Telescope Reviews: "The Exploration of Mars"...

... by Willy Ley, Werner von Braun, and Chesley Bonestell.

I was in Flagstaff last week with some time to kill, and I stopped in a large used book store (Bookmans). Looked through the astronomy section:
"Mars: The Lure of the Red Planet" by Sheehan & O'Meara, $10... hmmm, yeah...
"Amateur Astronomers Handbook" by Sidgewick, $6... yeah, hmmmm...
"The Exploration of Mars", $75... hmmm... WHAT?? No way, back on the shelf with you!

Continued looking; and suddenly I notice it's in my hands again. I put it back again. A minute later I see it's in my stack of books. No way I'm paying $75 for this book! As I walk up to the cash register (with the book) I'm telling myself "you are NOT buying this book for that price!". Then the guy rang it up and I left the store.

It's a VERY good book though, and in great shape with a dust jacket that isn't in such good shape. I feel somewhat vindicated by looking on Bookfinder.com and not finding it for less than $103 (in poor condition w/no dust jacket).
Old Willy Ley was a great writer, and Bonestell's paintings are just wonderful. It's odd, though: "The Conquest of Space" by Ley/Bonestell has far more paintings of Mars than the Mars book has. But it's a very well-written, concise overview of Mars observation and a snapshot of what we felt we knew about Mars at the middle of the last century, pre-space age. No liberties are taken, no assumptions are made. Only the facts as they were known, and some speculation of what they might mean, presented in an easy style with some humor mixed in.

I'm about through the Sheehan/O'Meara book now. I don't know which one is responsible for what part, but I really enjoyed Sheehan's "Mars: a History of Observation and Discovery", and this one is nearly as good. The language usage is a little more flowery and dramatic in "Lure" than in "History", possibly O'Meara's influence. But boy, do these guys know their astro-history!

All books mentioned above are highly recommended, except Sidgewick's book which I haven't read yet, but which I'm told is THE authoritative book on telescope optics.

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- Rick
14" LX200GPS
8" Meade 826C