Mars and Its Canals


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Mars and Its Canals, has been regarded as significant work throughout human history, and in order to ensure that this work is never lost, we have taken steps to ensure its preservation by republishing this book in a contemporary format for both current and future generations. This entire book has been retyped, redesigned, and reformatted. Since these books are not made from scanned copies, the text is readable and clear.




Lost Mars


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A “thoroughly enjoyable” collection of stories imagining the Red Planet during the golden age of science fiction, from an award-winning anthologist (Kirkus Reviews). An antique-shop owner gets a glimpse of the Red Planet through an intriguing artifact. A Martian’s wife contemplates the possibility of life on Earth. A resident of Venus describes his travels across the two alien planets. From an arid desert to an advanced society far superior to Earth’s, portrayals of Mars have differed radically in their attempts to uncover the truth about our neighboring planet. Since the 1880s, after an astronomer described “channels” on its surface, writers have speculated endlessly on what life on Mars might look like and what might happen should we make contact with its inhabitants. This collection offers ten wildly imaginative stories by famed authors like H.G. Wells, Ray Bradbury, and J.G. Ballard as well as hard-to-find selections by unjustly forgotten writers of the genre. Introduced by acclaimed anthologist Mike Ashley, they vividly evoke a time when notions of life on other planets—from vegetation and water to space invaders and utopian societies—were new and startling. As we continue to imagine landing people on Mars, these stories represent gripping and vivid dispatches from futurists past. “[A] superlative set of stories. . . . Vibrant and powerful.” —Locus “These stories are of the highest quality and illustrate how our evolving understanding of the Red Planet changed the way we wrote about it and how Mars came to occupy a prominent position in our hopes, dreams, and fears as the modern age dawned and grew.” —Booklist




Mars as the Abode of Life


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Guide to Reprints


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Learning from Other Worlds


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A definite look at the state of science fiction studies today that surveys the field from Hugo Gernsbach to the present.




S.S. VAN DINE Premium Collection: Thriller Classics, Murder Mysteries, Detective Tales & More (Illustrated)


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The 'S.S. VAN DINE Premium Collection' represents a pivotal assembly of thriller classics, murder mysteries, and detective tales that weave together a rich tapestry of intrigue and intellectual challenge. The anthology is celebrated not just for its selection of compelling narratives but also for its diverse literary styles that range from the taut and suspenseful to the methodically deductive, encapsulating a broad spectrum of the crime genres evolution over the early 20th century. The volume stands out for its comprehensive showcase of Van Dine's (a pseudonym for Willard Huntington Wright) seminal work within the detective fiction landscape, offering readers an annotated and illustrated journey through the high points of his literary contributions. These standout pieces bridge the gap between entertainment and intellectual rigor, challenging readers to decipher clues alongside the protagonists. The contributing minds behind this anthology, primarily Wright under his famed alias, S.S. Van Dine, have indelibly shaped the contours of detective fiction. Their works, synonymous with the Golden Age of detective stories, reflect a period of literary experimentation and the transformation of the detective story into a vehicle for both puzzlement and social commentary. Wrights penchant for weaving intricate plots with a firm underpinning in logic and art history elucidates the intellectual currents of his time, making this collection an indispensable resource for understanding the genre's development. This anthology is thus recommended for readers eager to immerse themselves in the cerebral depths of classic detective fiction. It offers a unique window into the strategies employed by one of the genres masters, enhancing appreciation for the detective tale's art form. Beyond mere entertainment, the 'S.S. VAN DINE Premium Collection' invites readers to explore the multifaceted dimensions of mystery and deduction, championing the enduring appeal of the genre and fostering a deeper conversation between the intricate plots of yesteryears and the analytical minds of todays readers.




Humans to Mars


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The Story of Earth


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Hailed by The New York Times for writing “with wonderful clarity about science . . . that effortlessly teaches as it zips along,” nationally bestselling author Robert M. Hazen offers a radical new approach to Earth history in this intertwined tale of the planet’s living and nonliving spheres. With an astrobiologist’s imagination, a historian’s perspective, and a naturalist’s eye, Hazen calls upon twenty-first-century discoveries that have revolutionized geology and enabled scientists to envision Earth’s many iterations in vivid detail—from the mile-high lava tides of its infancy to the early organisms responsible for more than two-thirds of the mineral varieties beneath our feet. Lucid, controversial, and on the cutting edge of its field, The Story of Earth is popular science of the highest order. "A sweeping rip-roaring yarn of immense scope, from the birth of the elements in the stars to meditations on the future habitability of our world." -Science "A fascinating story." -Bill McKibben




Dying Planet


Book Description

For more than a century, Mars has been at the center of debates about humanity’s place in the cosmos. Focusing on perceptions of the red planet in scientific works and science fiction, Dying Planet analyzes the ways Mars has served as a screen onto which humankind has projected both its hopes for the future and its fears of ecological devastation on Earth. Robert Markley draws on planetary astronomy, the history and cultural study of science, science fiction, literary and cultural criticism, ecology, and astrobiology to offer a cross-disciplinary investigation of the cultural and scientific dynamics that have kept Mars on front pages since the 1800s. Markley interweaves chapters on science and science fiction, enabling him to illuminate each arena and to explore the ways their concerns overlap and influence one another. He tracks all the major scientific developments, from observations through primitive telescopes in the seventeenth century to data returned by the rovers that landed on Mars in 2004. Markley describes how major science fiction writers—H. G. Wells, Kim Stanley Robinson, Philip K. Dick, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, and Judith Merril—responded to new theories and new controversies. He also considers representations of Mars in film, on the radio, and in the popular press. In its comprehensive study of both science and science fiction, Dying Planet reveals how changing conceptions of Mars have had crucial consequences for understanding ecology on Earth.




The Century of Space Science


Book Description

The 20th century can truly be called the `Century of Space Science', for it was in the 20th century that the multidisciplinary study of space science (as opposed to astronomy) was conceived. Today, as we start a new century of discovery, we are able to cast our perspective back in order to chronicle how the field began, review how it developed, and discuss how it reached its current levels. We are able to overview the historical development and to put early discoveries in context, to document our current understanding and to look forward to the coming century with some degree of optimism. One of the most attractive features of this young discipline is that many of the original pioneers and key players involved are still available to describe their field. Hence, at this point in history we are in a unique position to gain first-hand insight into the field and its development. To this end, The Century of Space Science , a scholarly, authoritative, reference book presents a chapter-by-chapter retrospective of space science as studied in the 20th century. The level is academic and focuses on key discoveries, how these were arrived at, their scientific consequences and how these discoveries advanced the thoughts of the key players involved. With over 90 world-class contributors, such as James Van Allen, Cornelis de Jager, Eugene Parker, Reimar L??st, and Ernst Stuhlinger, and with a Foreword by Lodewijk Woltjer (past ESO Director General), this book will be immensely useful to readers in the fields of space science, astronomy, and the history of science. Both academic institutions and researchers will find that this major reference work makes an invaluable addition to their collection. The work is published in two large-format volumes and contains colour images throughout. It includes several appendices (for example a basic chronology of the field and a complete list of every space science mission ever launched) and is extensively and comprehensively indexed. The scientific editorial team consists of Johan A.M. Bleeker (of SRON, The Netherlands), Johannes Geiss (of the International Space Science Institute, Berne) and Martin Huber (of ESA) and history consultant Arturo Russo (of the University of Palermo, Italy).