Other Worlds: The Solar System And Beyond [Hardcover]

James Trefil (Author), David Levy (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1999

Physicist and science writer James Trefil authoritatively explores the origin and evolution of our solar system, then ventures beyond, to the realm of black holes, pulsars and galaxies near and far.'

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Recently there's been a run of coffee-table books combining elegant astronomical photographs with brief, friendly exegeses of the science behind them (e.g., Ken Croswell's Magnificent Universe, Forecasts, Sept. 6). But for adults and young people who enjoy brilliant, striking imagesAhere, of lunar craters, of Neptune's Great Dark Spot, of distant galaxies, of mysterious, color-coded gas cloudsAthe more space photos the better, and this collection furnishes plenty of splendid ones. Trefil (The Moment of Creation), a professor of physics at George Mason University, does a fine job of making available to readers what astronomers know about Saturn, supernovas and so on, while finding room for colorful tidbits: Uranus's slim rings, for example, "reflect light about as poorly as charcoal," and circle that giant planet in just eight hours. Astronomy students use a cute mnemonic ("O Be a Fine Guy, Kiss Me") for the seven-letter codes that denote a star's brightness, from O (quite hot) to M (cool, for a star). Each planet (Earth included) gets its own photos and its own prose; other topics include the sun, the moon, "The Birth of the Solar System," quasars, black holes and SETI (the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence). The photographs themselves, many of them color-enhanced, are stunning. Stars in the Sagittarius cluster gleam like gems from a decadent tiara; a planetary nebula called the Egg looks more like a purple-winged tropical bird, while the Antennae galaxies in collision lend themselves to a magnificent two-page spread of lavender and taupe, white, gold and amethyst. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: National Geographic (September 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0792274911
• ISBN-13: 978-0792274919
• Product Dimensions: 12.2 x 9.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,564,910 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another Good Photo Book of Space by National Geographic, July 26, 2001

By 

John R. Keller (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Other Worlds: The Solar System And Beyond (Hardcover)

Over the years, the National Geographic Society has produced many excellent books about the exploration of space such as Mars by Raeburn and Golembek and Orbit by Jay Apt. This time they have chosen some of the best photographs obtained from the various NASA probes to the planets and the Hubble space telescope. Most of the book is filled with many high quality photographs (all color) and includes only some supporting text. For this reviewer, the small amount of text was a nice bonus, since it increased my viewing pleasure. I found this book to be a good addition to my collection of space related books.

Approximately two-thirds of this book covers our sun, its planets and the minor objects like asteroids and comets. The book contains the latest photographs from the Mars Pathfinder, Mars Global Surveyor and Galileo space probes as well as the many classic photographs taken during the early years of the space program. The final third of the book contains deep space photographs mostly taken by the Hubble telescope. These photographs examine many of the more famous deep sky objects, like the Eagle and Helix Nebulae, but also include numerous galaxies and super novae photographs. Again, the latest and highest quality photographs are shown here.

If you like a book that is filled with many high quality photographs of our solar system and deep sky objects, this book is for you.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great photos, simple text, February 1, 2002

By 

Kevin W. Parker (Greenbelt, MD) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Other Worlds: The Solar System And Beyond (Hardcover)

This is another sumptuously produced book from the National Geographic Society. The text is a little "mickey-mouse" by my standards, but the photos, many from NASA planetary missions are Hubble, are beautifully reproduced and well worth the price of admission.

The book is divided into sections: inner planets, outer planets, and deep space, with text and photos (in that order) for each.
Nicely done and well worth browsing.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Many spectacular images!, October 4, 2001

By 

Eran Levy (Jerusalem Israel) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Other Worlds: The Solar System And Beyond (Hardcover)

The book goes from the sun and the solar system, through galaxies and nebulas, up to the edges of the known universe, giving great and worthy images (and info) in each "station", all printed on a high quality paper, of course. Especially good are the images from the galaxies and nebulas. Those from the near planets I liked a bit less, and I've seen better ones elsewhere...
The text all the way is well written and enjoyable to read. It gives, in addition to the info about each object, some nice (but basic) introduction to astronomy in general - things such as how distance from stars is measured, how light coming from objects is analyzed, astronomy history etc...
However, as it covers the entire universe, it is, as you might think (considering it's size...), pretty basic - both the images and the info. It gives just a small (but good!) taste of everything, not going too deep anywhere.

All in all, it's an excellent book, but I think it'll be worthy to you only if you don't have many other astronomy books, since it's pretty basic.