary science. Although only one work is currently included, The Complete Book of Mars reflects the author's care and experience in science writing and offers Chinese readers an accessible introduction to Mars research.
Zheng Yongchun is a researcher at the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a planetary science expert, and a science writer. He has long been engaged in research related to planetary science and is known to the public as "Uncle Mars," a nickname that reflects his approachable style in communicating astronomy and planetary knowledge to a general audience. In 2016, he received the Carl Sagan Award from the American Astronomical Society, which honors individuals for outstanding contributions to science communication. The library holds two of his works, including The Complete Book of Mars and A Guide to Mars Colonization, both in the popular science category and centered on Mars exploration and the possibility of human settlement on Mars. Because public information is limited, details of his life and a complete list of his works cannot be given here, but the available works show that he is skilled at turning cutting-edge planetary science into accessible reading, and that he plays a positive role in popularizing knowledge about Mars and inspiring public interest, especially among young people, in space exploration.
Liu Han is an author whose works span several fields. Publicly available information is limited, and details such as nationality, dates of birth and death, and educational background cannot be confirmed at present. Judging from the four works included in the database, the author's writing interests are notably broad: they include a legal work, Haiguo Xianzhi: Comparative Constitutionalism in the Age of Globalization, which discusses comparative constitutional law and globalization, as well as a suspense and mystery novel, the serial-killer-themed Liànxù "Shārén Guǐ" Qīngwā Nán. The author also touches on popular science and language and translation, represented respectively by The Complete Book of Mars and Meaning and Translation. This path across law, genre fiction, popular science, and translation suggests that the author is not confined to a single subject but tends to address core questions in different disciplines. Given the lack of biographical information, readers may better understand the author's concerns and style through the works themselves.
