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.  Looking down a dive hole into an Antarctic Lake  Chris with a test balloon in the Atacama Desert, Chile |
LIFE ON EARTH...AND BEYOND: AN ASTROBIOLOGIST'S QUEST Just named "A Best New Book for the Classroom" by Book Links magazine School Library Journal Starred Review, February 15, 2008Following 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... (John Peters) Booklist Starred Review, February 1, 2008Astrobiologists 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. (Carolyn Phelan |
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