science

Mars Plus

Mars Plus is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Mars Plus rather than just read about it. In short: Mars Plus is a 1994 science fiction novel by American writer Frederik Pohl and Thomas T. Thomas.

Key takeaways

Mars Plus belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Mars Plus to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Mars Plus from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Mars Plus is a 1994 science fiction novel by American writer Frederik Pohl and Thomas T. Thomas. It is the sequel to Pohl's 1976 novel Man Plus, which is about a cyborg, Roger Torraway, who is designed to operate in the harsh Martian environment, so that humans can start to colonize Mars. Mars Plus is set fifty years after the first novel. Young Demeter Coghlan travels to Mars, now settled by humans and cyborgs, and finds herself amidst a rebellion by the colonists.

Plot In Man Plus, set in the not-too-distant future, with threat of the Cold War becoming a fighting war, people plan for the colonization of Mars to escape the seemingly-inevitable Armageddon. The American government begins a cyborg program to create a being capable of surviving the harsh Martian environment: a "Man Plus" called Roger Torraway who is converted from man to cyborg. While his cyborg body is adapted to Mars, he feels strange at first. As more nations develop cyborgs, the computer networks of Earth become sentient. Mars Plus is set fifty years after the first novel, when Mars is settled by humans and cyborgs. The cyborg Torroway is in the novel, but he is not the main character. The protagonist is Demeter Coghlan, a young woman from Earth who travels to Mars. Demeter is seeking information about a canyon that she believes may be significant if the colonists begin to convert Mars to an Earth-like planet. Amidst a backdrop of spies and newly dispatched Earth diplomats, the inexperienced Demeter senses that tensions are rising on the planet. She is further disoriented due to recovering from an accident. Despite the risks in the region, Demeter has intense sexual encounters with some of the local colonists. When the locals rebel against the surveillance set up by the computer network, Demeter is kidnapped by the computer network.

Reception The reviewer from SFBook Reviews criticizes the book, saying "nothing really happens" and stating that there is no linkage to Man Plus apart from the presence of the cyborg Torraway; moreover, the reviewer states that the questions posed in the first novel are not answered. SF Reviews calls Mars Plus "...not as good as Man Plus but...not bad", and it is praised for "...some nice touches: Demeter continuously forgetting to think about geology; her careless dictation to the computer and her irresistible urges for wild sex." SF Reviews criticizes the writing in Mars Plus for being "...a little careless in places" and in need of more "...more crafting and pruning."

References

External links MIT profile of Pohl

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Mars Plus

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Mars Plus claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Mars Plus before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Mars Plus ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Mars Plus

In research: Mars Plus appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Mars Plus in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Mars Plus is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1990s science fiction novel stubs, 1994 American novels, 1994 English-language novels, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Mars Plus outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Mars Plus in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Mars Plus means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Mars Plus out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mars Plus in simple terms?

Mars Plus is a 1994 science fiction novel by American writer Frederik Pohl and Thomas T. Thomas.

Why does Mars Plus matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Mars Plus?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Mars Plus.