The pull of the red planet The Sirens of Mars Sarah Stewart Johnson Crown, 2020. 288 pp. Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars Kate Greene St. Martin's Press, 2020. 240 pp

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 369; no. 6502; pp. 382 - 383
• Main Author: Shindell, Matthew
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 24.07.2020
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.abd4777

Two candid accounts consider the history and future of life on Mars At their best, "Mars books"—tomes that consider the great discoveries made on Mars and the marvels of engineering that make planetary exploration possible in the context of a larger question: Why explore Mars in the first place?— convey a level of enthusiasm about exploration and the production of knowledge that is difficult to find in their more academic counter parts. Two new Mars books published to coincide with the 2020 launch window succeed in this endeavor: Sarah Stewart Johnson's The Sirens of Mars and Kate Greene's Once Upon a Time I Lived on Mars . Although very different from each other, these books have at least two things in common: Both were written by accomplished women whose experiences will help define what happens next in the human story of Mars, and both answer the "why explore Mars" question in very personal terms.