Planetary Science: The Science of Planets Around Stars [Paperback]

George H. A. Cole (Author), Michael M. Woolfson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2002 | ISBN-10: 075030815X | ISBN-13: 978-0750308151 | Edition: 1st

There are many planetary systems other than our own, but it is only through a detailed understanding of the relatively accessible bodies in our solar system that a thorough appreciation of planetary science can be gained. This is particularly pertinent with the recent discovery of extra-solar planets and the desire to understand their formation and the prospect of life on other worlds.

Planetary Science: The Science of Planets Around Stars focuses on the structure of planets and the stars they orbit and the interactions between them. The book is written in two parts, making it suitable for students at different levels and approaching planetary science from differing backgrounds. Twelve independent descriptive chapters reveal our solar system and the diverse bodies it contains, including satellites, planetary rings, asteroids, comets, meteorites, and interstellar dust. These chapters are accompanied by 42 detailed topics that discuss specialized subjects in a quantitative manner and will be essential reading for those in higher level courses. Coverage includes mineralogy, stellar formation and evolution, solar system dynamics, atmospheric physics, planetary interiors, thermodynamics, planetary astrophysics, and exobiology. Problems and answers are also included.

Planetary Science: The Science of Planets Around Stars presents a complete overview of planetary science for students of physics, astronomy, astrophysics, earth sciences, and geophysics. Assuming no prior knowledge of astrophysics or geophysics, this book is suitable for students studying planetary science for the first time.

Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis; 1st edition (April 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 075030815X
• ISBN-13: 978-0750308151
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,851,290 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An unusual textbook, November 20, 2004

By 

Jill Malter ([e-mail]) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Planetary Science: The Science of Planets Around Stars (Paperback)

I admit it. I like comprehensive textbooks that cover a subject convincingly. If I had to teach a class in Planetary Science, I'd probably pick the book by de Pater and Lissauer. That's a really good comprehensive text. But this one is good too. And I certainly would enjoy teaching planetary science from either book.

What this book does is cover descriptive planetary science in twelve chapters, covering about 190 pages. These chapters require very little prior knowledge of mathematics, physics, or astronomy.

After that come 42 chapters on very specific topics. These take another 280 pages or so, and they require a little more knowledge of mathematics, physics and astronomy. They also teach some fundamentals of physics and astronomy that prospective planetary scientists need to know. Look at the table of contents to see the topics in this section.

The benefits of this approach are twofold. First, the book can be used to teach a course at a rather elementary level, using mostly the first part of the text. Second, the book avoids the trap of glossing over a large number of topics without explaining any of them really well: the 42 well-chosen topics are presented wonderfully.

The negative side of all this is that some topics are omitted. I'd never think of writing a book like this one. But I'm sure glad Cole and Woolfson did!

1.0 out of 5 stars Poor treatment of solar system formation, February 18, 2012

By 

MZ - See all my reviews

This review is from: Planetary Science: The Science of Planets Around Stars (Paperback)

This text pretty much completely discounts the solar nebula theory for solar system formation -- the most widely accepted theory in the field. The author is one of the developers of an alternate theory which is discussed at great length. Unfortunately, this treatment makes this a poor choice of texts for students.