The Sirens of Mars by Sarah Stewert Johnson

The Sirens of Mars by Sarah Stewert Johnson

This sort of book tends to do three things—and Johnson does all of them extremely well. First, it gives a little bit of biographical information on the author, helping the reader to understand how she was inspired to become interested in her field. Second, it gives a historiography of the great scientists who came before her, showing how they helped to create the modern field of study. And finally, it shows how our understanding of the field has advanced, and in the case of Mars, Stewert spends a lot of time going through the many missions to the red planet that have expanded our knowledge.

 

Let me end by saying that there were a lot more missions than I understood there to have been, and since I have been interested in Mars since reading Edgar Rice Burroughs and Ray Bradbury, this came as a big surprise to me. I’m sure that most people have heard of Mariner, Viking, and Pathfinder. But did you know about Observer, Global Surveyor, Climate Orbiter, Polar Lander, the Rovers, Phoenix, and more?

 

It's an interesting book for anyone who is curious about how we know what we know about Mars.