Research Catalog

Title

The rock from Mars : a detective story on two planets / Kathy Sawyer.

Author

Sawyer, Kathy.

Publication

New York : Random House, c2006.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xii, 394 p., [16] p. of plates : ill.; 25 cm.

Summary

Sixteen million years ago, an asteroid crashing into Mars sent fragments flying into space and, eons later, one was pulled by the Earth's gravity onto the icy wilderness of Antarctica, where a geologist spotted it. In its new home at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, the rock languished on a shelf for nine years. Then, in 1993, a geochemist unmasked the rock as a Martian meteorite. Before long, possible signs of once-living organisms were detected, and the obscure rock became a rock star. From the second the story broke in Science magazine, it spawned waves of excitement, envy, competitive zeal, and calculation. The narrative traces the steps that led to this risky move and follows the rippling impact on the scientists' lives, the future of space exploration, the search for life on Mars, and the struggle to understand the origins of life on Earth.--From publisher description.

Subject

• Life on other planets
• Meteorites
• Mars probes
• Meteoroids
• Mars (Planet)

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical notes and bibliography (p. [285]-375) and index.

Contents

Score -- Moon dust -- Odd ducks -- E.T.s handshake -- The convert -- Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy -- The grand inquisitor -- "Klaatu Barada Nikto" -- In the beam -- Schopf shock -- Explorations -- At daggers drawn -- Bingo -- Schadenfreude -- Down the rabbit hole.

ISBN

1400060109 (acid-free paper)

LCCN

^^2005046560

OCLC

58789284

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library