Compelling Evidence of Fossils and Microbialites on Ancient Mars

Rezensionen / Stimmen

'The enormous documentation presented and analyzed in chapter two, consisting of 128 plates with dozens of microphotographs, is very well selected, thematically related and actually presents possible Martian biostructures.'Konrad WolowskiFull Professor of Phycology, Polish Academy of Sciences'Through an abundant photographic documentation made available by NASA and obtained from its Martian rovers, this manuscript puts together a unique set of small-scale morphologies that variously recall those of groups of prokaryotes and eukaryotes...... The work is basically organized in an atlas format, and the abundance of case studies, their descriptive care, and comparative analysis makes it in some ways provocative and capable of stimulating a discussion on the nature of morphologies having terrestrial analogues with a clear bio-induced origin. Overall, it is mainly the case histories presented and attributed to prokaryotes that offer interest, with a large number of cases. Many of the examples discussed are intriguing and well argued. .......As food for thought, however, this manuscript does its job well.'Prof Roberto BarbieriFull Professor , University of Bologna, retired.'This book is the result of years of work by the Authors, who patiently selected images from Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity rovers, with the aim of investigating possible traces of life on Mars.The book is highly recommended for scholars seriously interested in the exploration, geobiology, and astrobiology of Mars.'Prof Fabio Vittorio De BlasioGeologist, PhD University of Milano Bicocca'Chapter 2 of this book is very interesting because it opens up new horizons for the search of past life on Mars. Really, the presence of Martian microfossils and ancient microbialites is well supported by the contents of the chapter and confirmed, also, by several figures deeply analysed in their details.'Dr. Nicola CantasanoResearcher, biologist, expert in algae, retired. National Research Council of Italy, Institute for Agricultural and Forest Systems in the Mediterranean'Skeptics will likely compare some of their suggestions to the sighting of canals on Mars by Giovanni Schiaparelli, later championed by Percival Lowell. That would ignore the quantitative and statistical analysis also provided. The subject deserves to be considered by the broadest range of experts, especially sedimentologists, with open minds and genuine curiosity. This book is an excellent new resource for the question of past life on Mars.'Brig KlyceTrustee, Astrobiology Research Trust, USA.