This Is Mars
- Downloads：9576
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-07-26 09:53:20
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Xavier Barral
- ISBN：1597112585
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
This Is Mars offers a previously unseen vision of the red planet。 Located somewhere between art and science， the book brings together for the first time a series of panoramic images recently sent back by the U。S。 observation satellite MRO （Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter）。 Since its arrival in orbit in 2006， MRO and its HiRISE telescope have been mapping Mars' surface in a series of exceptionally detailed images that reveal all the beauty of this legendary planet。 Conceived as a visual atlas， the book takes the reader on a fantastic voyage--plummeting into the breathtaking depths of the Velles Marineris canyons; floating over the black dunes of Noachis Terra; and soaring to the highest peak in our solar system， the Olympus Mons volcano。 The search for traces of water also uncovers vast stretches of carbonic ice at the planet's poles。 Seamlessly compiled by French publisher， designer and editor Xavier Barral， these extraordinary images are accompanied by an introduction by research scientist Alfred S。 McEwen， principle investigator on the HiRISE telescope; an essay by astrophysicist Francis Rocard， who explains the story of Mars' origins and its evolution; and a timeline by geophysicist Nicolas Mangold， who unveils the geological secrets of this fascinating planet。
Reviews
Blaine
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Astonishing， in every sense。 Behold， in these pages， what time hath wrought。 This large coffee-table book consists of hundreds of detailed black and white plate photographs of fascinating and bizarre landscape formations on the surface of Mars taken from above by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's HiRISE camera。 No words in no language can describe what the photographs in this book reveal to the eyes and the mind。 They're so surreal they have the effect of disorienting the mind。 I find myself ask Astonishing， in every sense。 Behold， in these pages， what time hath wrought。 This large coffee-table book consists of hundreds of detailed black and white plate photographs of fascinating and bizarre landscape formations on the surface of Mars taken from above by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's HiRISE camera。 No words in no language can describe what the photographs in this book reveal to the eyes and the mind。 They're so surreal they have the effect of disorienting the mind。 I find myself asking， what am I seeing， what am I actually looking at here？ We're accustomed to aerial photographs of the Earth from above and being able to identify lakes， rivers， mountain ranges， plains， oceans， farmlands， cities， etc。 But here， you're plunged into a completely alien world that's as old as the Earth but has a totally different geomorphic history resulting in landforms that are simultaneously both familiar and strangely unfamiliar。 After a while I felt mind fatigue。Browsing these pages with active curiosity and imagination is as close as you can get to pure exploration of an alien world。 But there's something even more alien about Mars than the equally astonishing photographs of the moon taken by the Apollo astronauts。 Since， like the Earth， Mars has an atmosphere with winds and since Mars once had liquid water flowing on the surface and since Mars once had volcanic and plate tectonic activity with lava flows， makes the experience of same-yet-different Martian landforms even more disorienting。 You realize you are looking at landscapes of a world that has developed from natural forces in complete absence of transformations brought about by carbon cycles and life forms。 We may still find microbial life on Mars and it may have had a role in shaping the planet， but it reminds us of just how completely Earth's landforms have been shaped by living organisms， carbon cycling， and complex thermodynamic processes。 A side note here is how important having a knowledge base is， a point my observant wife helped me with。 The more knowledge， exposure， and time-spent with a topic area， the more you are able to appreciate and understand the topic。 In the case of this review， my gushing language reflects a lifetime of study of astronomy and space science。 Those of you who have had little exposure to， and knowledge of astronomy and planetary science might not find the photos in this book that interesting。 As my wife pointed out， the same is true for me with regard to medical science and the body – I have little exposure to and time spent with it and so am not as able to appreciate equally amazing facts and knowledge。 Granted， you may appreciate the photos in this book in a different way， as an artist， as a standard geologist or as a world traveler who’s been exposed to the great diversity of landscapes on earth。 Since all human languages arose in symbiosis with life on our planet earth， no descriptors or categories exist with which to describe the alien landforms seen in these phenomenal photographs of the surface of Mars。 It's not only that there are words， but there are not even experiential categories or metaphoric language that correspond to the landscapes presented。 Mesa， plains， dunes， ridges， gullies， cliffs， canyons， spires， craters， boulders， hills， mountains， slopes， shadows， rivulets， fissures， faults - these and hundreds of other geologic terms describe features in these photos but fail to capture the strange gestalt of how these features are combined。 Planetary geologists are going to have to team up with poets and linguists to create new words and phrases to describe the outlandish landforms。The book also has articles on 1） the HiRISE camera and the MRO spacecraft， 2） the geology of Mars， 3） maps of Mars， 4） a history of observations of Mars， and 5） short geomorphology descriptions of all of the plates。 Currently （as of Feb-2021） the book is available for a discount from the publisher: https://aperture。org/books/this-is-mars/。 Also note that the publisher offers a smaller "Midi" version of this book by the same publisher， about half the size of the coffee-table book reviewed here。 One more note: the current dust jacket design and photo are different than the original which featured the title in white letters in the upper left of the front jacket。 It only takes a few pages to realize you're holding a very special book， one that depicts the infinite creativity of nature， this time an entire new planet of creativity， of how micro and macro processes of matter， space， forces， and time have created and are creating endless and astonishing novelty。 This is Mars like you've never， ever seen it。Final note: ALL of the photos in this book as well as hundreds more are available as high-resolution downloads on the NASA Mars website for your viewing pleasure （https://mars。nasa。gov/mro/multimedia/。。。）。 This raises the question， why spend the money on the book？ I have my answers to why physical objects like paper books and music discs have value beyond their digital clones but perhaps that's old-fashioned。 Edited: 2-26-21 。。。more
Janet
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Fantastic。
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=This Is Mars
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=This Is Mars&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,This Is Mars&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0