"Life on Mars -- science fiction, right? Maybe...or maybe not."After reading the above first lines of the summary on the inside flap of Mars and the Search for Life, I found myself flipping through the book trying to find photographic evidence of that "maybe not."
I was not dissapointed as I imagine no other reader would be. The 2009 publication has no lack of updated pictures of space or references to pop culture. Elaine Scott bridges science across time by tracing the development of scientific discovery and the public's interpretations and dreams of it. The first chapter begins with a picture of a scene from Steven Speilberg's 2005 verson of War of the Worlds contrasted against and illustration of the 1906 edition of the book and a poster from the 1953 film version. Children reading Mars and the Search for Life will immediately realize the depth to which the question of life on Mars has infiltrated our thoughts -- real and fantasy alike.
Scott breaks down Mars and the Search for Life into eight chapters beginning with the earliest myths of the planets to the latest scientific discoverites of outer space. The chapters include an abundance of information through page text and picture captions. The illustrations and photographs can be used in any science classroom to show the development of space engineering while the more advanced text level would be appropriate for readers beginning in fifth or sixth grade.
As would be expected, Mars and the Search for Life does not present any previously hidden evidence about lifeforms living on Mars' surface. However, in concluding the book, Scott draws a wonderful comparison between our quest for a way to live on Mars and the first humans' quest to find out how to survive on Earth:
"Traveling to Mars, living in an alien world in a cramped habitat, wearing a spacesuit any time you leave the habitat, harvesting water or ice where you find it, growing food in a greenhouse, learning to walk without the pull of Earth's gravity -- none of it will be easy. But it wasn't easy for the first humans to leave Africa and move out across the plains of Asia and Europe. It wasn't easy for Ferdinand Magellan to circumnavigate the Earth. And it wasn't easy for Neil Armstrong to become the first person to step on the surface of the moon. However, human beings are adventurous creatures, and exploring space is one of the most exciting -- and most challenging -- adventures of all."
Among her nonfiction books for children, Elaine Scott has also authored When is a Planet Not a Planet? The Story of Pluto
It always delights an author when a reader "gets" what he or she is trying to do in a book. You definitely "got" Mars and the Search for Life, Naomi, and I am grateful.
ReplyDeleteElaine Scott
Thank you! Your book was a pleasure to read and I hope to include it in my future classroom! I look forward to reading some of you other works and await your next one.
ReplyDeleteNaomi