Michael H. Carr – författare

Mars has always held a special interest because of the possibility that life may have existed there. The story of water on Mars is crucial for understanding the planet's geological, climatological, and biological history. In this book Dr. Carr summarizes the history of water on Mars. He highlights problems confronted, addressing them from the records of the morphology of the surface and the chemistry and mineralogy of some near-surface rocks, as revealed in meteorites originating on Mars. The book is well illustrated with imagery from the Viking missions. The water story has important implications for the future exploration of the planet.

Our knowledge of Mars has grown enormously over the last decade as a result of the Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey, Mars Express, and the two Mars Rover missions. This book is a systematic summary of what we have learnt about the geological evolution of Mars as a result of these missions. It describes the diverse Martian surface features and summarizes current ideas as to how, when, and under what conditions they formed, and explores how Earth and Mars differ and why the two planets evolved so differently. The author also discusses possible implications of the geologic history for the origin and survival of indigenous Martian life. Up-to-date and highly illustrated, this book will be a principal reference for researchers and graduate students in planetary science. The comprehensive list of references will also assist readers in pursuing further information on the subject. Colour images can be found at www.cambridge.org/9780521872010.