Product Description

Mars once had an ocean larger than the Pacific.
Mars once had an atmosphere.
Mars once had life.
They are all gone.
What happened on Mars?
And could it happen here?

Dead Mars, Dying Earth, a stunning, true story of science on the brink, has been released to glowing reviews. This is the story of a NASA researchers remarkable transformation from an environmental skeptic to one of the leading proponents of the dangers of global warming.

Written with the can't-put-it-down narrative drive of good fiction, this scientific saga has been endorsed by everyone from a Nobel Laureate, a founder of Greenpeace, and New Age writer, James Redfield to the publisher of Skeptic Magazine and a wide spectrum of members of the business community.

Dead Mars, Dying Earth is a lyrical, full-body immersion. You'll be thrust from the surface of Mars aboard a meteor, race through history, witness cosmic dramas up close and personal, and plunge deeply into the depths of the ocean. And when the dust has settled you'll discover that you are changed somehow endowed with the ability to create future possibility on a new and exotic planet: Earth.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1802532 in Books
• Published on: 2000-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 311 pages

Amazon.com Review
Is our planet's condition terminal? Whether or not you have faith in the mounting scientific evidence pointing toward potentially catastrophic effects of our atmospheric meddling, you must admit that if the prophets are right, we'd better learn to breathe carbon dioxide in a hurry. Physicist John E. Brandenburg and science writer Monica Rix Paxson warn that our big blue marble might become just another cold dead rock in Dead Mars, Dying Earth, a parallel study of our history and our neighbor's, drawing on the information amassed over decades of scientific research and exploration. The writing is florid, even a bit messianic at times, but the writers believe that our time is limited and that we must immediately stop deforestation and dependence on fossil fuel if we want our species to make it more than a few generations. Despite bringing in some unnecessary and controversial "evidence" (did they really need to tout the face on Mars to make their case for global warming?), they still make a compelling case that life did exist on Mars but was extinguished by an out-of-control greenhouse effect. Refreshingly, they suggest that we fight science with science, arguing that fusion power and space exploration are crucial to our continuing survival. This may be the argument that sways the nervous conservatives who fear economic recession or worse if we heed the environmentalists' call to action. If so, Dead Mars, Dying Earth could be the 21st century's Silent Spring. --Rob Lightner

Review
"Is Dead Mars, Dying Earth another one of those books that pokes a finger right in your chest on the first page and then, ...pushes you, the reader, into a corner of helplessness? Absolutely not. ...On the contrary... after a well reasoned, captivating and expansive discussion of Mars, the dilemma on Earth becomes chillingly clear: the history of Mars and Earth is "the history...of two planets, one dead, one dying."

..."These are thought processes that shake you up and illuminate the connections, dependencies and consequences of our actions. It is also the case that only rethinking can produce the transformation we must make, but rethinking cannot be accomplished with sledgehammer tactics; so instead the authors have very sensibly and carefully crafted this urgent scenario of Earths peril to read in parts like an engaging novel and a science fiction thriller--wild and just a bit other worldly... (Barbara Wegmann, reviewer Amazon.de (Germany)) -- Barbara Wegmann, reviewer Amazon.de, Germany

"This is ecological siren sounding on a cosmological scale, pitched at the non-scientist...[If] it is a writers job to inquire about the world, then Brandenburg and Paxson have a considerable success on their hands: a timely and very frightening book, but one so engaging, it is more likely to inspire us to help save the planet than sink usas more sober works too often dointo a cynical and useless despair."(Simon Ings, reviewer, Amazon.co.uk (United Kingdom)) -- (Simon Ings, reviewer, Amazon.co.uk, UK)

From the Publisher
Our readers are the best ones to tell you about this extraordinary book. Here's what they have to say

"A fabulously alive, riveting and deeply human tale of scientific revelation and dawning conviction, which ultimately charts a clear, sane path through an incredibly dangerous time for the health and life of our planet."

Commander Mark Huber, retired, US Navy

"This is an intellectual tour-de-force. The authors range engagingly far and wide through the forest of scientific literature and disciplines to ferret out for us how Earth and Mars share a parallel ecological and geological history. Fortunately, rather than leaving us swimming in misery at the news, Brandenburg and Paxson give us the concrete steps to take to create a future Garden Earth, which will ensure that Earth avoids becoming a broken clone of dreary, dry and very dead Mars."

Dr. James Strange, field archeologist and Professor of Religious Studies, member Editorial Board of Biblical Archeology Review

"This book transformed my thinking about our planet with the same power and intensity that the Feminine Mystique changed my thinking about being a woman."

Nancy Hill, LCSW and Psychotherapist

Dead Mars, Dying Earth is "...Marvelous...a book which transforms the scientific history of global warming into a page-turning suspense story."

Dr. David Webb, Chairman, UN Conference on Peaceful Uses of Space, Member of the former US National Commission on Space

"An environmental story so big it takes two planets to tell it. These are stories of science to save a planets soul. They climb inside your heart and mind. Read Dead Mars Dying Earth and your home world will never look the same. Highly recommended."

Thom Hartmann, author The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight and Attention Deficit Disorder: A Different Perception

"From a series of stories which at first seem unrelated, a disturbing picture of a possible future emerges. Brandenburg and Paxson lead the reader to what seems to be an inescapable conclusionthat we may be leading our planet to a point of no returnand that something must be done, and done soon."

Dr. Mark Carlotto, leading US imaging scientist, Pacific Sierra Research

"Paxson and Brandenburg are masters of telling a story... they scare you, excite you, invite you to laugh, but most of all, to think."

Ulysses Doss, Humanities Professor, University of Montana "Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read Dead Mars, Dying Earth. I actually read the entire book in one sitting last Sunday but have waited until now to write as the message was so powerful that I needed to let is sit for some time. The most meaningful books are those whose story or message linger long after the read and this book is truly one that will live with me.

"Not since the Limits to Growth, which I read nearly 30 years ago has a book so effectively made the case documenting the negative impact of man on the environment, while raising the specter of environmental catastrophe and yet holding out realistic solutions and hope. Dead Mars, Dying Earth goes one step further with a writing style that is less a documentary and more drama, holding the readers interest and effectively making the case that our Earth is exceptionally rare and exceptionally fragile.

Don Mayer, founder North Wind Power Company and owner of Small Dog Electronics (a major Internet computer sales firm)

"Upon reading Dead Mars, Dying Earth, I understand how foolish it is to be a conservationist without being equally an environmentalist... I thoroughly enjoyed the book and it has changed my consciousness...The envisioned solution to the problem is one of the few I've seen to an environmental problem, from legitimate scientists, that recognizes the economic hardships and resistance which radical 'environmentally pure' solutions would engender... This book does a fine job of avoiding these divisive political statements while explaining very clearly that these are grave concerns for everyone in all camps."

Tom Barnett, Senior Information Analyst, Salt River Project Power Company

"This is good! This is powerful! The science is informative, well written and nicely spiced and sliced with historical anecdotes and human dramas. I got started and could not put it down."

Dr. Horace Crater, Professor of Physics, The University of Tennessee Space Institute

"Fifty-five million years ago an abrupt, massive release of carbon from ocean reservoirs resulted in the warming of the oceans by 5 to 7 Centigrade. Extinctions occurred; and the Earths ecosystems were forever altered. Could it happen again? In Dead Mars, Dying Earth, Brandenburg and Paxson propose a similar scenario. Are we now on the verge of a massive release of carbon? This compelling book digs deep into the heart of carbon dioxide and other environmental concerns to offer both an inspired wake-up-call and an alarming warning."

James Erjavec, M.S., Environmental Geologist. Geochemist, Parsons Infrastructure & Technology Inc.

"The message in Dead Mars, Dying Earth is too compelling to ignore. It is a fast-paced, exciting wake-up call, reading almost like a scientific whodunit. In the end we meet the perpetrator and it is us. In our blind struggle for the survival of the fittest, richest and most beautiful, we seem to have forgotten many of the fundamentals necessary to support all life. We should no longer be engaged in a contest to get the best stateroom on boardwe are now pitched into real-life drama to save our entire ship. Our only hope is that it is still not too late to stem the tide of ignorance and apathy. This opportunity may no longer be available five years from now."

Jean-Claude Koven, President, Broadmoor Group

"This is the best book Ive ever read! A meaty book, full of wondrous insight!"

Joel Bowker, Biologist and retired Industrial Chemist, Rustoleum Corporation

Customer Reviews

A book of hope
Both authors have good credentials for writing this book.Brandeburg is a physicist, rocket scientist and Mars expert.Paxson is a writer and scientific editor.The book reads like a detective story, is well written and utterly engrossing.We follow the activities and ideas of Brandeburg as he puts together pieces of a disturbing jigsaw puzzle that is our greenhouse predicament.He has strong evidence that there was once life on Mars, and some castrophe caused all life there to be obliterated.He presents this as a warning to us here on Earth.The level of oxygen in our atmosphere is falling, while carbon dioxide is rising.Since 1750 carbon dioxide has risen 20%, half of this rise being in the last 50 years! Some people want to pump excess carbon dioxide into the oceans, but this is like sweeping your rubbish under the carpet.In 1986 a cloud of carbon dioxide rose from a lake in Cameroon, killing 1700 people."The signs are everywhere that things are out of balance.The hurricanes are stronger, the winters milder, the summers more ferocious, and the zones of human habitation are shrinking as the deserts spread." Parts of Africa are a sign of the times and of things to come, where ecological breakdown has led to social breakdown in many countries.The book paints a grim but realistic picture, with lots of hard hitting evidence of the dangers we face.But the authors have a positive message.We don't have to revert to a Stone Age primitive existence.We can replace the use of oil and coal with energy based on solar, wind and water power, and also fusion.More resources have to be directed to these areas.Trees are our life-line, and we need many more of them.The book puts forward practical and sensible solutions, being cause for hope and not despair.

Destination: Space Reviews "Dead Mars, Dying Earth"
Space exploration is often seen as the red headed step child by those in charge of the government's purse strings. Dead Mars, Dying Earth brings astute clarity to the needs for space science and why our current fascination with our neighboring planet is a worthwhile venture. For planet Earth to survive, we need only look next door to see how fragile our home world has become and how necessary it is for us to wake up and become responsible inhabitants.

If you only have time for one book this spring, read Dead Mars, Dying Earth. Not only does it shed light on the controversy surrounding the elusive red planet, but it also provides an inspiring plan -- through engaging tales as well as scientific fact -- on how to make the best of Earth in the years ahead.

Diana Botsford Producer/Host Destination: Space

A Great Book
Dead Mars, Dying Earth is one of the most inspiring, scary and, ultimately, energizing books I've ever read--a sort of boot camp for planetary transformation.

Also, it's not just another serious, boring science book. Even though the book's science is authoritative, it reads like a Hollywood script: One remarkable, true story after another draws you further and further into the recognition of how planets live and die and of just how much trouble our Earth is in. Then, after the plunge into the dark night of Earth's possible future, authors Brandenburg and Paxson pick you back up, tell you a couple wonderful stories and leave you stoked to manifest its eminently sensible solutions-- solutions which show how we can reverse our current global warming crisis with both planet AND economy intact.

So pick up Dead Mars, Dying Earth and get on with the great work ahead. After all, what could be more satisfying than safeguarding this beautiful, living planet as the haven for all you know and love?