Lewis, John S(impson), (Jr.) 1941–

PERSONAL: Born June 27, 1941, in Trenton, NJ; son of John Simpson (an executive) and Elsie D. (a homemaker; maiden name, Vandenbergh) Lewis; married Ruth Margaret Adams (a writer and linguist), August 1, 1964; children: John Vandenbergh, Margaret Martell, Christopher Franklin, Katherine Richins, Elizabeth Reeves, Peter Mandeville. Education: Princeton University, A.B., 1962; Dartmouth College, M.A., 1964; University of California, San Diego, Ph.D., 1968. Politics: Republican. Religion: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon).

ADDRESSES: Office—Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721. E-mail—jsl@u.arizona.edu.

CAREER: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Chemistry and Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Cambridge, MA, assistant professor, 1968–72, associate professor, 1972–79; professor of earth and planetary science, 1979–81; Lunar and Planetary Lab, University of Arizona, Tucson, professor of planetary science, 1981–, codirector of Space Engineering Research Center (joint project with National Aeronautics and Space Administration [NASA]), 1988–. Member, board of directors, American Rocket Company, 1988–96; ASPERA Corp., Tucson, vice president for research and director, 1989; NASA, Long Duration Exposure Facility, member of advisory committee and Lunar Exploration Science Working Group; Arizona State Space Commission, commissioner.

AWARDS, HONORS: James B. Macelwane Award, American Geophysical Union, 1976; Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1983.

WRITINGS:

"HELIX BOOKS" SERIES

Rain of Iron and Ice: The Very Real Threat of Comet and Asteroid Bombardment, Addison-Wesley (Reading, MA), 1996.

Mining the Sky: Untold Riches from the Asteroids, Comets, and Planets, Addison-Wesley (Reading, MA), 1996.

Worlds without End: The Exploration of Planets Known and Unknown, Perseus Books (Reading, MA), 1998.

OTHER

(With Ronald G. Prinn) Planets and Their Atmospheres: Origin and Evolution (Volume 33, "International Geophysics" series), Academic Press (Orlando, FL), 1984.

(With wife, Ruth A. Lewis) Space Resources: Breaking the Bonds of Earth, Columbia University Press (New York, NY), 1987.

(Editor, with Mildred Shapley Matthews and Mary L. Guerrieri) Resources of Near-Earth Space, University of Arizona Press (Tucson, AZ), 1993.

Physics and Chemistry of the Solar System, Academic Press (San Diego, CA), 1995, 2nd edition, Elsevier Academic Press (Boston, MA), 2004.

Comet and Asteroid Impact Hazards on a Populated Earth: Computer Modeling, Academic Press (San Diego, CA), 2000.

Contributor to anthologies, including Origins of Life, 1993; contributor to periodicals, including Icarus. Translator of books from French and German on topics including evolution, antique doll collecting, and strengthening the immune system.

SIDELIGHTS: Chemist and planetary scientist John S. Lewis's research interests are focused on two specific areas: the applications of chemistry to planetary sciences and space development. He has been associated with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) since 1968, and has worked on joint projects with the University of Arizona. In addition, Lewis has written a number of volumes, including the textbook Physics and Chemistry of the Solar System, which has been reprinted twice.

Lewis completed Space Resources: Breaking the Bonds of Earth with his wife, science writer Ruth A. Lewis. The volume focuses on the part of the solar system that is closest to Earth, exploring the resources it offers—energy, water, and other materials—that the authors feel the United States could tap to support its space program. The Lewises also offer critiques and suggestions for reenergizing U.S. projects in space.

Science contributor Thomas B. McCord commented that "Lewis and Lewis treat each topic with blunt logic, numbers and facts, and some humor. The arguments and proposals are easy to understand, even if some readers may not agree with them. The book is unusual in that it treats scientific and political topics equally well and in an integrated way. There is credibility, basis in fact, and soundness of logic."

Lewis has written three volumes for the "Helix Books" series. The first, Rain of Iron and Ice: The Very Real Threat of Comet and Asteroid Bombardment, reveals Lewis's very thorough knowledge of asteroids, meteorites, and meteors. In addition to documenting more than 200 impact sites and the objects that have fallen from space, he comments on the effect of those events on the evolution of our planet and projects the consequences of future events.

Several similar books were published at approximately the same time as Rain of Iron and Ice, and Nation reviewer Mike Davis, who reviewed them all, noted that most offer theories about flood comets, Stonehenge, mega-tsunamis, and disasters that occurred long before the first year of our Christian calendar. In these books, according to Davis, "Science gives way to seance. Only Lewis keeps his head above the flood waters, although this is partly because he is more obsessed with the Tellerian nuts and bolts of shooting down asteroids, or mining them for precious minerals, than with enigmatic corners of early world history. But he does lead the reader through a clever obstacle course of alternative twentieth centuries, each with a different, computer-simulated Tunguska scenario adjusted to the random odds of a small asteroid hitting a populated center."

With Mining the Sky: Untold Riches from the Asteroids, Comets, and Planets Lewis concentrates on the value of asteroids and other heavenly bodies. He projects that the iron contained in the asteroid belt has a monetary value that equals approximately seven billion dollars for every person on Earth, and notes that in addition to iron, asteroids contain other metals, including precious metals. He considers that mining these asteroids could also reduce their size, rendering them less dangerous. Lewis also goes beyond near space to project the value of asteroids closer to the far planets, like Uranus and Neptune.

Kenneth Silber noted in Reason that "Mining the Sky contends that the notion that natural resources are running out is a myth—but one that's all too true if Earth is the only source considered." Lewis writes of space exploration through the NASA program and the lack of advanced technologies. He also says that historically we have neither had the will to study the development of agriculture in space nor developed the means of getting there. Lucy-Ann McFadden wrote in American Scientist that Lewis "argues with dogged determination that moving beyond earth will be economically feasible and will expand civilization in terms of the human spirit and its accomplishments."

In Worlds without End: The Exploration of Planets Known and Unknown Lewis speculates on the origins of the existing planets and others that might have existed under different circumstances. He explains why some planets may be habitable and others not, without presuming where intelligent life might exist. He begins by offering a summary of the historical debate over space travel and those who studied the skies thousands of years ago. A Publishers Weekly reviewer noted that while the volume is written in easily understandable language, Lewis "explains fairly complex earth-science concepts with admirable clarity."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Scientist, January-February, 1998, Lucy-Ann McFadden, review of Mining the Sky: Untold Riches from the Asteroids, Comets, and Planets, p. 83; May-June, 1999, Chris Impey, review of Worlds without End: The Exploration of Planets Known and Unknown, p. 280.

Astronomy, April, 1997, David S. F. Portree, review of Mining the Sky, p. 104; May, 1999, Amy Paige Snyder, review of Worlds without End, p. 108; May, 2000, review of Comet and Asteroid Impact Hazards on a Populated Earth: Computer Modeling, p. 104.

Atlantic Monthly, March, 1996, Phoebe-Lou Adams, review of Rain of Iron and Ice: The Very Real Threat of Comet and Asteroid Bombardment, p. 125.

Booklist, October 15, 1998, Gilbert Taylor, review of Worlds without End, p. 381.

Economist, July 17, 1999, review of Worlds without End, p. S9.

Nation, October 28, 1996, Mike Davis, review of Rain of Iron and Ice, p. 38.

Publishers Weekly, January 8, 1996, review of Rain of Iron and Ice, p. 53; November 2, 1998, review of Worlds without End, p. 61.

Reason, April, 1997, Kenneth Silber, review of Mining the Sky, p. 59.

Science, December 4, 1987, Thomas B. McCord, review of Space Resources: Breaking the Bonds of Earth, p. 1447.

Sky and Telescope, January, 1997, Stuart J. Goldman and Dennis di Cicco, review of Rain of Iron and Ice, p. 64.

ONLINE

University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory Web site, http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/ (May 13, 2005), "John S. Lewis."