A Traveler's Guide to Mars is a fun introduction to our current understanding of Mars. The format is modeled on books written for travelers to Earthly destinations (though there is no mention of hotel accommodations or restaurants). It begins with a brief history of Earth-based observations and gives a nice explanation of why Lowell saw nonexistent canals through his telescope. It then moves on to describing a sampling of sites from all over the planet, briefly describing for each the interesting parts and some hypothesis about how the features formed. Hartmann is not afraid to say for some mysterious formations that there is no generally accepted explanation and will sometimes let the reader know what he thinks is going on (though he is careful not to say it must be the correct idea). Interspersed are sidebars that contain vignettes about his own experiences in planetary science and personal views of politics and humanity. While these can sometimes be preachy or seem arrogant, they are short enough to ignore if necessary though I wouldn't recommend it because there are some interesting nuggets in there. The main themes of the book center on how water and volcanism shaped the planet and also how we know what we do. It does not delve too deeply into the most complex issues (such as the mobility of water and ice on Mars and the processes that caused the climate to change) but I do not consider that a problem because the book is an informal survey of the features of Mars, not a comprehensive text. The book was published before the Spirit and Opportunity rovers landed on Mars but the results returned from those missions would only add to the discussions in the book, not change any of the conclusions. The book reads very quickly and the images are excellent. For anyone looking for a short but comprehensive description of what we know about Mars, this is a good source.
-Lyle Ford
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Lyle Ford
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Last Updated: January 10, 2005