Meteorites: A Journey through Space and Time [Hardcover]

Alex Bevan (Author), John De Laeter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 17, 2002

The authors trace the formation and breakup of the planets, asteroids, and comets where meteorites originated, their long journey through space, their fall to Earth, their recovery, and what scientists are learning from them. The book contains a great deal of material about the “84001 Martian meteorite,” which has raised provocative new questions about life on the red planet. Looking forward, the authors chart the exciting new era of planetary, asteroidal, and cometary exploration planned for this century.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Although it does touch on legends and anecdotes about meteorites, this pictorial survey mainly delves into why the experts value every find: each one contains geochemical clues about the origin of the solar system. Bevan and de Laeter deliver the central facts on the radioactive dating that yields ages for a meteorite's formation and its time in space and on the ground. Dating is straightforward; more debatable, and what makes meteoritics a lively science, is figuring out from a meteorite's constituent minerals and crystals the conditions of temperature and pressure during its creation. Some, for example, contain microscopic diamonds, a sign they formed in supernovae shock waves before our Sun existed. Another reason scientists covet these extraterrestrial rocks and dust, explain the authors, is the indication they give of traffic congestion in our neighborhood, a concern with cosmic catastrophe reinforced by the album's photos and diagrams of craters on Earth. Informative and visually appealing, this title meets any library's need for a basic source on meteorites. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

“Although it does touch on legends and anecdotes about meteorites, this pictorial survey mainly delves into why the experts value every find: each one contains geochemical clues about the origin of the solar system. Bevan and de Laeter deliver the central facts on the radioactive dating that yields ages for a meteorite's formation and its time in space and on the ground. Dating is straightforward; more debatable, and what makes meteoritics a lively science, is figuring out from a meteorite's constituent minerals and crystals the conditions of temperature and pressure during its creation. Some, for example, contain microscopic diamonds, a sign they formed in supernovae shock waves before our Sun existed. Another reason scientists covet these extraterrestrial rocks and dust, explain the authors, is the indication they give of traffic congestion in our neighborhood, a concern with cosmic catastrophe reinforced by the album's photos and diagrams of craters on Earth. Informative and visually appealing, this title meets any library's need for a basic source on meteorites.”—Gilbert Taylor, Booklist

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Smithsonian Books (April 17, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158834021X
• ISBN-13: 978-1588340214
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 0.7 x 11.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #390,965 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #33 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Astronomy & Space Science > Comets, Meteors & Asteroids
  • #90 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Astronomy & Space Science > Star-Gazing

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book., September 26, 2005

By 

Robert of Wisconsin (Appleton, WI USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Meteorites: A Journey through Space and Time (Hardcover)

This book covers what I would consider all the major aspects of meteorites, including craters. The section on the chemistry of meteors is augmented by extremely useful color coded charts that visually display what is being discussed. Also the book has a very interesting section on the reason that most meteorite falls occur at 4PM (it is due to the rotation of the earth around the sun).
The format of the book is very esthetic, with glossy pages and excellent graphics.
Anyone interested in meteorites, who is not a planetary geologist, should find this book both fascinating and informative.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Meteorites: A Journey Through Space and Time, September 19, 2003

By 

Christine A. Economos (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Meteorites: A Journey through Space and Time (Hardcover)

I once thought that meteorites were hunks of rock from outer space. Not any more! This fascinating book opened a whole new world for me. The easy-to-understand text and accompanying artwork and photographs gave me a new understanding of these messengers from beyond time and space. Who knew they held secrets to the birth of our solar system and to how planets formed? A terrific, well-done book. Meteorites rock!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Meteorites: A Journey Through Space and Time, February 9, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Meteorites: A Journey through Space and Time (Hardcover)

For Middle and High school students this is an excellent and interesting basic source on meteorites. It is not only informative but visually appealing. Visual learners, like many of our regular students and English as a Second Language young adults will discover learning science content to be an easy task with this title.