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Lives of the Planets: A Natural History of the Solar System
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Corfield (The Silent Landscape) paints a companionable guide on this tour of the solar system. With a subject spanning 4.6 billion years, many billions of miles and eight (well, maybe nine) planets, a host of moons, asteroids galore, a plethora of comets and more, it is not surprising that many of the details are not filled in. Nonetheless, there is much to grab the average reader. Corfield focuses in turn on each major item in the solar system. Chapters begin by discussing the early ideas humans had about each object and then move to the advances we've made over the past 50 years. Finally, Corfield synthesizes available knowledge and explains what we currently know and why we know it. Throughout, he does a good job of articulating why he believes the billions of dollars spent on space exploration have been worthwhile. Discussing the joint NASA/ESA Cassini-Huygens project to explore Saturn and Titan, one of its moons, Corfield says, We went to Titan because it seemed the world most similar to the Earth when our world was new. With his strong writing and expansive subject, it is impossible not to be infected with Corfield's enthusiasm for planetary science. 28 color photos. (July 9)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Modulated for a general audience, Corfield's tour of the solar system rides on space missions dispatched to the planets. Proceeding from the sun outward to Pluto—planet or not, a spacecraft is speeding toward it right now—Corfield balances the technological with his scientist's eye for the geophysical questions these space projects were intended to answer. After pioneering reconnaissance supplied a basic idea of a planet's appearance and hospitability to life, subsequent missions, as Corfield explains, were designed with more precise goals in mind. Corfield describes these aims and analyzes how well they have been met—obtaining atmospheric and surface information about Venus and discovering if life did or does exist on Mars. He then expands his findings into descriptions of the sun, each planet, the asteroids, and the outer limits of the solar system, from where the Voyager spacecraft are currently sending data. The author also poses the questions that future missions will pursue, such as determining a possible ocean on Jupiter's Europa. A clear and enthusiastic introduction to our cosmic neighborhood. Taylor, Gilbert
See all Editorial Reviews
Corfield (The Silent Landscape) paints a companionable guide on this tour of the solar system. With a subject spanning 4.6 billion years, many billions of miles and eight (well, maybe nine) planets, a host of moons, asteroids galore, a plethora of comets and more, it is not surprising that many of the details are not filled in. Nonetheless, there is much to grab the average reader. Corfield focuses in turn on each major item in the solar system. Chapters begin by discussing the early ideas humans had about each object and then move to the advances we've made over the past 50 years. Finally, Corfield synthesizes available knowledge and explains what we currently know and why we know it. Throughout, he does a good job of articulating why he believes the billions of dollars spent on space exploration have been worthwhile. Discussing the joint NASA/ESA Cassini-Huygens project to explore Saturn and Titan, one of its moons, Corfield says, We went to Titan because it seemed the world most similar to the Earth when our world was new. With his strong writing and expansive subject, it is impossible not to be infected with Corfield's enthusiasm for planetary science. 28 color photos. (July 9)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Modulated for a general audience, Corfield's tour of the solar system rides on space missions dispatched to the planets. Proceeding from the sun outward to Pluto—planet or not, a spacecraft is speeding toward it right now—Corfield balances the technological with his scientist's eye for the geophysical questions these space projects were intended to answer. After pioneering reconnaissance supplied a basic idea of a planet's appearance and hospitability to life, subsequent missions, as Corfield explains, were designed with more precise goals in mind. Corfield describes these aims and analyzes how well they have been met—obtaining atmospheric and surface information about Venus and discovering if life did or does exist on Mars. He then expands his findings into descriptions of the sun, each planet, the asteroids, and the outer limits of the solar system, from where the Voyager spacecraft are currently sending data. The author also poses the questions that future missions will pursue, such as determining a possible ocean on Jupiter's Europa. A clear and enthusiastic introduction to our cosmic neighborhood. Taylor, Gilbert
See all Editorial Reviews
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