Customer Reviews

Lives of the Planets: A Natural History of the Solar System

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I must say I was very disappointed in this book. Not that it's bad, it's just not at all what I expected. "Lives of the hardware launched into space" would be a more accurate, although perhaps less alluring, title.
I would say that roughly 1/3 of this book is actually about the planets and other celestial bodies. Most of it is about hardware, NASA, science administration and funding, mission managers and engineers, and the authors family life and childhood interests. Things like planetary surface topography and chemistry, geological history, atmospheres, orbital mechanics, etc. - the actual "Lives of the Planets" - are skipped over with an absolute minimum of detail. Volcanism on Io is barely dignified with a mention while the political infighting between different space agencies and laboratories takes center stage. To my taste, there just not enough meat in this book. If you enjoy "human interest" stories, by all means go ahead and buy this book - just don't expect much science. You'd be better off browsing through old Scientific Americans.
By the way - if someone can recommend a good, up-to-date "science" book on the Solar system, I'd appreciate it.

As already noted, this is a history of the various satellite missions to the planets instead of the planets themselves. And that's OK; I expected such, having read the reviews and a few sample passages in the store. What shocked me, though, was Corfield's odd and plainly mean-spirited decision to focus on the programs' blunders and failures, however miniscule they may be in comparison to their accomplishments. Strange to see an astronomer, someone who presumably has a big-picture outlook on the world, caught up in such pettiness.

Corfield consistently portrays of scientists as a stupid lot, their beliefs founded on fads and personal prejudice until the evidence knocks them upside their empty heads. Funny thing about that evidence; it seems to show up of its own accord, with no human responsibility for its discovery. (Who's pursuing the truth and amending previous theories, then? Flying spaghetti monsters?) Any researcher who has ever come to a conclusion we now perceive as erroneous, regardless of the limitations of their era or tools, is smirkingly dismissed as worthless and chuckleheaded. (Galileo failed to properly identify Saturn's rings with his 17th-century telescope - heh, what a hopeless moron.) Forgive me for flinging this accusation at an accomplished astronomer, but - Corfield doesn't seem to get how science works. I imagine that "PWNED!!!!!" is a prominent part of his everyday vocabulary.

Corfield's approach makes his account of space exploration opaque. It's not important what the Pioneer missions observed, only that those losers eventually got thrashed by Voyager; it's not important what Voyager observed, only that its team was unforgivably boneheaded for not following the course Corfield would have. Corfield's...interesting priorities don't address the questions one usually has about these programs. His technical explanations also fail to define crucial terminology (H-R diagrams, for example, are mentioned but never explained), leaving laymen in the dark.

The author also makes the poor decision to shove a ten-page climate change denial manifesto into the very first chapter, blaming the phenomenon completely on sunspot activity. (A thin layer of "some people say" weasel words fools no one; take responsibility for you own crackpot theory, buddy.) He introduces the idea of climate change as a collection of "doom-laden forecasts [from] highly-paid think-tank moguls and academics with an eye on their funding". Ah, yes, Big Science, with all those researchers getting rich off global warming! My heart and expectations sank as I read it; it nearly discredited Corfield for me right off the bat.

There are some neat things in here, like a thorough and convincing archaeological exploration of Stonehenge as a giant astronomical clock in the Sun chapter. Corfield also worked on Britain's Beagle 2 mission to Mars, which never reached its landing site; we get a vivid and insightful chronicle from Corfield on the would-be landing day, as it gradually becomes sadly apparent that things have gone awry. Every time I got hooked by something awesome and intriguing, though, Corfield soon steered back to his personal grudges and schoolyard smirks. You can pick out good tidbits from "Lives of the Planets", and it might be worth borrowing from the library if you're interested in astronomy. If you want a solid popular-science book about the solar system, though, I'd recommend Dava Sobel's "The Planets" instead.

I needed a book for a book report I was doing. I am also not an astrophysicist, so I was extremely happy that this was such an easy book to read and understand. It gave a fairly comprehensive overview of where we have come with exploration since the beginning of the space age. I enjoyed it.

This up-to-date, engaging introduction to planetary science draws on the amazing range of discoveries made by space probes over the course of the last 45 years. Corfield not only provides a well-written overview of what we now know about the earth's companions in space: he personalizes the journey with his own experiences as a planetary scientist, provides interesting anecdotes and details about the missions themselves, and makes a compelling case for the intellectual and emotional value of space exploration.

I can see why people say this has a misleading title , and why intellectual snobs don't like it. Its a really great top level summary of the exploration of our universe - each chapter is a different planet/object Sun, Mercury etc. and the latest theory of the nature/history of each. I've just been to Cape Kennedy so am a late convert to space ... and this is just great for someone like me. Very easy to read ... nice structure ... i.e. a chapter per planet - so you can skip around if you like - its a bit like a collection of short stories ... good intro for dummies (like moi)

Perhaps the old axiom is true, although I hate to admit it. Historians should not try to do scientific research and scientists should not try to do history. At least the latter is true for this book by Richard Corfield. He is a brilliant scientist; but if this book is any indication he should stick to what he does best and leave history to the historians. "Lives of the Planets: A Natural History of the Solar System" is intended as a book for a general audience about the history of the exploration of the solar system. Corfield's intention was to take an historical approach toward explaining what we know about this important subject. He promised to relate the latest knowledge about the planets of the solar system as well as how over time we have learned about them. That is a noble objective but one fraught with difficulties, not the least of which is the coalescing of the historical story with the scientific record to create a seamless whole. Unfortunately, the author failed to accomplish this task and "Lives of the Planets" is a poor effort to explain either the history or the science of solar system exploration.

Richard Corfield takes a relatively straightforward approach toward his subject, starting with the Sun and then moving on to Mercury as the innermost planet and thereafter working outward. It may be that this method contributes to the failure of "Lives of the Planets," for an historical approach to each body in the solar system is by definition fragmentary and incomplete since it does not represent reality in any true sense. But beyond this systemic problem with this work, there are other even more disturbing difficulties. Let me suggest only a few of them.

The first is that despite the assertion that this book will offer the latest findings in science about the solar system it fails to do so. The author insists, and he is right about this, that a revolution in knowledge about the solar system has resulted from the space science undertaken since 1957. Although published in 2007 there is less about many of the important and pathbreaking discoveries in this arena than is appropriate given the objective. For instance, Corfield offers a "once over lightly" narrative concerning the knowledge gained about Mars that has resulted from the armada of spacecraft sent to the red planet since the Mars Pathfinder mission of 1997. During that period NASA moved Mars exploration from a set of "one-off" missions to an integrated program in which a succession of probes built systematically on previous accomplishments. The result is that we now have with Mars the most complete portrait of the geophysical properties of any planet of the solar system save Earth. We also have at present controversy over whether or not life on Mars has ever existed and a rich record of debate among scientists, crackpots, and others about the so-called "face on Mars," the Mars meteorite that supposedly encapsulated biological fossils announced in 1996, and other issues. It is an unfortunate missed opportunity.

This problem is repeated throughout the book, as the author fails to note truly significant scientific findings. As one other example, Corfield's discussion of the Voyager mission to the outer planets launched in 1977 is at best superficial. For instance, the author passes without any serious discussion the truly important discovery of volcanoes on Io made by Voyager. Likewise, the critical investigation of the heliopause currently underway by Voyager is almost absent from this story.

Corfield does not discuss in any depth what may be the most dramatic scientific finding of the space age, the manner in which the origins of the Moon was settled by the scientific community. Prior to the voyages of Apollo scientists argued about how the Moon came to be but those missions provided the data necessary to settle the dispute in favor of a theory of origins known as the "big whack" or "big splat." Scientists working independently first advanced the theory in 1974 that the Moon had been formed by debris from a massive collision with the Earth about 4.6 billion years ago. Over the course of the next decade further analysis allowed scientists to resolve most of the questions plaguing other theories of lunar origin by applying the "big splat" hypothesis. Of course, if there is one dramatic moment--as opposed to myriad important but mundane events--in the history of solar system science it is the 1984 conference in Kona, Hawaii, in which scientists around the world presented papers on the sole topic of how the Moon originated and agreed that the primordial Earth had collided with a very large object (as big as Mars and named after the fact "Theia"), with the Moon forming from the ejected material. How could it be that Corfield would omit this fascinating story of scientific analysis and consensus from "Lives of the Planets?"

Something must also be said about the historical inaccuracies of this work, if only because they are so numerous. Dates are too often incorrect, and other details are also sometimes erroneously reported. For instance, I learned in this book that Kennedy made his famous speech announcing the Apollo program in 1962--when actually it was on May 25, 1961--not once but two different times in the narrative. I also learned that Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee were killed in an Apollo spacecraft in 1961 rather than in 1967. I am sympathetic to authors who occasionally mistype a date or get a name wrong here or there. It happens to everyone. I am not solicitous of incorrect facts proliferated throughout a book. Authors should be more careful. Because of the large number of errors in "Lives of the Planets" that I found, I have to be skeptical of everything else reported in the book.

Finally, this book contains no references whatsoever. This means that readers have to trust the author to provide a narrative that is fully trustworthy. Because of all of its other problems, one should be careful in using "Lives of the Planets" as an authoritative source for anything.

There is a fascinating history of the fifty years of solar system exploration that has taken place since the launch of Sputnik in 1957 to be written. "Lives of the Planets" is one such attempt, incomplete and inaccurate though it might be. Perhaps an historian will take up this task since the scientist who attempted it in this instance did not deliver on this opportunity.

The title and subtitle of this book are quite curious and one has to wonder if they were coined by the publisher and not the author. A "natural history" of the "lives of planets" would imply an evolutionary treatment much different than what the author generally delivered - a mostly technical and political history of exploration programs. More specifically, Corfield takes a few wrong turns while attempting a pan-scientific focus, particularly in the chapter on the earth and the moon. There, Corfield covers alternatives to mainstream biological theory for some reason, and then closes the chapter with an unnecessary debunking of the solar system's lamest conspiracy theory - moon landing denial. Overall, except for the final chapter on Pluto and the mysterious mini-planets beyond, there is little new astronomical information in this book, though it is a pretty readable compendium of knowledge as of 2007. Despite these flaws the book is still enjoyable and offers plenty of coverage of the development of the various instruments and spacecraft that have built our knowledge of the solar system, which will satisfy more engineering-oriented readers. For those interested in an approachable update on the latest knowledge of our fascinating solar system, this book is a mostly rewarding experience. But for knowledgeable readers who may be looking for new revelations, or unique coverage as implied by the title and subtitle, this book doesn't have much to add to our knowledge. [~doomsdayer520~]

a fascinating romp through the planets and the discoveries that we've made about our solar system and beyond. this book is completely up-to-date and is written with a reverent look at the discoveries and the great unknown of the solar system. with a wry Brit attitude and a few personal touches this book never gets boring or too scientific. Mr Corfield clearly loves the subject and we feel it. Incredible pictures!

As a kid, I loved the space race and anything having to do with outer space. Then I went to college and took an astronomy course that could not have been any more uninteresting. Since then, I never wanted to read anything about it again. But 30 years later, I saw this new book at the library and decided that maybe with all of the updated information and a new perspective; I could enjoy the subject again.

The author has created an interesting premise. That the planets are living and changing as does our knowledge about them. They start as one undefined item and then as we learn about them, they take on another life. The book is clearly meant for the non-scientific, however, that becomes a somewhat difficult goal as the author uses many terms that are not explained nor defined - i.e. The sun has a core that is .2 solar radii - what the heck is a solar radii? Then in a wonderful explanation of Stonehenge, he fails to provide any illustration that would really make the discussion meaningful. Likewise the discussion on the stars and their characteristics (aka HR graphing). Why not place an illustration that would make everything clear?

There is quite a bit of information on the various unmanned space probes and probably too much detail on them, but he does keep it interesting with anecdotal stories of his own travails. Additionally, by keeping us informed of upcoming dates for probes that were launched several years ago, it gives you perspective on the amount of time it takes to launch and then how much time must pass before the information is gathered. The author is clearly showing his roots with all of the details, but without the details, something would be missing.

There is much that is very well done in this book and there is much that is not so well done. But overall, I'm very glad that I read it and it has again piqued my interest in the solar system and planets. Some of the information is so fascinating that I want to hear more about it, but there is, of course, no more information to be had. Again, at the end of the book, some type of illustration on the solar system as it stands today would have helped through the final chapter. I think that the information flow is quite good, but the delivery could use a little work.

R. Corfield describes development of our knowledge about solar system and gives recent information on research of the planets. It is excellent book.