by Sarah Stewart Johnson (Author)

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK • “Sarah Stewart Johnson interweaves her own coming-of-age story as a planetary scientist with a vivid history of the exploration of Mars in this celebration of human curiosity, passion, and perseverance.”—Alan Lightman, author of Einstein’s Dreams

“Beguiling . . . beautifully written.”—The Times (U.K.)

“[Johnson] manages to press moments in time together as closely as the sedimentary rocks on Mars, revealing its history just as the rocks do.”—The New Scientist

“. . . a book that will have even the staunchest earthlings looking in wonder towards the red glow above.”—The Daily Beast

“As [Johnson] displays the love of discovery that drives so much scientific inquiry, it’s easy to cheer her on.”—The Wall Street Journal

“Lyrical, engaging.”—Science News

“ . . . a true love letter to geology, on this world and others.”—Nature

“Tantalizing and heart-breaking.”—Space

“Johnson tells the story of humans’ long-distance love affair with Mars . . . and as her immersive book proves, it’s a passion both frustrating and infinitely rewarding.”—The Washington Post

“I defy anyone to read this book and not step away immediately wanting to ditch their current job and call NASA looking for a new career.”—GeekMom

Mars was once similar to Earth, but today there are no rivers, no lakes, no oceans. Coated in red dust, the terrain is bewilderingly empty. And yet multiple spacecraft are circling Mars, sweeping over Terra Sabaea, Syrtis Major, the dunes of Elysium, and Mare Sirenum—on the brink, perhaps, of a staggering find, one that would inspire humankind as much as any discovery in the history of modern science.

In this beautifully observed, deeply personal book, 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.

Johnson’s fascination with Mars began as a child in Kentucky, turning over rocks with her father and looking at planets in the night sky. She now conducts fieldwork in some of Earth’s most hostile environments, such as the Dry Valleys of Antarctica and the salt flats of Western Australia, developing methods for detecting life on other worlds. Here, with poetic precision, she interlaces her own personal journey—as a female scientist and a mother—with tales of other seekers, from Percival Lowell, who was convinced that a utopian society existed on Mars, to Audouin Dollfus, who tried to carry out astronomical observations from a stratospheric balloon. In the process, she shows how the story of Mars is also a story about Earth: This other world has been our mirror, our foil, a telltale reflection of our own anxieties and yearnings.

Empathetic and evocative, The Sirens of Mars offers an unlikely natural history of a place where no human has ever set foot, while providing a vivid portrait of our quest to defy our isolation in the cosmos.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07Y7HL1RT

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Crown (July 7, 2020)

Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 7, 2020

Language ‏ : ‎ English

File size ‏ : ‎ 4756 KB

Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled

Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported

Print length ‏ : ‎ 272 pages