Geographies of Mars
Author | : K. Maria D. Lane |
Publisher | : University of Chicago Press |
Total Pages | : 282 |
Release | : 2011 |
ISBN-10 | : 9780226470788 |
ISBN-13 | : 0226470784 |
Rating | : 4/5 (88 Downloads) |
Book excerpt: This volume "explores the origins of our Martian obsession in the late nineteenth century" and examines "the way turn-of-the-century Americans and Europeans thought about space, knowledge, and power." The author paints a picture of how "scientists and the public saw [Mars] around the beginning of the 20th century, when canals on the Red Planet seemed a very real possibility." It is a story of mountain observatories, of fieldwork conducted at a distance, and of how Mars's geographers sought social and scientific legitimacy, exploring how astronomy and geography intersected in the debates over the existence of life on Mars.