Lives of the Planets: A Natural History of the Solar SystemLives of the Planets describes a scientific field in the midst of a revolution. Planetary science has mainly been a descriptive science, but it is becoming increasingly experimental. The space probes that went up between the 1960s and 1990s were primarily generalists-they collected massive amounts of information so that scientists could learn what questions to pursue. But recent missions have become more focused: Scientists know better what information they want and how to collect it. Even now probes are on their way to Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Pluto, with Europa-one of Jupiter's moons-on the agenda. In a sweeping look into the manifold objects inhabiting the depths of space, Lives of the Planets delves into the mythology and the knowledge humanity has built over the ages. Placing our current understanding in historical context, Richard Corfield explores the seismic shifts in planetary astronomy and probes why we must change our perspective of our place in the universe. In our era of extraordinary discovery, this is the first comprehensive survey of this new understanding and the history of how we got here. |
Other editions - View all
Lives of the Planets: A Natural History of the Solar System Richard Corfield No preview available - 2012 |
Lives of the Planets: A Natural History of the Solar System Richard Corfield No preview available - 2007 |
Lives of the Planets: A Natural History of the Solar System Richard Corfield No preview available - 2007 |
Common terms and phrases
American Apollo asteroid belt astronomer atmosphere Beagle Cambrian explosion camera carbon Carl Sagan Cassini Cassini-Huygens century chemical cloud comets complex core craft craters cycle decades diameter discovered discovery disk early Earth engineers Europa extrasolar planets extraterrestrial flyby formed fossils Galileo geological giant gravity Hawkins’s Huygens idea images isotopes Jovian Jupiter Jupiter’s kilometers known Kuiper Belt lander landing launch layers Magellan magnetic field main sequence Mariner Mars Martian measure Mercury Mercury’s meteorite methane miles mission molecules moon moon’s named NASA NASA’s Neptune objects observations Observatory oceans orbit outer oxygen Pioneer 11 planetary plate tectonics Pluto predicted probes problem radiation red planet region rings rocket rocks satellite Saturn Schiaparelli scientists showed solar system Soviet star Stonehenge strange suggested sun’s sunspot activity sunspots telescope temperature theory tion Titan Titius-Bode law Triton Uranian Uranus Uranus's Venera Venus’s Venusian Viking volcanism Voyager spacecraft
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Page 14 - ... gave credence while others denied them. A few days later the report was confirmed to me in a letter from a noble Frenchman at Paris, Jacques Badovere, which caused me to apply myself wholeheartedly to inquire into the means by which I might arrive at the invention of a similar instrument.
Page 14 - Spyglass, recently re-invented ...' (reperti, from reparere to bring forth again, to re-invent) and in the text writes: About ten months ago a report reached my ears that a certain Fleming had constructed a spyglass by means of which visible objects ... were distinctly seen as if nearby .. . 4 Subtle, because the main events are true. Galileo's telescopes were far superior to the crude toys sold in the market place and he constructed one of great quality for the Doge, for which indeed his salary...