The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury September 26, 2007
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Mars: Lowellian Canals vs. Hubble. Credit: APOD.
Sometimes classed as fantasy, the Martian Chronicles is written in an elegant style. While not steeped in hard science like Clarke or Asimov, Ray Bradbury introduces a certain poetic read to science fiction. The setting is a very Lowellian Mars as envisioned in the early 20th century. Man tries and fails three separate attempts to colonize Mars only to find out on the fourth that the native Martians were wiped out after being exposed to the chicken pox virus, a sort of “War of the Worlds” solution in reverse. Bradbury continues to parallel interplanetary colonization with the settling of the Americas, a theme that hadn’t yet been beaten to death. Especially of note is how truly alien Bradbury’s Martians appear; not many Sci-Fi novels and fewer still movies or television shows pull this off well. At most, we’re expected to believe in Star Trek-like aliens that have a few cosmetic differences but have basically a human appearance and motives. The Martians portrayed are utterly incomprehensible to humans. I especially liked the “bee-gun” and sunflower like house…this work still begs a proper Hollywood production! (more…)
Planetary Imaging with an Off-the-Shelf Web Cam September 19, 2007
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Jupiter via the Webcam Method. Photo by Author.
A few years ago, I came across an article in Sky & Telescope about an emerging technology. Apparently, some intrepid sky enthusiasts (I hate the word amateur… to me it denotes bottlecap collecting or trainspotting and other space filling activities) were creating their own planetary webcams. (more…)
Radix by A. A. Attanasio September 7, 2007
Posted by webmaster in : Great Science Fiction Novels , add a commentRadix is an un-discovered gem. Set on Earth in an alluded to future, it covers a vision of a transformed mankind. Concepts and ideas are foreshadowed rather than brought to full bare, such as the “Wind that blows from the belly of the swayback lion” being the radiation escaping from the constellation Leo that has transmorgafied mankind and brought the alien vistors known as the Voors. (more…)