The Grand Tour [Paperback]

Ron Miller (Author), William K. Hartmann (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1563050315 | ISBN-13: 978-1563050312 | Publication Date: January 12, 1993 | Edition: Revised

Hurricanes so enormous that the earth itself could be lost in one; a volcano larger than the state of Missouri and higher than Everest; a planet with a billion moons; a planet that rotates on its side; worlds made of solid ice; a world where it rains gasoline. These are not inventions of fantasy or science fiction, but are places that really exist-in our own solar system.

Now with 190,000 copies in print, here is a spectacular Grand Tour of the solar system featuring a unique blend of science and art-photographs along with dazzling full-color paintings, drawings, and maps based on years of astronomer William Hartmann's research, personal observation, and interviews with colleagues.

In text and diagrams, too, The Grand Tour explains how the strange and uncanny worlds on the journeys came to be, and what it would be like to actually set foot upon them today. The book includes an atlas of the planets and their satellites, and of the Earth's moon.

Complete with a selection of previously unpublished photographs taken by the Apollo astronauts, and by the Mariner, Viking, and Pioneer planetary probes, The Grand Tour is unique and breathtaking, majestic and eerie, and wonderful, taking the reader to more, and to the beyond. Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club, Quality Paperback Book Club, and Newbridge Book Club.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Excellent graphics distinguish this armchair guide to the solar system. -- Booklist

From the Back Cover

A DAZZLING JOURNEY

The trunks are packed, your passport's in order. But instead of sailing to Le Havre for a Cook's tour of the Continent, you're embarking on a voyage through the solar system. That is the wonder of THE GRAND TOUR.

Originally published in 1981 and now completely updated by the scientific findings of the past decade, the revised edition of THE GRAND TOUR includes 10 new chapters, 52 new and/or revised paintings, 24 new photographs, and new drawings and maps. Through its unique marriage of art and fact, the book transports readers to unimaginable places-worlds of pure ice and utter night, of volcanic tumult and swirling acid clouds, of deep cut canyons and startingly beautiful vistas. From the vast reaches of Jupiter to tiny frozen Rhea, orbiting like a snowball around Saturn, it takes us on a journey of astonishing proportions.

Astronomer William K. Hartmann is internationally known as a planetary scientist, painter, and writer. Ron Miller, a former director of the Albert Einstein Spacearium at the National Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C., is widely known for his astronomical and science-fiction paintings. Their other collaborations include Out of the Cradle, Cycles of Fire, and The History of Earth.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Workman Publishing Company; Revised edition (January 12, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563050315
• ISBN-13: 978-1563050312
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,799,669 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the classic books on the solar system, February 22, 2000

By 

Sean Breazeal (Mt. Pleasant, UT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Grand Tour (Paperback)

Written in the style of a traveller's guide book, the authors take you on an interplanetary cruise describing each body in detail. The book runs from the largest (the Sun) to the smallest objects (comets and tiny asteroids) in the solar system. The illustrations are either photos from spacecraft that have visited the various planets and moons, or are hypothetical paintings based on what the surfaces may look like. One particularly striking painting is of the surface of Pluto, with the sun as a mere bright speck in the sky.

I'd recommend this book to anyone with a passing interest in astronomy or the planets, it's a great read and never gets obtusely technical. Ron Miller and William K. Hartmann are without a doubt the finest planetary artists around today.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not a typical book on the solar system., January 1, 2000

By 

Matt Kizer (Plymouth, New Hampshire) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Grand Tour (Paperback)

An excellent book with stunning original hand-painted art. This book discusses the worlds of our solar system rather than the planets. Each body, no matter what pigeon hole or classification it has been placed into in the past, is treated as a unique world with its own landscape, sky, weather, and character. Planets, moons, asteroids, comets, etc. are organized by size rather than type, yielding some very surprising revelations.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating, well-written survey of the worlds of the solar system, June 1, 2006

By 

Edward W. Trieste (Caldwell, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Grand Tour: A Traveler's Guide to the Solar System (Hardcover)

This excellent coffee-table book is a fascinating exploration of the solar system. It is gratifying to see this book, now in its 3rd edition, revised regularly to reflect the many continuing new discoveries of the last 25 years.

This survey, written for the layman, thoroughly covers all of the important worlds of our solar system. It also discusses our solar system's formation and what we know about extrasolar planets.

Most books on the solar system introduce each planet in turn from Mercury outward to Pluto. This book starts with Jupiter and proceeds in descending order by size. This unusual approach emphasizes that these worlds vary as a continuum, encouraging comparison between small planets and large satellites, between satellites and asteroids, between asteroids and comets.

Part I covers the 28 largest worlds in the solar system, from Jupiter to Ceres. Part II covers selected interesting worlds, such as Halley's Comet, asteroids Vesta, Eros, Hektor, and Chiron, and moons Amalthea, Mimas and Miranda. Part III discusses extrasolar planets. A glossary covers terms such as centaurs, differentiation, millibars, and retrograde.

The illustrations and photography are especially worthwhile. Miller and Hartmann dramatically illustrate the wonder and majesty of space with a mix of actual photographs and artist's renditions.

The book reflects the current indecision regarding Pluto. However, the authors opine that the solar system is most sensibly viewed as having eight planets, with Pluto the largest Kuiper Belt object and Ceres the largest asteroid.

Two other newly-discovered trans-Neptunian objects receive a chapter: Sedna, possibly the first known Oort Cloud object, and 2004 DW (now called Orcus), the largest-known TNO at press time.

Press time for this book was spring 2005. The book therefore includes a Huygens image of Titan taken in January, but just missed the uproar caused by the July discovery of 2003 UB313/"Xena".

Surprisingly, there is no table listing the diameters, periods, and other vital statistics of the planets and moons. The only other drawback that comes to mind is that there is no chapter devoted to the Sun.

On another plane, Miller and Hartmann use the solar system's diversity to emphasize our good fortune in having such a wonderful Earth, and remind us to take better care of our home. They also speculate about the possibility of past or present life on Mars, Europa, Titan, and extrasolar planets. They conclude by speaking of a Copernican revolution, away from Earth and humanity as the literal and figurative center of the universe, towards a humbler view of our place in the cosmos.

The unorthodox presentation and the spectacular illustrations earn this book a place in any library on astronomy.