What Does A Martian Look Like

"A fascinating and useful handbook to both the science and science fiction of extraterrestrial life. Cohen and Stewart are amusing, opinionated, and expert guides. I found it a terrific and informative piece of work-nothing else like it!" -Greg Bear "I loved it." -Larry Niven "Ever wonder about what aliens could be like? The world authority is Jack Cohen, a professional biologist who has thought long and hard about the vast realm of possibilities. This is an engaging, swiftly moving study of alien biology, a subject with bounds and constraints these authors plumb with verve and intelligence." -Gregory Benford "A celebration of life off Earth. A hearteningly optimistic book, giving a much-needed antidote to the pessimism of astrobiologists who maintain that we are alone in the universe-a stance based on a very narrow view of what could constitute life. A triumph of speculative nonfiction." -Dougal Dixon, author of After Man: A Zoology of the Future

The science fiction masterpiece of man versus alien that inspired generations, from Orson Welles’s classic radio play to the film starring Tom Cruise. At the turn of the twentieth century, few would believe that mankind is being watched from above. But millions of miles from Earth, the lords of the Red Planet prepare their armies for invasion, waiting for the moment to strike. When they land in the English countryside, baffled humans approach, waving white flags, and the Martians burn them to a crisp. The war has begun, and mankind doesn’t stand a chance. As Martian armies roll across England, one man fights to keep his family safe, risking his life—and his sanity—on the front lines of the greatest war in galactic history. H. G. Wells’s groundbreaking novel, adapted to radio and film, among other mediums, by visionary artists from Orson Welles to Steven Spielberg, remains one of the most chilling, unforgettable works of science fiction ever written. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

What would life on other planets look like? Forget the little green men, alien life is likely to be completely unrecognisable -we haven't even discovered all the life on our own planet. This visionary book offers some of the most radical but scientifically accurate thinking on the possibility of life on other planets ever conceived. Using broad principles of Earthly biology and expanding on them laterally, Cohen and Stewart examine what could be out there. Redefining our whole concept of what 'life' is, they ask whether aliens could live on the surface of a star, in the vacuum of space or beneath the ice of a frozen moon. And whether life could exist without carbon or DNA -or even without matter at all. They also look at 'celebrity aliens' from books and films -most of which are biologically impossible. Jack Cohen is an 'alien consultant' to many writers, advising what an alien could and couldn't look like. (E. T. go home -you do not pass the test). But this book is as much about the latest discoveries in Earthly biology as well as life on other planets. It's a serious yet entertaining science book, as you'd expect from the bestselling authors of THE SCIENCE OF DISCWORLD.

Award-winning journalist Stephen Petranek says humans will live on Mars by 2027. Now he makes the case that living on Mars is not just plausible, but inevitable. It sounds like science fiction, but Stephen Petranek considers it fact: Within twenty years, humans will live on Mars. We’ll need to. In this sweeping, provocative book that mixes business, science, and human reporting, Petranek makes the case that living on Mars is an essential back-up plan for humanity and explains in fascinating detail just how it will happen. The race is on. Private companies, driven by iconoclastic entrepreneurs, such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Paul Allen, and Sir Richard Branson; Dutch reality show and space mission Mars One; NASA; and the Chinese government are among the many groups competing to plant the first stake on Mars and open the door for human habitation. Why go to Mars? Life on Mars has potential life-saving possibilities for everyone on earth. Depleting water supplies, overwhelming climate change, and a host of other disasters—from terrorist attacks to meteor strikes—all loom large. We must become a space-faring species to survive. We have the technology not only to get humans to Mars, but to convert Mars into another habitable planet. It will likely take 300 years to “terraform” Mars, as the jargon goes, but we can turn it into a veritable second Garden of Eden. And we can live there, in specially designed habitations, within the next twenty years. In this exciting chronicle, Petranek introduces the circus of lively characters all engaged in a dramatic effort to be the first to settle the Red Planet. How We’ll Live on Mars brings firsthand reporting, interviews with key participants, and extensive research to bear on the question of how we can expect to see life on Mars within the next twenty years.

"National Geographic and science journalist Marc Kaufman combine inside stories, fascinating facts, and eye-popping pictures, some never before seen, of the red planet and NASA's groundbreaking Curiosity mission. Renowned author Kaufman spent two years embedded with the engineers and scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, cheering on the rover's spine-tingling landing, learning the backstory of anticipated findings, and witnessing the inescapable frustrations that come from operating a $2.5-billion multitasking robot on a planet 35 million miles from Earth. With images never published before, and computer-enhanced with colors that make you want to spend your next vacation on Mars, this is the only book that explains everything, detail by detail and moment by moment, about the most ambitious space expedition the human race has ever undertaken."--Provided by publisher.

Most books about alien life are by astrophysicists, and spend their time arguing whether other planets and solar systems are habitable. This one is different. The authors point out that aqueous planets are common and where water exists life is likely. The test here is to find those features of life and evolution that are universal, and then to work out how they might have operated to produce life in other worlds. Along the way, the authors use examples of the aliens on offer via films, books and TV. Many have entirely reasonable biologies, others- cuddlies like ET, or dragons like the Alien- fail to measure up to the tests the authors set, but help narrow the search for the 'scientific alien'. The authors conclude that humans are not alone as intelligent entities, and that many others have appeared, and will appear, on other planets. And now, they argue, we can even surmise what they will look like and why.

This Elibron Classics title is a reprint of the original edition published by the Macmillan Company in New York, 1909. This book contains color illustrations.

The tranquility of Mars is disrupted by humans who want to conquer space, colonize the planet, and escape a doomed Earth.