Morton, Oliver

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MORTON, Oliver

PERSONAL: Married. Education: Cambridge University, B.A. Hobbies and other interests: Walking, cinema, genre fiction, cooking, wine.

ADDRESSES: Home—Greenwich, England. Agent—Wylie Agency, 250 West 57th St., Suite 2114, New York, NY 10107. E-mail—oliver@wiredmag.com.

CAREER: Journalist and freelance writer and editor. Economist, member of staff, 1987-95; Wired UK, contributing editor, then editor-in-chief, 1995-97; Daily Davos (Newsweek Web site), managing editor, 1998-2001. World Health Organization Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, writer and editor, 2001. Served on SETI policy subcommittee, International Academy of Astronautics; consultant to International Astronomical Union working group. Founding fellow, Hybrid Vigor Institute.

MEMBER: World Technology Network.

AWARDS, HONORS: Glaxo Wellcome science writing award (two-time winner).

WRITINGS:

Mapping Mars: Science, Imagination, and the Birth of a World, Picador (New York, NY), 2002.

Writing has appeared in New Yorker, Newsweek International, Discover, Nature, American Scholar, Science, Financial Times, and New Scientist. Prospect, advisory board member.

WORK IN PROGRESS: A book on photosynthesis.

SIDELIGHTS: Oliver Morton's writing focuses on scientific knowledge and technological advances and how they effect society. For more than five years, Morton was science and technology editor for the Economist—the youngest person ever to hold that position. His first book, Mapping Mars: Science, Imagination, and the Birth of a World, initially published in England by Fourth Estate and released simultaneously in the United States, was met with universal critical acclaim.

Reviewing Mapping Mars for American Scientist, Harry Y. McSween, Jr., commented: "This book is about how ideas from our full and complex planet are projected onto the rocks of that simpler, empty one. … Morton's eclectic tales weave together science and imagination seamlessly, and the result is engrossing." First in the book is an explanation of the place of maps in exploration; next come details of the importance scientific study of Arizona's Meteor Crater plays in understanding how impact cratering affects planetary geology. Third, Morton discusses evidence for the historical presence of water on Mars, the geometric formations that appear to have been created by it, and its disappearance.

The fourth section of Mapping Mars addresses place—specifically, potential landing sites for exploration ventures from Earth. The book ends with an evaluation of the possibility of future human activities on the Red Planet. McSween noted that this final section is based on some "far-out dreams … each so unrealistic that I must admit I lost interest. … Blurring the line between science and science fiction, even if only in describing the exhortations of others, is just not my idea of popular science." He concluded his review, however, by commending Moron for his "encyclopedic grasp of the development and major discoveries of Mars science," calling the book "factual and remarkably free of errors," and noting that he counted more than sixty-five scientists featured in the book, most of whom Morton interviewed. "And, I must confess, I am frankly envious of his engaging prose," added the critic.

In general, reviewers were disappointed that the publisher included so few maps and images of Mars. Anthony Doerr wrote in a review for Boston.com Arts and Entertainment: "For all its evocative prose, Mapping Mars suffers from a dearth of photographs … you turn to the 29 plates at the center of his book and find a single 3-inch-high detail of one map." Colin Pillinger described eight pages of maps in his review for Geographical as "so-small-as-to-be indecipherable" and "hardly good value."

However, reviewers were impressed by Morton's incredible amount of factual and scientific knowledge—from Beer and Madler, the first to attempt a complete map of Mars in 1840, to the Mars Global Surveyor that still sends information back to Earth from its red neighbor. James Hamilton-Paterson wrote in the London Review of Books, "One of Morton's strengths is his familiarity with people from the whole gamut of Mars studies. Indeed, if it weren't for his stories about scientists, academics, artists, writers and dreamers, and his interviews with some pretty wacky individuals, it might have been more difficult to carry his narrative so readably through the requisite geology and physics. Better still is the account he gives of the lively, often acrimonious debate surrounding the purpose and ethics of going to Mars."

In a radio interview posted on Australian Broadcasting Corporation Web site Wendy Barnaby noted that Morton dedicates the book to his late father. She asked specifically about a quote Morton used, attributed to his father: "Round about here Sir." Morton explained that his father was a navigating officer with the Royal Navy during World War II, and the standing joke between his father and other officers was that, when the captain entered the bridge at the end of a shift, he would ask: "Where are we then?" Other officers would use a compass to plot the exact location and reply, "We're here, sir." Morton said: "And it was claimed that my father used to lean broadly on the charts with his hand outstretched and say, 'Round about here, sir.' And it seemed to me to be, you know, it's a first book. It doesn't do everything that one would necessarily want to do, but it's round about here sir, you know, it more or less covers what it was meant to."

Doerr commented in his review: "Morton's book … is a dramatic, effusive voyage as much about Earth as Mars. … In Morton's own words, his book 'is about how ideas from our full and complex planet are projected onto the rocks of that simpler, empty one.'"

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Scientist, November-December, 2002, Harry Y. McSween, Jr., review of Mapping Mars: Science, Imagination and the Birth of a World, p. 568.

Booklist, July, 2002, Gilbert Taylor, review of Mapping Mars, p. 1805.

Economist, July 6, 2002, Josh Winn, review of Mapping Mars.

Geographical, October, 2002, Colin Pillinger, review of Mapping Mars, p. 66.

Guardian, August 31, 2002, Duncan Steel, review of Mapping Mars.

London Review of Books, August 22, 2002, James Hamilton-Paterson, review of Mapping Mars, p. 3.

Publishers Weekly, June 24, 2002, review of Mapping Mars, p. 49.

Science News, September 21, 2002, review of Mapping Mars, p. 191.