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Book Review:
The Hunt for Life on Mars
By Jim Plaxco
With the widespread interest in the issue of life on Mars, it was
inevitable that a book would appear on the scene to examine and
explain the issues surrounding the meteorite that even got the
attention of President Clinton - ALH8001. To the best of my knowledge,
Donald Goldsmith's book The Hunt for Life on Mars is the first on
the scene and is obviously intended for a general audience.
Mr. Goldsmith, who recently wrote the book The Astronomers as the
companion to the PBS television series of the same name, received the
Annenberg Foundation Award for lifetime achievement from the American
Astronomical Society in 1995. I have not read any of Mr Goldsmith's
previous works, but if memory serves me, I did attend a presentation
he did on the Hubble Space Telescope at the University of Wisconsin
some years back as a part of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific's
annual meeting.
In the course of the book, Mr. Goldsmith covers a lot of ground - from
explaining the issues of the analysis of the meteorite thought to
contain evidence of ancient microscopic Martian life, to a look at
future missions to our red neighbor, of which Tobias Owen of the
University of Hawaii says: "These are the most sophisticated devices
our civilization can produce that are not designed to kill someone.
Their purpose is to reveal the secrets of other worlds. When one of
these marvelous messengers from Earth falls silent, the letdown can be
overwhelming."
Approximately half of the book is devoted to discussing the issues
surrounding the question "Does ALH8001 contain evidence of past life
on Mars?" His method of explaining the positions of those who both
agree and disagree with the findings of the team that did the analysis
is to set it up as a case being argued in a court of law with himself
as a judge of sorts. Unfortunately, Mr Goldsmith takes the court room
analogy too far for my tastes. With two direct references to the "OJ"
case, including the now famous line "If the glove doesn't fit, you
must acquit," Mr. Goldsmith's approach distracts from rather than
facilitates an understanding of the issues involved. In the last
chapter of the book, there is a section that concentrates on the
scientific method. My reaction was that the reader would have been
much better served if this material had been presented at the
beginning of the book. This would have made it possible to take the
overly-done trial analogy, throw it away, and concentrate on the
science.
Perhaps, at a very basic level, the arguments both for and against
whether or not ALH8001 contains the remains of Martian microscopic
life can be summed up with two quotes taken from the book. On the
whole topic of Martian life, Carl Sagan is quoted as saying
"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence." This is a view
favored by many of those who doubt the evidence. I must say that my
initial, and ongoing, reaction to this quote has been a negative one
since it implies a double or multiple standard for judging whether or
not a theory is right or wrong. My disposition leads me to side with
another who is also quoted by Mr. Goldsmith. "How often have I said
to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains,
however improbable, must be the truth." Even though a fictitious
character, Mr. Sherlock Holmes does a better job of addressing the
root question than does Mr. Sagan. What is really at issue is the
degree to which the team examining ALH8001 has eliminated alternative
explanations for the presence of what they think they see.
The chapter that I personally found most interesting was "The Origin
of Life." It gives a very nice overview of the issues and helps to put
things into perspective. I would have placed this strong, well-done
chapter right after the chapter explaining the scientific method.
Personally, I would have preferred a longer, more detailed book
without the courtroom scenes. For a more serious examination of the
issues of life and of life on Mars, I would suggest Mars and the
Development of Life by Anders Hansson published in 1991 by Ellis
Horwood, Ltd. However, I would recommend The Hunt for Life on Mars
to anyone that wants to know more about our attempts to answer the
question "Have we found evidence of ancient life on Mars?"
Donald Goldsmith, The Hunt for Life on Mars. Dutton, 1997.
 | Title: The Hunt for Life on Mars
Author: Donald Goldsmith,Donald Goldsmith
ISBN: 0525943366
Publisher: NAL/Dutton
Date Published: January 1997
Format: Trade Paper |
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