Description

By (author) Faure Gunter; By (author) Mensing Teresa M.

Short /annotation

This textbook details basic principles of planetary science that help to unify the study of the solar system.

This textbook details basic principles of planetary science that help to unify the study of the solar system. It is organized in a hierarchical manner so that every chapter builds upon preceding ones.

Starting with historical perspectives on space exploration and the development of the scientific method, the book leads the reader through the solar system. Coverage explains that the origin and subsequent evolution of planets and their satellites can be explained by applications of certain basic principles of physics, chemistry, and celestial mechanics and that surface features of the solid bodies can be interpreted by principles of geology.

Table of contents
Preface1. The urge to explore2. From speculation to understanding3. The planets of the solar system4. Life and death of stars5. Origin of the solar system6. The earth: model of planetary evolution7. The clockwork of the solar system8. Meteorites and impact craters9. The Earth-Moon system10. Mercury: too hot for comfort11. Venus: planetary evolution gone bad12. Mars: the little planet that could13. Asteroids: shattered worlds14. Jupiter: heavy-weight champion15. Galilean satellites: jewels of the solar system16. Saturn: the beauty of rings17. Titan: an ancient world in deep freeze18. Uranus: what happened here? 19. Neptune: more surprises20. Pluto and Charon: the odd couple21. Ice worlds at the outer limit22. Comets: coming inside from the cold23. Earth: the cradle of humans24. Brown-dwarf stars and extrasolar planetsAppendix I. Mathematical equations used in astronomyAppendix II. Summaries of physical and orbital parametersGlossaryAuthor IndexSubject Index

Review quote

From the reviews:

“The authors … have produced a book that is remarkably up to date, nicely illustrated, and written in an engaging style. An especially effective touch us that each chapter ends with one or more scientific briefs … . presents an abundance of fascinating information about our cosmic neighborhood, in a form that is readily accessible to students majoring in Earth science. This text will significantly improve teaching and learning about planetary geoscience, and I will be using it for my own undergraduate course … .”
(Hap McSween, Elements, Vol. 4 (1), 2008)

“This book should be used as the basis for a capstone course for senior undergraduates and beginning graduate students majoring in the Earth sciences. … The book is fairly well up to date in terms of discoveries … . Positive points about the book include clear and abundant illustrations and a well-chosen reference list at the end of each chapter. … well-bound and well-illustrated book. … is comprehensive and balanced in its coverage of bodies in the solar system.”
(David A. Rothery, Eos, Vol. 89 (15), 2008)

“When I was asked to review this textbook, I immediately said yes. I expected that I would enjoy reading the book and that I would undoubtedly learn from it either new facts or methods of presenting facts and their interpretation to students. I was not disappointed; in fact, I was delighted. The book captures the essence of modern planetary science in 24 chapters. The chapters do not overload the reader with an abundance of factual details and their interpreatations but instead present issues at a level that can be clearly understood by majors and nonmajors alike but without compromising the science. The book is clearly excellent – if not outstanding – for use in a course for nonmajors, and I highly recommend it. … The book is not organized in what I consider to be a classic approach, which is actually a delightful change, and it works very well. In addition, the “sc