Matthew Shindell

For the Love of Mars: A Human History of the Red Planet, by Matthew Shindell, is a fascinating look at how we have perceived our celestial neighbor over the centuries.

This history, while touching on science as we progress through the ages, is not a science book but a history book about an object of science. From myths and misunderstandings to scientific mistakes and corrections, we trace the history of Mars as it has evolved with our own evolution.

Shindell takes a global approach, including perspectives often overlooked in western histories. Admittedly this doesn't, and can't within the limits of a book one can reasonably carry, go into minute detail about every way in which every culture has understood Mars. To criticize it for not doing what it couldn't do is posturing and can be ignored. An entire book could likely be written about every culture's perception of Mars, and even the western perspectives included are not given a deep dive. But then some people like to pose by claiming all of the information in a book can be found on wikipedia and other online sites. Even when such a sweeping statement is true it means little to nothing, since the idea of a history book is to bring things from many different sources together into a coherent whole. This book does that very well. Even if much of the material is available online, which it likely isn't.

If you like reading about the history of objects that have gone from having a largely mythical or spiritual meaning to one based mostly in science (though still deeply embedded in our collective imagination), you will enjoy this book. You'll learn some new things, and remember just how intriguing our planetary neighbors can be.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.… (altro)