Mars: The Mystery Unfolds

This book is very surprising: the large hardcover format makes you think that you are about to read a beautiful Mars book, full of pictures with limited scientific information... You couldn't be more wrong! What you have here is a highly technical, accurate and up-to-date scientific review of our present state of knowledge about the Red Planet.The text and presentation is completely similar to the articles found in the scientific publications such as "Science": text split on two columns, black-and-white pictures, graphics and bibliography. In order to get the most out of this book, you must already have some good knowledge of the planet and of geology, because the author does assume that you know a lot of things and will not bother explain the basics. From this point of view, this book is a welcomed surprise for the Mars enthusiasts like me, because it brings you one step (or more) further. For the beginners, you should avoid this book, and get instead the beautiful "Mars : Uncovering the Secrets of the Red Planet" (by P. Raeburn, National Geographic, ISBN 0792273737).Now, for those really willing to learn about Mars with this book, let's get into the details. As I said, you should know about Mars before reading this book. The best way to get there is to read the massive "Mars" (University of Arizona Press, ISBN 0816512574). This 1500-page Mars bible covers everything, but is in some way outdated (published in 1991, before Phobos 1 & 2, Pathfinder, and MGS). This is where the book by Cattermole becomes complementary, and could be considered as an update of the other one.The large majority of the chapters are on Martian geology: plains, volcanism, craters, polar regions, fluvial activity, etc. Every aspect is covered in great details, including the latest results from MGS. But unless you are a trained geologist (like the author), you will probably be a little overwhelmed by the vocabulary. But even with a partial understanding of the science, the wealth of information is worth the effort. A piece of advice: get a map of Mars and keep it with you while reading.Only a few chapters are about the atmospheric conditions, the satellites or even the possibility of life on the planet. This is not surprising since the bulk of our current knowledge is about geology, but may leave you disappointed. Especially the chapter on weather and climate: quite a lot is known about Martian weather, but this chapter is confusing and ambiguous, revealing that the author is not an expert in this field.Regrettably, this book suffers from many errors, typographical or worse. I have spotted 2 figures where the curves are not even printed, leaving the arrows pointing nowhere (fig. 4.5 and fig. 13.2); fig. 3.7 is weirdly centred at 31.53°S 130.73°N; fig. 8.9 is centred at an impossible 241°N (!) and on p.89 we learn that Apollinaris Patera is lying at 96°S; fig. 9.8 lacks the "solid line" used in the explanation; on p.48, we learn that the upper limit for micrometeorites is

Dr. Peter Cattermole was a former lecture of Geology at the University of Sheffield and a former principle investigator for NASA's Planetary Geology and Geophysics Program. As one would expect from a person with this background, this book presents a geologist's view of the planet Mars. Unfortunately, if one is not a geologist or versed in the sciences, this book maybe difficult to follow. Even this reviewer, who is an amateur geologist and well versed in a variety of engineering and science disciplines, could only read a few chapters at time (sometimes only a paragraph) without having to put the book down and reflect on what I had learned.Each chapter of the book covers a different aspect of Martian geology. For example, there are chapters on craters, dunes, polar regions, the weather and climate, plus many more. There are also sections on the two moons of Mars and a summary of the robotic exploration of the planet. While there were times when I I had to put this book down to digest all the information I had read, I can definitely say that I learned more than I ever have about the planet Mars.While the text maybe difficult for some people to follow (including this reviewer at times), there are numerous high resolution black and white photographs as well as some nice color photograph maps which present the many varied geological terrains that exist on Mars. Many of the photographs I have never seen published before, especially those from the Viking orbiters.The author does provide a detailed reference list of over two hundred separate sources, which will allow the reader to thoroughly a specific topic. I found it refreshing that the author chosen only a few of his own papers for reference material, which does not always happen.In summary, if you know geology, like high quality space photography, are out for a challenge, or want to learn a whole bunch about Mars, this book is for you