Teacher Resources

Mars Reading List

There is a vast literature about the fourth planet that encompasses non-fiction, fiction, technical, and popular writings. Here we list but a tiny fraction of this literature, with the intent of providing the Educator with some references that can be used either in the classroom or to provide background in planning a unit or lecture on Mars. Most of the items listed here are either highly recommended or are at least very recent. This list was updated July 1995.

The Solar System (books)

Beatty, J.K. and A. Chaikin, eds., The New Solar System, 3rd ed., 
	Sky Publishing Corp. and Cambridge University Press, 1990.
	-- Excellent review of what we know about the Solar System, 
	current through the Voyager encounter with Neptune in 1989, 
	highly recommended.

Burrows, W.E., Exploring Space, Random House, New York, 1990.
	-- A very interesting historical and personal look at the 
	United States' robotic exploration of the planets, highly recommended.

Couper, H. and N. Henbest, The Space Atlas, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, New York, 1992.
	-- Many diagrams, maps, etc. in color, lots of facts, very up-to-date, 
	and Highly Recommended for Children and Adults.

LaFontaine, B., History of Space Exploration Coloring Book, Dover Publications, 
	Inc., New York, 1989.

Lauber, P., Journey to the Planets, 4th ed., Crown Publishers, New York, 1993.
	-- For kids, up-to-date.

Sagan, C., Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space, Random House, New York, 1994.

Simon, S., Our Solar System, Morrow Junior Books, New York, 1992.
	-- Written for Children, Lots of color photographs of places in our 
	solar system, up-to-date.



Mars (non-fiction books)

Asimov, I., The Red Planet: Mars, Isaac Asimov's New Library of the Universe, 
	Gareth Stevens, Milwaukee, WI, 1994.  
	-- Good kid's book.

Burgess, E., To the Red Planet, Columbia University Press, 1978.

Carr, M.H., The Surface of Mars, Yale University Press, 1981.

Cattermole, P., Mars, The Story of the Red Planet, Chapman and Hall, London, 1992.

Cooper, H., The Search for Life on Mars, Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1980.

Ezell, E. and L. Ezell, On Mars:  Exploration of the Red Planet 1958 - 1978, 
	NASA SP-4212, U.S. Govt. Printing Office, 1984.

Hartmann, W.K. and O. Raper, The New Mars, The Discoveries of Mariner 9, NASA SP-337, 
	U.S. Govt. Printing Office, 1974.

Hodges, C.A. and H.J. Moore, Atlas of Volcanic Landforms on Mars, U.S. Geological 
	Survey Professional Paper 1434, 1994. 
	-- Lots of pictures! Available from the USGS, Map Distribution, Box 25826, 
	MS 306, Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225.

Kieffer, H.H. et al., eds., Mars, Univ. of Arizona Press, Tuscon, 1992.

Ley, W. and W. von Braun, The Exploration of Mars, Viking Press, New York, 1956.

Rovin, J., Mars!, Corwin Books, Los Angeles, 1978.
	-- Looks at the history of humanity's fascination with Mars, from early 
	astronomers to science fiction novels and films, to the search for life by 
	the Viking landers.

Viking Lander Imaging Team, The Martian Landscape, NASA SP-425, U.S. Govt. 
	Printing Office, 1978.

Viking Orbiter Imaging Team, Viking Orbiter Views of Mars, NASA SP-441, U.S. Govt. 
	Printing Office, 1980.

Wilford, J.N., Mars Beckons, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1990.



Mars Magazine Articles

Characteristics of Mars:

"The Soil of Mars," M.A. Bullock, Mercury, September/October 1994.

"The changing face of Mars," M. Carroll, Astronomy, March 1987.

"Climate Change: It's Happened on Mars," P. Dasch and J. Kross, Ad Astra, May/June 1995.

"The Sands of Mars," K. Edgett, P. Geissler, and K. Herkenhoff, Astronomy, June 1993.

"The Ice Ages of Mars," J.S. Kargel and R.G. Strom, Astronomy, December 1992.

"Exploring small volcanos on Mars," M. Robinson, Astronomy, April 1994.

"What's that on Mars?  Let's face it!" B. Sprungman, Odyssey, December 1993.

"Searching for the waters of Mars," S. Squyres, Astronomy, August 1989.


Life on Mars:

"Digging deeper for life on Mars," M. Carroll, Astronomy, April 1988.

"The case for life on Mars," A. Chaikin, Air and Space (Smithsonian), February/March 1991.

"Is Mars alive?" B.E. DiGregorio, Final Frontier, May/June 1993.

"Fossil-hunting on Mars," J.D. Farmer, Mercury, September/October 1994.

"Did Mars once have Martians?" C.P. McKay, Astronomy, September 1993.

"The Search for Extraterrestrial Life," C. Sagan, Scientific American, October 1994. 


Moons of Mars

"A 'Cleaned-up' Phobos Shows Sharper Details," Astronomy, April 1995.

"The odd little moons of Mars," D. Benningfield, Astronomy, December 1993.


Meteorites from Mars?

"The Search for Life on Mars: Revelations of the New Martian Meteorite," 
	P. Dasch and J. Kross, Ad Astra, May/June 1995.

"Messengers from Mars," M.S. Robinson and M. Wadhwa, Astronomy, August 1995.


Viking:

"Mars: 5 Years After Viking," Astronomy, July 1981.

"Sifting for life in the sands of Mars," R. Gore, National Geographic, January 1977.


Mars  Observer:

"Mars Observer: Return to the Red Planet," D. Ainsworth, Astronomy, September 1992.

"Lost in space," S. Begley, Newsweek, September 6, 1993.

"The invasion of Mars," W.J. Cook, U.S. News and World Report, August 23, 1993.

"Life after Mars Observer," C. Storad, ASU Research (Ariz. State Univ.), Spring/Summer 1994.


Mars Surveyor and Pathfinder Projects:

"Surveyor sets sights on Mars," Astronomy, November 1994.

"A Parachute and Set of Airbags," Astronomy, January 1995.

"Mars Pathfinder on Track," Sky & Telescope, April 1995.

"Building a Bridge to Mars," W.H. Boyer, Final Frontier, August 1995.

"To Boldly Go..." D.F. Robertson, Astronomy, December 1994.


Delta II Rocket:

Zea, L., "Delta's Dawn: The Making of a Rocket," Final Frontier, February/March 1995.


USSR & Russia Missions to Mars:

"Annals of Space:  The Planetary Community, I- Phobos," H.S.F. Cooper, Jr., 
	The New Yorker, June 11, 1990. 
	-- Inside look at the people behind the USSR Phobos missions, 1988-89.

"The rocky Soviet road to Mars," Klaes, L., Spaceflight (British Interplanetary 
	Society Magazine), August 1990.


Future Mars Exploration:

"Next stop: Mars," S. Begley, Newsweek, July 25, 1994.

"Why send humans to Mars?" C. Sagan, Issues in Science and Technology, v. 7, n. 3, 
	pp. 80-85, 1991.

"Life on Mars:  Cultivating a planet-- and ourselves," F. Turner, Harpers Magazine, 
	August 1989.

"The Significance of the Martian Frontier," R.M. Zubrin, Ad Astra, (National Space 
	Society Magazine), September/October 1994.

"Mars: America's New Frontier," R. Zubrin, Final Frontier, June 1995.


Mars and Arizona:

"Lowell Observatory at 95," H.E. Boice, Jr., Arizona Highways, May 1989.

"100 Years on Mars Hill," B. Bond, Astronomy, June 1994.

"Mars Observing in Arizona: Geologists continue a 100-year tradition," 
	K.S. Edgett, Arizona Geology, v. 23, n. 1, pp. 10-11, Spring 1993.




Mars Fiction


The Classics

Bradbury, Ray, The Martian Chronicles (1950)

Burroughs, Edgar Rice (Famous Mars Series)

(1)	A Princess of Mars 			(1912)		(7)    A Fighting Man of Mars		(1930)
(2)	The Gods of Mars 			(1913)		(8)    Swords of Mars	 	    (1934-1935)
(3)	The Warlord of Mars		    (1913-1914)		(9)    Synthetic Men of Mars 		(1939)
(4)	Thuvia, Maid of Mars			(1916)		(10)  Llana of Gathol 	  		(1941)
(5)	The Chessmen of Mars			(1922)		(11)  John Carter of Mars 	    (1941-1943)
(6)	The Master Mind of Mars			(192?)

Clarke, Arthur C., The Sands of Mars (1952)

Heinlein, Robert A., Red Planet (1949)

Heinlein, Robert A., Stranger in a Strange Land (1961)

Wells, H.G., War of the Worlds (1898)


Recent Novels on Mars Colonization 

Bear, Greg, Moving Mars, Tor Books, New York, 1993.

Bova, Ben, Mars, Bantam, New York, 1992.

Robinson, Kim Stanley, Red Mars, Bantam, New York, 1993.

Robinson, Kim Stanley, Green Mars, Bantam, New York, 1994.

Sykes, S.C., Red Genesis, Bantam, New York, 1991.


For Young (& Old!) Readers

Disch, Thomas M., The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars, Doubleday, New York, 1988.

Silverberg, Robert, Lost Race of Mars, Scholastic Book Services, New York, 1960.

Young, Ruth, A Trip to Mars, Orchard Books, New York, 1990.
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TES 1995-1996 Curriculum Guide / Arizona Mars K-12 Education Program