Please note that several times during this interview we lost the phone audio with our guest so you will hear several seconds of dead air.  The connection remained solid, it was an audio problem likely due to number forwarding which I believe was in use with the guest phone line. I apologize for this inconvenience.

Guest:  Dr. Matt Shindell; Topics:  We discussed Matt's new book, "For The Love Of Mars, a Human History." Our discussion included the human evolution timeline, ancients and Mars, Mars cultural influences across time and our modern look at Mars.

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We welcomed Dr. Shindell to the program to discuss his new book, "For The Love Of Mars, a Human History." During our discussion, we had lots of emails and calls, all wanting to know more about Mars in a specific time period or with a specific culture or religion.  Fremont John called and wanted to know why Mars was anointed the name God of War wondering if it had something to do with the blood red Mars color.  I brought up the orchestral piece by the same title in the symphony The Planes by Gustav Holst.  Mars in science fiction and literature was a big part of our discussion.

As I have done with other Space Show summaries, I draw your attention to our Tags as they summarize the topics discussed, mostly in the order discussed, plus it was the topics that often sparked an email question or comment.  For your convenience, the Tags are repeated here:

Tags: Dr. Matt Shindell, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, For The Love Of Mars, book cover as vintage art style, cultural history of Mars, written historical records, ancients and their Mars records, Venus records over time, bad and good historical omens, Mars and our go west frontier period, H. G. Wells and War of the Worlds, Mars and romance, terraforming Mars, a habitable Mars, the Expanse Theory, Mars and the Old West, Edgar Rice Burrows John Carter novels, the Mars Myth, Mars as the God of War, Mars and astrology and the witch trials, Terraforming Mars as a thought experiment, Mars literature, Mars and the human development time line, 1940's-50's Mars fiction, Von Braun and Mars, Mars in art, life on Mars, children's books and Mars, the political influence held by Mars, Mars influence on all major governments, human imagination across time, beyond Western ideas, Mars and seasonal calendars, religious influences.

Terraforming Mars was a discussed topic that filled up many minutes of our 68-minute program.  With the terraforming discussion, we talked about Mars myths, life on Mars, science fiction and life on Mars such as in the H.G. Wells "War of the Worlds" novel.  Other literature discussed included the John Carter novels by Edgar Rice Burrows plus our guest had much to say about the Expanse Theory.

Not only was this a fun discussion but for those interested in the role played by Mars since the beginning or at least very early human record, this is your book. The human evolutionary timeline in the context of Mars is all here, all in one book. Let your imagination roll with you back in time and to the future because Mars will change and so will we. 

Please post your comments/questions for Dr. Shindell on our blog.  You can reach him through the blog, The Space Show or the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.