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Maybe someday
40
/100
I Index Overall Rating
Readers
44/100Critics
36/100Scholars
Author:
Sarah Stewart Johnson
Publisher:
Crown
Date:
July 7, 2020
Georgetown scientist Sarah Stewart Johnson tells the story of how she and other researchers have scoured Mars for signs of life, transforming the planet from a distant point of light into a world of its own.
What The Reviewers Say
[Johnson] presents efficient thumbnails of astronomers like Percival Lowell, who popularized the idea of visible 'canals' on Mars as evidence of an alien civilization; Carl Sagan, who suggested that big, turtlelike organisms 'are not only possible on Mars; they may be favored'; and Maria Zuber, the only woman among the 87 investigators on the 1996 Mars Global Surveyor science team. Along the way, you come to appreciate the astonishing ingenuity required to safely send rovers the size of Mini Coopers several hundred million kilometers through a frozen vacuum, land them on another planet and drive them around by remote control. Most compelling are Johnson’s memories of formative moments.
... vivid.
As [Johnson] displays the love of discovery that drives so much scientific inquiry, it’s easy to cheer her on.
Johnson details her call to science as a girl, her experiences as a female scientist, and how her involvement with Mars began in 2004 when, as a graduate student, she went to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California to observe the rovers Curiosity and Opportunity as they roamed the Martian terrain. A heady and thoughtful history for space and science buffs..
