| View Larger Image | Unmasking Europa: The Search for Life on Jupiter's Ocean Moon | Hardcoverby Richard Greenberg (Author)
| List Price: | $27.50 | | Price: | $10.73 | | You Save: | $16.77 (61%) | | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| | Binding: | Hardcover | | Publisher: | Springer | | Edition: | 1st Edition | | Page Count: | 278 Pages | | Publication Date: | August 19, 2008 | | Sales Rank: | 327,910th |
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FEATURES | - ISBN13: 9780387479361
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
A Close Look at Europa . . . And How Big Science Gets Done . . . The second-outward of Jupiter's four major moons, Europa is covered with ice, as confirmed in views from modern telescopes and the thousands of images returned by NASA's Voyager and Galileo missions. But these higher-resolution views also showed that the ice is anything but smooth. In fact, Europa's surface is covered with vast criss-crossing systems of mountain-sized ridges, jumbled regions of seemingly chaotic terrain, and patches that suggest upwellings of new surface materials from below. How scientists think about the underlying forces that shaped this incredibly complex, bizarre, and beautiful surface is the subject of this book. In Unmasking Europa, Richard Greenberg tells the story of how he and his team of researchers came to believe that the surface of Europa is in fact a crust so thin that it can barely hide an ocean of liquid water below. He shows how the ocean is warmed by the friction of tidal movements in this small moon as it orbits around immense Jupiter. The implications of this interpretation- which includes the idea that there are active intermittent openings from the liquid ocean to the frozen surface- are immense. The warmth, the chemistry, and the connections from ocean to surface provide the conditions necessary for the existence of life, even at this relatively remote locale in our solar system, far beyond what's normally thought of as its 'habitable zone.' Unmasking Europa describes in clear but technically sophisticated terms- and with extensive illustrations (including more than 100 NASA images)- the remarkable history of research on Europa over the last four decades. The book also provides unique insights into how "big science" gets done today, and it is not always a pretty picture. From his perspective as professor of Planetary Science at the University of Arizona, and a quarter century-long membership on the Imaging Team for NASA's Galileo mission, Greenberg describes how personal agendas (including his own) and political maneuvering (in which he received an education by fire) determined a lot about the funding, staffing, and even the direction of the research about Europa. While he is satisfied that his team's work is now, finally, receiving fair consideration and even respect, Greenberg comes away from his experience feeling that something is fundamentally wrong with the scientific enterprise as a whole because it routinely punishes innovation, risk-taking thought, and willingness to simply let the evidence lead where it may. In today's scientific environment with its careerist pressures and peer-reviewed propriety, Greenberg believes, astute scientists (and sadly many of our youngest and brightest) quickly realize that it is more rewarding in very practical ways to stay within the mainstream- a tendency that by its very nature is at odds with the ideals of scientific research and thought. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 5 reviews)
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Sometimes you have to shout to be heard... by C. Vogelzang (the Netherlands)  5 Stars
September 30, 2009
How can I appreciate a difference of opinions, as a layman, between scientists who seemingly have earned their authority in their particular fields of expertise, where I have none to offer, but a bit of common sense?
In the beginning of the book I was surprised by the spiteful undertone in which the author spoke about some of his peers and their research. But as his story, the story of Europa and the story of "big science", progresses one can start to understand the resentment Greenberg feels, if what he reveils is true. It gives a new dimension to the Galileo mission, not just a quest for discovery, but with it a small battleground for bickering scientists that let personal interests prevail above the search for the actual truth if needed.
I'm not talking about 'the truth' of Europa, because that is under scientific scrutiny, and in time, even the most controversial characteristic that is under questioning (thick icecrust vs thin icecrust) will become defined and a fact. It is just a question of when and how.
What I'm talking about is, that I find it disturbing that scientists are willing to bend their findings to different conclusions in order to stay in place with their "sponsors", wether the reward is money, firsthand information, promising careermoves in the future or simply the fact that being "wrong" is not an option. It would be a rather marginal conflictzone, if it were not for the billions of dollars that are spend on interplanetary missions. If information, harvested from these missions, is missused or not used at all, but simply stored away or misinterpreted and adopted without proper scientic basis that should be a serious issue in a country that has a soaring national deficit.
The growing stack of arguments for thin ice (as a premiss for a direct connection between the ocean and surface) and the seemingly obvious unscientific tactics to undermine or silence these arguments, would drive anyone nuts, that has 30 years of his career invested in the findings of this mission. Although I find his arguments quite compelling, I dare not say if he's right about his thin icecrust theory. Except for one thing, the arguments for thick ice, seem to lack the elegance of simplicity that Greenberg arguments have to offer. With that in mind and the implications that a thin icecrust can have on the shape, cost and caracter of a future mission to Europa, it is rather a good thing that Greenberg is not holding back and even becomes personal at times. It is almost an outcry for people to take notice. With the attention it draws they will likely to investigate and question the motives of anyone involved (including himself) in this or any future project. With it every aspect of a future mission to Europa (wether it be 2, 3 or even more decades away) is under scrutiny. And hopefully, there will be enough evidence and arguments to keep such a mission as costeffective as can be. In the case of Greenberg's thin ice theory it would mean not only that a mission could start much earlier, it would cost a view billions dollars less. He suggests that it would be very reasonable to investigate the current data, from the Voyager and Galileo missions, even more. For just a few millions of dollars, good science can be done, save and sound on earth. Without resorting to plan a new mission all too soon. Ironicaly with that, an overinvestment in time and money on the science of Europa, could be prevented, if new insights can be derived from this investigation. We could get more good science results from a future mission, and even sooner, by just going over the information we already have.
There are many more puzzles in our solar system, and it would be regretfull, if a lot of science is wasted because the money wasn't spend efficient and at it, the information misinterpreted.
If read in that context, Greenberg has not only delivered an exiting book on a fairly unknown body of our solar system. He also has provoked controversy by confrontation, as a wake up call perhaps, to deliver a message to all who like planetary science. Don't believe everything you read, question motives, question conclusions and most of all question the institutions who may have many more interests than purely the science of things. That is my aprecciation of things...and wether Europa has a thin icecrust, I still don't know for sure, but Greenberg did make a strong case for it. Time will tell.
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Unmasking Big Science by The Pie Faced Prince (Los Angeles, CA USA) 5 Stars
March 24, 2009
This book is not an easy read even though it has been written down to a level fit for the ubiquitous intelligent layman. At times it is tedious and repetitious. This is the only complaint I have. Otherwise, the author writes with enviable clarity. But planetary geology is a tough read. I don't much like any kind of geology at all.
I found the polemics on the art of doing science the best part of the book. It brought back memories as I spent most of my scientific career as an employee of NASA. Like any human endeavor, there are heroes and knaves. I mostly remember the knaves as there were few heroes in my myopic view. The US reader - as tax payer - should pay particular attention. This is how your hard earned money is spent. This is the truth baby, not a rant or a whine. As the author states, there are tons of unanalyzed and forgotten data backlogged in NASA archives even as the next mission is being planned then implemented so new data can be archived, forgotten, and unanalyzed.
The author is an advocate of the "thin ice" interpretation of Europa's surface. People who think that his complaints vis-a-vis the thick ice cohort need to read their Thomas Kuhn.
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Ever wonder how science actually gets done? by Robert Bernstein (La Jolla CA USA) 5 Stars
January 25, 2009
Unmasking Europa is an incredibly enjoyable read. I was drawn to it initially by a longstanding scientific interest, but got far more than I had anticipated: an amazingly honest description of the socio-political goings on in "big science" projects. I spent my professional career working in the related field of earth and ocean science, and can vouch based on personal experience that Greenberg has accurately captured the kinds of things that can and do happen.
If you've gotten this far, reading this and other reviews of Unmasking Europa, you clearly have an interest in this remarkable planetary object. Greenberg's book will broaden and deepen your understanding of Europa; it will also enhance your understanding of the necessarily imperfect way in which actual human beings push on the frontier.
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Unmasking Europa, Unmasking Big Science by Gregory T. Laden (Minneapolis, MN, USA) 5 Stars
November 26, 2008
Unmasking Europa: The Search for Life on Jupiter's Ocean Moon by Richard Greenberg is the exploration of one of the more interesting planetary bodies of our solar system ... Europa, a moon of Jupiter, as well as one of the more interesting episodes in the politics of science.
Europa is the sixth moon of Jupiter, and is almost the size of our Moon. But get this: Europa has a thin Oxygen atmosphere, and is covered with water. This makes it a very likely place for life to evolve.
Being so far from the sun, and having a very thin atmosphere (and some other considerations) means that Europa does not receive enough solar energy to be wrmed like the earth is. But, being so close to massive Jupiter, tidal energy does in fact heat the planet up, and the thermodynamics of this tide-powered planet are complex and fascinating. In short, Europa's ocean is probably often liquid but usually covered with ice, but the ice breaks up, water comes flying out, all sorts of complex interesting things happen depending on conditions.
Greenberg's book represents a detailed chronicle of the exploration of Europa by Voyager and Galileo, and provides convincing evidence that his particular model (the semi-liquid, as opposed to the it's always frozen, model) of Eruopa's surface structure is probably right.
The book is well written, in fact, I found it riveting.
Greenberg, however, did not come to the conclusions he came to, or carry out the research he did with NASA without significant cost. He makes the point in Unmasking... that "Big Science" is a very flawed enterprise, and he provides quite a bit of discussion of conflict surrounding the research program.
Frankly, I think this could have been two books: One just on Europa, which would have been quite interesting, and one on the politics of big science. But this is how the author chose to do it, and he was the guy in the trenches...
I also have the sense that the writing of this book may have been a necessary cathartic experience for Geenberg. This sense, assuming that this is not just something I was imagining, makes the book a little more interesting. There are points where you can smell the politics. Also, I've noticed that many non-scientist readers of science books enjoy the personal side of the story, so I suspect this book will be widely enjoyed.
To give you a flavor, here is an excerpt from the publisher's overview of the book:
"The book also provides unique insights into how "big science" gets done today, and it is not always a pretty picture. From his perspective as a Professor of Planetary Sciences at the University of Arizona, and a quarter-century-long membership on the Imaging Team for the Galileo space mission, Greenberg describes how personal agendas (including his own) and political maneuvering (in which he received an education by fire) determined a lot about the funding, staffing, and even the direction of research about Europa.
While he is satisfied that his team's work is now, finally, receiving fair consideration and even respect, Greenberg comes away from his decades-long experience feeling that something is fundamentally wrong with the scientific enterprise as a whole because it routinely punishes innovation, risk-taking thought, and a willingness to simply let the evidence lead where it may. In today's scientific culture, with its careerist pressures and peer-reviewed propriety, Greenberg believes, astute scientists (and sadly many of our youngest and brightest scientists) quickly realize that the most rewarding research strategy is to stay within the mainstream--a tendency that by its very nature is at odds with the ideals of scientific investigation and thought."
This review also appears in my blog:
[...]
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Fascinating science, bad writing by gpetrov (NYC, USA)  2 Stars
November 25, 2008
This was a very frustrating book to read. It has one very good narrative and one very bad.
The first narrative is an elegant and convincing set of arguments for the author's view that Europa has a shell of thin ice riding on a liquid water ocean. For example Greenberg's explanation of tidal forces and the orbital mechanics of the Jovian moons is clear, eloquent and a beautiful piece of science writing.
Unfortunately this book has second narrative that is distracting and frustrating.
Greenberg commits half of his time complaining of being marginalized by his peers, and having to fight to prove his ideas about Europa. However, when he discusses the competing ideas he is so condescending and dismissive that he comes across as a tedious self-righteous whiner.
The book is full of sarcastic use of quotes, idiotic statements like "He is now a Jesuit brother, so he is reasonably credible", and references to other scientists on the team as the "Galileo Regime", the "thick-ice clique", riding on the "thick-ice bandwagon", and adhering to the "party line".
When talking about himself though he points out with satisfaction that his students honored "their thesis advisor" by naming a fracture after him and has the gall to compare himself to Galileo (although he quickly denies that this is what he is doing).
Chapter 14 (Thick vs. Thin), what should have been the climax of the book and the summary of Greenberg's arguments for a thin-ice crust, is completely unreadable and I had to skip most of it or just give up on the book.
I am sure that most lay people (the stated target audience for this book) including me are eager to root for the thin-ice model of Europa, because it makes the possibility of life existing there a lot more likely. Regrettably, Greenberg, by virtue of bad writing and very poor editing does his best to turn everyone away, and I suggest that you should find another book about Europa.
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