Synopses & Reviews
Finding Mars is an interwoven tale of science, travel, and adventure, as science writer Ned Rozell accompanies permafrost researcher—and inveterate wanderer—Kenji Yoshikawa on a 750-mile trek by snowmobile through the Alaska wilderness. Along the way, Rozell learns about Yoshikawa’s fascinating life, from his boyhood in Tokyo to the youthful wanderlust that led him to push a wheeled cart across the Sahara, ski to the South Pole, and take a sailboat into the frozen reaches of the Arctic Ocean, spending a winter frozen in the ice near Barrow. It’s an always on-the-move account of a man driven not just by the desire to fill in the blank spots on a map, but also to learn everything he can about them—and a ringing testament to the power of science, enthusiasm, and individual inspiration.
Review
"As much a tale of individual inspiration as it is about science and a snowmobile trek through the Alaskan wilderness, this is an engaging narative of science, travel, and adventure—with an intertwined biography."—
Book News Book News
Review
“The story of an incredible wanderer and adventurer written with beautifully descriptive prose that draws the reader in immediately. . . . Rozell does an admirable job relating the odyssey of a man who has seen more of this planet than most.”—
Anchorage Press
Anchorage Press
About the Author
Ned Rozell is a science writer for the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute. He has written for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, the Anchorage Daily News, Mushing magazine, the Kenai Peninsula Clarion, and other venues.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments 1. Not Like the Other Boys 2. Fourth Rock from the Sun 3. Wretched Little Port 4. Empty Spots 5. Wind Is the Eskimo's Friend 6. Dare to Fail 7. Usually, You Die 8. Secret of the Permafrost 9. To the End of the Earth 10. The Wine-Dark Sea 11. The Night of Winter 12. Some Kind of Big Changing Epilogue: Finding Mars References