Climate change is only the most visible of the modifications we've made—up until this point, inadvertently—to the planet. And our current behavior threatens not only our own future but that of countless other creatures. By comparing Earth's story to those of other planets, astrobiologist David Grinspoon shows what a strange and novel development it is for a species to evolve to build machines, and ultimately, global societies with world-shaping influence.Without minimizing the challenges of the next century, Grinspoon suggests that our present moment is not only one of peril, but also great potential, especially when viewed from a 10,000-year perspective. Our species has surmounted the threat of extinction before, thanks to our innate ingenuity and ability to adapt, and there's every reason to believe we can do so again.Our challenge now is to awaken to our role as a force of planetary change, and to grow into this task. We must become graceful planetary engineers, conscious shapers of our environment and caretakers of Earth's biosphere. This is a perspective that begs us to ask not just what future do we want to avoid, but what do we seek to build? What kind of world do we want? Are humans the worst thing or the best thing to ever happen to our planet? Today we stand at a pivotal juncture, and the answer will depend on the choices we make.

    Filled with extraordinary detail and documents, this book offers a visually stunning insider's look at how Mars has been explored and the challenges facing future missions. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has been the principal explorer, launching the Mariner spacecraft that sped past Mars and snapped 22 grainy photographs in 1965. After many flybys and orbital missions, NASA finally landed the twin Viking probes on Mars in 1976. From 1996 through to the present day, a series of rovers have been sent to Mars, each more sophisticated. Today two rovers are operating on the red sands Curiosity and Opportunity. They have enabled us to make incredible discoveries, each more compelling than the last. Ancient rivers, lakes, ocean beds, and valleys have been charted, suggesting a landscape that could once have supported life. Preparations are already underway for a manned mission to Mars, and the book discusses the many challenges faced, from the design of the spacecraft to the impact on the human body, both physically and psychologically of such a journey as well as surviving on the planet's inhospitable surface.

    Addressing the American Petroleum Institute, Hubbert dropped a bombshell on his audience: U.S. oil production would peak by 1970 and decline steadily thereafter. World production would follow the same fate, reaching its peak soon after the turn of the millennium. In battles stretching over decades, Hubbert defended his forecasts against opponents from both the oil industry and government. Hubbert was proved largely correct during the energy crises of the 1970s and hailed as a "prophet" and an "oracle." Even amid our twenty-first-century fracking boom, Hubbert’s underlying logic holds true—while remaining a source of debate and controversy.A rich biography of the man behind peak oil, The Oracle of Oil follows Hubbert from his early days as a University of Chicago undergraduate to his first, ill-fated forays into politics in the midcentury Technocracy movement, and charts his rise as a top geologist in the oil industry and energy expert within the U.S. government. In a deeply researched narrative that mines Hubbert's papers and correspondence for the first time, award-winning journalist Mason Inman rescues the story of a man who shocked the scientific community with his eccentric brilliance. The Oracle of Oil also skillfully situates Hubbert in his era: a time of great intellectual ferment and discovery, tinged by dark undercurrents of intellectual witch hunts. Hubbert emerges as an unapologetic iconoclast who championed sustainability through his lifelong quest to wean the United States—and the wider world—off fossil fuels, as well as by questioning the pursuit of never-ending growth.In its portrait of a man whose prescient ideas still resonate today, The Oracle of Oil looks to the past to find a guiding philosophy for our future.

    Where to begin?- A flawless machine telling us that Mars had life was conjured-up by a guy who’d only been trying to provide clean water.- Soviet moon rovers were puppeteered by hush-hush five-man teams working behind three layers of guarded gates inside a top-secret, off-the-map town without even a name.- The dreamers responsible for landing on Venus realized that dropping down through heavy clouds of sulfuric acid and 900-degree heat was best accomplished by surfing. - Soviet Russia’s director of planetary missions absolutely hated the job. But he spent fifteen years there anyway, enduring a paranoid bureaucracy where even the copy machines were strictly regulated.Why did these people do it? Drawn to the unknown – to the majestic mystery of just what lay out there in the great beyond – they submitted to curiosity and wonder. In sum, Infinity Beckoned.This new work by Jay Gallentine delivers a rich complement of never-before-heard stories from first-person perspectives. Built upon a slew of brand-new interviews, Infinity Beckoned provides an immediate human context. It’s not even about space so much as it is about driven people engaged in brand-new undertakings. Learn how the clean-water machine got to Mars. How the top-secret town came to be. Learn much more: all from the point of view of those who actually lived it, and whose tireless efforts have expanded our knowledge of the inner solar system.

    Already we are using most of the arable land that exists and overfishing the oceans. Water, too, is becoming scarce in many places.The services that humans depend upon--like a supply of clean water, food production, and protection from disease--are subject to dangerous threats as well.We can still keep humanity moving forward by ensuring that the negative changes that are accumulating do not outweigh the positive ones. Tipping Point for Planet Earth offers sensible solutions to our most pressing problems. The grand challenge of the 21st century is to change the endgame from one that looks like a train wreck, to one that sees the train carrying us all into a bright future.

    The event was only a preview of what will soon hit coastal communities as climate change increases the power of storms that can lay waste to critical infrastructure, such as water-treatment and energy facilities, and create vast, irreversible pollution by decimating landfills and toxic-waste sites. This big-picture, policy-oriented book explains in gripping terms what rising oceans will do to coastal cities and the drastic actions we need to take now to remove vulnerable populations.The authors detail specific threats faced by Miami, New Orleans, New York, and Amsterdam. Aware of the overwhelming social, political, and economic challenges that would accompany effective action, they consider the burden to the taxpayer and the logistics of moving landmarks and infrastructure, including toxic-waste sites. They also show readers the alternative: thousands of environmental refugees, with no legitimate means to regain what they have lost. The authors conclude with effective approaches for addressing climate-change denialism and powerful arguments for changing U.S. federal coastal-management policies.

    Beginning with simple mathematics, these predictable rules led to the advent of the planet itself, as well as cells, organs and organelles, ecosystems, and increasingly complex life forms. McFarland provides an accessible discussion of a geological history as well, describing how the inorganic matter on Earth underwent chemical reactions with air and water, allowing for life to emerge from the world's first rocks.He traces the history of life all the way to modern neuroscience, and shows how the bioelectric signals that make up the human brain were formed. Most popular science books on the topic present either the physics of how the universe formed, or the biology of how complex life came about; this book'sapproach would be novel in that it condenses in an engaging way the chemistry that links the two fields. This book is an accessible and multidisciplinary look at how life on our planet came to be, and how it continues to develop and change even today.This book includes 40 illustrations by Gala Bent, print artist and studio faculty member at Cornish College of the Arts, and Mary Anderson, medical illustrator.

    

    From Thomas Edison's 1910 short film A Trip to Mars to Ridley Scott's 2015 smash hit The Martian, the red planet has captivated audiences worldwide. This comprehensive survey describes 98 significant (and not so) films, television movies and miniseries, and direct to video productions focusing on Mars. The author discusses them in their historical context and details the development of special effects and cinematic approaches through the years. Cast, crew and production information are provided where available, along with plot summaries and quotes from critics.