PAMELA S. TURNER
 
Collecting samples of in the Sahara--some microbes can survive inside sandstone rocks
Some Earth microbes were revived after took an accidental trip to the Moon...and back.
Chris McKay looking down a dive hole into an Antarctic Lake. It takes many hours for a heating coil to melt this 15-foot-deep hole through the ice; when the ice is melted away the water will rise up to fill the hole. And then it's time for Chris to suit up for an icy dive and drop 100 feet to the bottom of this frigid lake.
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LIFE ON EARTH...AND BEYOND: AN ASTROBIOLOGIST'S QUEST
Hardback ISBN 978-1580891332; paperback ISBN 978-1580891349
*Booklist starred review *Bank Street College of Education Best Books List *AAAS/Subaru Science Writing Prize finalist *Booklist Top Ten Sci-Tech Book for Youth *National Science Teachers Association Outstanding Science Trade Book *Booklist Editors' Choice *CCBC Choice *A Capitol Choices Selection School Library Journal Starred Review: "Following the lead of the exemplary “Scientists in the Field” series (Houghton), this is another handsomely packaged, profusely illustrated portrait of a researcher whose “lab” is the great outdoors...NASA scientist Chris McKay travels in turn to Antarctica’s Dry Valleys and ice-covered Lake Hoare, to Chile’s Atacama Desert, Siberia, and the Sahara to study the bacteria and other microscopic organisms that call such climatic extremes home. The photographs, which are reproduced with unusual clarity, range from shots of McKay and his colleagues at work in various rugged settings to micrographs of bacteria, from satellite photos to side-by-side pairings of physical features in the Atacama and intriguingly similar formations on Mars...engagingly written, visually appealing..." Booklist Starred Review: "Astrobiologists look outward from the Earth seeking evidence of life elsewhere in the Universe. But, as this fascinating book shows, they also travel to places on Earth where extreme conditions may be similiar to those on distant worlds... Turner's absorbing account gives enough detail to create vivid impressions of McKay's explorations and enough background information to show what his amazing findings imply. Occasional moments of amusement or amazement let readers share her evident enjoyment in McKay's quest...This beautifully designed volume offers an eye-opening look at an astrobiologist in action." 
Chris McKay with a research balloon in Chile's Atacama Desert
Believe it or not, this book began with an Internet search on frogs. I was looking for information on the wood frog, an amphibian that can survive Arctic temperatures. When I typed in "extreme environments," I found a huge amount of information not on frogs but on microbes. I learned about microbes that can survive without air, without light, and without anything we would think of as food; microbes that can survive extreme heat, cold, salinity, and acidity—even radiation; and microbes that can live again after sleeping millions of years. Wow. These extreme microbes led me to astrobiology. Astrobiology led me to Chris McKay. I drove to NASA and interviewed Chris for a children's science article. Our talk was so interesting that I decided I wanted to write a book. Before writing a book I always start with careful research. Although the Internet is a handy place to begin, you should double-check any information you find online. Books and articles written by scientists or respected science writers are the most reliable sources. Before I began writing, I read a shelfful of books about Mars exploration, astronomy, astrobiology, and organisms in extreme environments. I read an eight-hundred-page college textbook on microbiology. I read scientific journals such as Science and Nature and scanned newspapers for science stories. I collected files of articles on the latest NASA missions and recent discoveries in astronomy and microbiology. Relatively well armed, I went back to Chris to learn more. He patiently described his field trips via computer images and photographs. He also showed me rock samples he's collected over the years. Finally, Chris and I took a field trip to check some of his sensore experiments in Death Valley. During the long car ride, we talked about his work and the future of astrobiology. You can learn a lot from books, but there's nothing like talking to a real expert to pull everything together. When we returned from Death Valley, I gathered my files and books and started writing. |
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