Reviews (18)

Great book
This book is entertaining and mind-expanding. The opportunity for exploitation of near-Earth resources is apparent. Dr. Lewis supports his assertions with good science and broad foresight. This is a great job of presenting both the scientific and social benefits of using space resources.

The future is built upon visionary ideas, not always immediately appreciated. This book makes a convincing case for advancing beyond the confines of this planet and how such an exodus is not only practical, but may well be profitable.

The Future is in the Sky
Mr. Lewis, Professor of Planetery Science at the University of Arizona knows his stuff when it comes to outer space and its natural resources and how to economically get there and how to make a profit from them.

Readers will be amazed at the enormous wealth that lies within just a few short Astro-Units from Earth.

The comment from Space News is that the book is "mind stretching" and it certainly is. The book is a real page turner and the technical stuff is easy and fun to understand.

interesting ideas could have been written better
This book covers a great deal of topics on the subject of exploring near outer space. I enjoyed the descriptions of what it would be like to walk on an asteroid, with all its gravitational variations. He also discusses some details of specific known asteroids.
He covers the chemistry and energy requirements for first steps of exploration.
However, I enjoyed Robert Zubrin's "Entering Space: Creating a Spacefaring Civilization." Zubrin covers the chemistry, energy and cost requirements also. But his book is organized, and written much better.
Lewis repeats whole passages in this book, and many sections can easily be skipped without missing any information. He attemps to lure the reader with science-fiction-like narrative. Except for one, I did not find it that interesting. There is great deal for free on line about each interesting asteroid that is more detailed than what is offered in this book.
I was disappointed.

this book decided my life's pursuit!
Dr. Lewis without a doubt deserves to be one of the most influential leaders in space development. I found Mining the Sky by accident in a hometown book shop while in high school and bought it because I had a few dollars. Five years later, I'm 9 months away from becoming an Air Force space officer with an astronautics degree. This book is that impressive.
This book is the clearest and accessible book on the economic impacts space will provide the human race to date. Most of its ideas aren't fanciful and can be easily imagined as maturing in the next 20-30 years or sooner, given an effort. Maybe even sooner, as at least one private company was inspired by Dr. Lewis' writings.
Dr. Lewis' positive outlook is tempered by a realistic engineering and economic approach to space. Keep in mind this book is first and foremost about space industrialization, not exploration. A true space enthusaist should know that one cannot be without the other. Dr. Lewis could not have given a better general survey of whats out there.
A brief addendum concerning other reviewers' criticisms. This book could be made much more technical. However, this book was meant to appeal to a large, nontechnical audience. For more information, see Dr. Lewis' earlier book (and parent to Mining the Sky) Resources of Near Earth Space. It is the standard text for space materials prospects. Mining the Sky is a toned down version of RoNES meant to explain to a layman (me, when I first read Mining) the opportunities that await those courageous enough to reach out.
Thank you, Dr. Lewis. And everyone even remotely interested in space and mankinds future in it, READ THIS BOOK!

Decent
This is a decent book, but it isn't as cohesive as I was hoping. The individual chapters are almost like seperate ariticles strung together. An interesting read, but not as good as 'The Millenial Project'. On the other hand it is more hard science then the other book. ... Read more

Book Description

On the clearest nights, in the darkest rural areas, it's possible to see as many as 2,000 stars. On what kind of scaffolding are they hung?

Every moment thousands of neurons fire in our brains, giving rise to our thoughts and emotions. Is it possible for us to map and understand the complex internal cosmos that makes us who we are?

These two disparate questions became of immense importance to award-winning writer Jan DeBlieu in the spring of 1996, with the appearance of the Comet Hyakutake, the first of two great comets to visit Earth within a year. That spring, her husband, Jeff, began a long slide into a clinical depression. One night, unable to sleep, she stepped outside and found herself face-to-face with Hyakutake. Her encounter with Hyakutake sparked a desire to learn all she could about the stars, comets, and the makeup of the universe.

Through her family's story, DeBlieu describes the pain of watching her husband suffer, as well as his healing—indeed, their healing as a couple. She brings the Year of the Comets full circle with the appearance of Hale-Bopp in 1997, which coincided with Jeff's recovery. ... Read more

Book Description

Planetary Sciences presents a comprehensive coverage of this fascinating and expanding field at a level appropriate for graduate students and researchers in the physical sciences. The book explains the wide variety of physical, chemical and geological processes that govern the motions and properties of planets. Observations of the planets, moons, asteroids, comets and planetary rings in our Solar System, as well as extrasolar planets, are described, and the process of planetary formation is discussed. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great book
This is a superb book, if a little complex. You do need some mathematical and physics background to really follow all the topics. Well written, and having taken a class from Imke de Pater at Cal, a great representation of her work. ... Read more

Book Description

Comet and Asteroid Impact Hazards explores the anticipated consequences of comet and asteroid impact. It presents the first computer simulations of the hazards of comet and asteroid bombardment of a populated Earth. Previous estimates of fatality and damage rates on the 100 to 10,000 year time scale are shown to be too low because they neglect rare, highly lethal outriders of the populations of bombarding objects, those with exceptional strength, unusually low entry velocity, and near-horizontal entry angles. This is the first realistic assessment of both the mean casualty rate and the expected statistical fluctuations in that rate. A breakdown of fatality and damage rates by impactor energy and compositional class suggests lessons for both asteroid search strategies and interdiction techniques.
This book is written so that anyone with college level experience in the physical sciences can understand it. It includes a disk that allows the reader to simulate impact catastrophes. It serves as a useful resource in various physical sciences courses such as astronomy, planetary science, and environmental science.

* Quantatively rigorous treatment of the state of impact hazard prediction, including stuctural blast damage, firestorm ignition, tsunami generation
* Realistic treatment of the impact on population, composition, and orbits
* Attention to economic and public policy issues of warning, interdiction, and asteroid and comet search strategies
* Comparison of simulation results to historical records
* Detailed and realistic Monte Carlo simulation software included ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Excellent Book but the Software presents a Hassle
The text is an excellent and scholarly treatment of the subject. Itis very detailed, quite factual, thoughtfully constructed and verythought provocating. It generates a lot of interest in the includedMonte Carlo impact/fatality model.

Unfortunately, the attached model program is very difficult to use. It is written in native GW-BASIC which can only be read by GW-Basic running under DOS (not a Windows shell). One needs to find a copy of GWBASIC and a DOS boot disk to convert HAZARD5.BAS to ASCII format. Once in ASCII it will run in the more common QBASIC in Windows. In short, it presents an unnecessary hassle. Indeed, there were no instructions to do the conversion and Michael Paine and his web site .... came to the rescue with detailed instructions and some refinements to the model.

Wow!
Dr. Lewis makes a compelling case for the reappraisal of comet and asteroid impacts. This book is lucid, sharp, and, well, SCARY. I strongly recommend it to all readers curious about these potentially cataclysmic events; when you understand the energy involved in one of these impacts, and the effects on human populations it becomes clear that we are currently just as vulnerable as the dinosaurs were 65 million years ago. I also recommend Rain of Iron and Ice for the popular science audience. It is an equally compelling, and also entertaining, read. Worth every penny.

Devastating impact!
Of all the hazards facing Earth, impacts are the most dangerous. Their effects can be devastating over the entire surface of the planet.

I enjoyed the comparison of simulation results to historical records and the attention to economic and public policy issues of warning, interdiction, and asteroid & comet search strategies. David Egge's paintings (in the color section) are awesome.

Keep your eye on the sky!

Simulate asteroid and comet impacts on your PC
This book by Planetary Scientist John Lewis includes a diskette with a Monte Carlo program to run simulations of Earth impacts over time. The book is basically a handbook for the software with a wide range of physical information about NEOs, impacts and effects on the human population. An excellent resource covering physics, chemistry and environment. I can recommend it to anyone studying the possible influence of impacts on civilisation. Over thousands of years airburst events like Tunguska turn out to be important sources of fatalities and yet they leave little or no physical evidence so information about the danger is unlikely to be reliably passed from generation to generation.

Note that the program requires GW-BASIC to run To run the program in a higher version of BASIC such as Quick Basic you will need to convert it from binary to ASCII format from within GW-BASIC. To do this load the program in GW-BASIC (F3 path/filename.BAS) then save it with the ASCII option set (F4 path/new_filename.BAS , A ). This is all subject to the copyright conditions of course. ... Read more

Book Description

The "Indiana Jones of Astronomy" takes readers on a fascinating hunt for scientific treasures

On the morning of June 30, 1908, a comet nucleus or stony asteroid weighing 100,000 metric tons exploded four miles above the remote Siberian region of Tunguska with a force hundreds of times greater than the blast that destroyed Hiroshima. Eighty-four years later, American astronomer Roy Gallant was invited by the Russian Academy of Sciences to participate in its annual Tunguska Expedition.

Gallant was the first American to take part in the Russian investigation of the largest meteorite impact in recorded history. So inspired was he by his experiences at Tunguska that he went on to devote the next eight years of his life to investigating and writing about meteorite impact sites around the globe.

In Meteorite Hunter, Roy Gallant takes readers on a fascinating journey to the major meteorite sites of the wild and desolate Russian interior.

Reviews (1)

Traveling in Russia and Fascinating Facts about Meteorites
I am surprised to see that no one has reviewed this book until now; it's been out for about two years and the title is certainly intriguing. Anyway, this book contains a nearly homogeneous mixture of essentially two seemingly unrelated subjects: (i) traveling within Russia and (ii) information on meteorites. The first is presented as a travelogue; it includes all sorts of little details on travel problems encountered in Russia (political and otherwise), food eaten, people encountered, etc. Interspersed with this, in each chapter, is fascinating information on meteorites, i.e., their origins, types, composition, behavior upon entering the earth's atmosphere and upon impacting the ground, etc. Each chapter addresses a specific meteorite site that was visited by the author, with the exception of the last chapter which is about comets and asteroids that are out in space and that may or may not pose a threat to life (or some of it) on earth. The book is well written and should be of interest to those planning to travel within Russia, as well as those interested in meteorites; and, of course, those interested in both. I gave the book four stars instead of five because, to me, the two subject areas, which may be worth five stars each, detract from each other. For me, the parts about meteorites per se, were great (five stars); but I found the travel information rather cumbersome - hence an overall four stars. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

A technical and in-depth dissection
Now in a newly published and expanded edition with updated ephemerides of 16 asteroids 1930-2050, Asteroid Goddesses by Demetra George and Douglas Bloch is an impressive astrology guide emphasizing the mythology and psychology intertwined with heavenly bodies and the practice of interpreting their prophecy and guidelines. An extremely lengthy and data-filled appendix of ephemerides enhances this technical and in-depth dissection. Asteroid Goddesses is a welcome and much appreciated contribution to the Astrology and Metaphysical Studies reference shelf.

Astrology students need this book
How this book ever got out of print for a minute I do not know. All students of astrology need Demetra in their bookshelf and on their desk. An understanding of the asteroid goddesses is a way to add an entire new dimension to understanding the natal and other charts. Demetra understands the ladies in myth, history, and in the psyche, and she details, amazingly well, their meaning in the chart.

5 stars except that I wish the other asteroids were included ... The four main goddesses are here and understanding them is enough of a project for awhile ... but I wish we'd gotten the entire sisterhood ... probably they are around here somewhere ...

The great thing Demetra has done is add the presence of feminine values and concerns to the horoscope. Supporting the Moon, the asteroid goddesses have as their interest, relationship, hearth, romance, adventure, protection, nurture. No natal chart should be without them.

A basic for asteroid interpretation in a chart
I loved this book. I am someone who believes the asteroids have a fine tuning significance on the overall chart, and this book does a splendid job of explaining the archetypes behind them. I think the brevity of the minor asteroids goes along with the significance you should place on a chart. Psyche is not going to be as profound as Saturn for most people, Demetra George did a great job covering the material in a clear, concise way. Hopefully, she will write more good stuff for us to read and learn from.

The quality of book compromised by the amount of filler.
I REALLY liked this book EXCEPT for the fact that the information on the minor asteroids was disappointingly skimpy. The author provided an excellent amount of information about the major asteroids, and so it was surprising to see how little information was given on the minor asteroids. If the author did not have enough information yet about the minor asteroids, I would rather she had left out the "junk" and had a thinner (and less expensive) volume. By "junk", I'm referring to the pages and pages of celebrities' asteroid placements. The endless lists about celebrities added nothing to the reader's enlightenment on the subject, and I don't share our culture's fascination with celebrities. If the filler was the publisher's decision - perhaps to leave the opportunity for another book (sale), then I am very disappointed in that publisher. Publishers of astrology books usually give fair value for the price of their books. Had I seen the book (in a book store), I would have been conflicted about buying it. The topic is new and fascinating, but there is just too much filler. As it now stands, the book is really worth about $13 or $14 at most. If the author were to remove the filler and add the same quality of information about the minor asteroids as she has for the major asteroids, the book would be worth the current price.

The most important book on astroid Goddesses in astrology
Demetra has written the most lucid indepth description of how the goddess archetypes work in the individual's chart. This is an essential work for any astrologer ... Read more

Amazon.com

Are we alone, literally freaks of nature, just one planet of living, breathing things amidst a seemingly infinite, lifeless desert? This is one of the big questions posed by human nature, one that we have traditionally looked to religion to answer, but that is now coming within the grasp of science. Despite--or perhaps because--of this, we find increasing opposition to allocating resources to space exploration. Biochemist Robert Shapiro is an unabashed supporter of this research, and his book Planetary Dreams: The Quest to Discover Life Beyond Earth is both a compelling response to the stay-at-homes and a pleasantly readable overview of what we know and don't know about the origin of life here and elsewhere.

Contrasting those who believe in special creation or a cosmic fluke that produced life only once with adherents to a life principle that favors its development wherever conditions suffice, Shapiro suggests that the best way to resolve the issue is simple: let's go looking. He feels that the importance of this question to most people has been underrated by those who (nobly) want to meet our basic needs here on earth before we take off for new worlds, and that we can accommodate everyone by shifting burdens of research funding and reinspiring the public with a new emphasis on this work as a search for meaning. Whether or not his ideas will move us forward, the lively, thoughtful Planetary Dreams is one of the best starting points for learning about the search for the origins of life here and, maybe, out there. --Rob Lightner ... Read more

Reviews (8)

A Rather Good Book
I had this book on my shelf for over a year before I took it down for a read. I thought I might be bored by it, since it is a popular treatment of a subject I know pretty well. But Shapiro brought the subject to life in a rather interesting way, dealing not only with the particular issues asociated with the chemistry of life's origin, but with the deeper philosophical issues that lie behind the debate. I especially liked his illuminating flight of fancy entitled "A Dinner Out of time," which features Frederich Engels, Herbert Spencer, and Teilhard De Chardin (Marxist, libertarian, and Christian exponents of the idea of progress in nature, respectively) at one table, and Jacques Monod, Steven Jay Gould, Fred Hoyle, and William Jennings Bryan (all opposed to the idea) at the other. Shapiro is right on the mark when he asserts that the philosophical bias of the opposing camps has a strong role in directing their interpretations of the data, whether of Earth's history, the Viking results, of the Alan Hills meteorite. He is also right in his thesis stating what the stakes in this apparently abstract controversary actually are. All in all, a fine book.

Very average
This is a subject that I am very interested in. However I found the book quite boring to read. Trying to make it clear, to the general reader he ended out boring, someone who knows a little more.

I found the book being quite bad. The fundamental problem in this subject is the Femni paradox. If they are so many out there, then at least one would be a space faring. If so then estimates vary as to how quickly they could colonise the galaxy. A conservative figure would be between 10 to 300 million years. This period in galaxy history is nothing. If so, we should not have to look at all. Evidence of there existence would be everywhere. The writer very briefly talks about this, then goes off into a tangent and leaves it. Either he has never read any book that discusses this (eg Frank Tipler) or ignores them. In either case its an issue.

Some of his history as well is a bit dubious like his argument about the Ming dynasty navy stopping of exploration. This he claims left their place to be filled by Europeans. The Ming's unlike the Europeans were not traders. There is no evidence to suggest that they would become traders. Their exploration ships showed that China had no enemies in the South. The only result would be, that they would have to spend large sums of money. Those resources were needed, as the Ming bureaucrats stated, where they faced a real threat in the North. This history would prove them correct. And history suggests that the real lesson is that if research is not profitable (in an economic sense) then goverments can and will pull the plug.

The writer goes on and on making some quite fantastic claims that make life far more possible, then it obviously is in reality. Most evidence now seems to suggest that life is very rare. For example recent evidence suggests that water is less important to Mars history then he suggests.

Although I approve of more research for space, this writer often seems to be more on the political rather then scientific.

Another poor book promoting E.T. life
For years scientists have been dicovering the limitations the universe puts on life. In other words, life is very rare. Conservative estimates put one Earth-like planet per galaxy. Ironically it is often the SETI-pushers whom discover these life-limiting constants (i.e. Carl Sagan) but wishful thinking gets in their way. Perhaps their personal philosophy or religion tells them there "must" be millions of worlds, but wishful thinking must give way to reality.

None of the planetery systems thus found could support life. The "millions of stars, so there must be millions of worlds" argument doesn't hold. Because the requirements for life elimate perhaps 99% of those stars. Its time people stop these fantasys. Try reading real science in Denton's "Nature's Destiny" or the new book "Rare Earth." The "Sagan Paradigm" is dead.

A very uneven treatment
I bought this book largely because of the very favorable reviews here. By page 70 I was ready to fling it across the room and give up on it -- I was getting nothing useful out of it, and I was seriously irritated by the style. Here is an example from page 67: "[Helmholtz was] an incredibly prolific man ... a physiologist, physicist, and physician (he had an affinity for the professions that started with "physi")." Now a joke like that might get chortles of glee from the peanut"~ gallery, but I can definitely do without it. What was Shapiro thinking? Who is his intended audience? "~ book. Shapiro is carrying LOTS of baggage, he has a huge agenda that more or less stays hidden as he describes what other people think. He wants desperately for humans to explore and colonize the Solar System and the Universe."~ same way we've treated the Earth? Anyway -- this book is pretty good in sum but if you want a straightforward picture, buy Malcolm Walter's or Bill Schopf's book instead of this. the same person, it's scary. It's even a little scary that after reading "Planetary Dreams" I can't entirely be sure.

Fresh and inspiring ideas!
Planetary Dreams is a superb book full of interesting information and ideas. I particularly liked the fresh and inspiring ideas in the last two chapters. Robert Shapiro, a well regarded scientist, is not afraid to express his visions of the future of space exploration along with his solid science. ... Read more

Book Description

What killed the dinosaurs? For more than a century, this question has been one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in science. But, in 1980, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Luis Alvarez and his son, Walter, proposed a radical answer: 65 million years ago an asteroid or comet as big as Mt. Everest slammed into the earth, raising a dust cloud vast enough to cause mass extinction. A revolutionary idea that challenged the ice-age extinction theory, the asteroid-impact theory was scorned and derided by the science community. But after years of bitter debate and intense research, an astonishing discovery was made-an immense impact crater in the Yucatn Peninsula that was identified as Ground Zero. The Alvarezes had their proof. A dramatic scientific detective story, Night Comes to the Cretaceous is a brilliant example of science at work-in the trenches, complete with passionate struggles and occasional victories. ... Read more

Reviews (22)

Required reading for every science student!
Powell's book is a scientific detective story that meticulously, exhaustively, and painstakingly lays out his case for why he thinks the dinosaurs got wiped out by a meteorite impact. And Powell makes his case by combining such disciplines as geology, paleontology, chemistry, ecology, astronomy, and biology.

Although many scientists still think the meteor impact theory is "controversial," Powell's diligent research makes his conclusion appear certain. He convinced me!

But scientists are human, too, and Powell's book recounts how some scientists rejected this theory so strenuously that they lost their sense of proportion, particularly geophysicist Charles Officer.

On pages 216-217, Powell asks, "How far will scientists on the losing end of an argument go? They employ a set of stratagems that seem hauntingly familiar; they are the very ploys used by creationists and others who have no platform or logic."

The following examples paraphrase Powell's findings against Charles Officer:

1. Officer's confident assertion: "There IS no evidence for a meteor impact at the KT boundary." 2. His straw men: "Nobody has found big dinosaur piles." 3. His red herrings: "There are similarities between livestock fatalities and dinosaur extinctions." 4. His plea for equal time: "The journal Science published eleven favorable impact articles, but only two against." 5. His blame of the media: "The Earth science community is biased." 6. His impugned motives: "Scientists fabricate theories and evidence." 7. His false alarms: "The meteor impact theory is pathological and dangerous!"

Ironically, Powell says that Officer's tireless efforts to debunk the meteor impact theory forced geologists to vigilantly reinforce their case. And in the end, the earth science community has a lot to thank Charles Officer for.

But the previous Amazon.com reviewer is wrong when he claims that Powell believes all mass extinctions are attributed to extraterrestrial impacts. Powell does, however, point out that we've found approximately 150 terrestrial impact craters all over the globe, and scientists claim to discover between three and five new craters annually. And these don't include impacts that might've struck the oceans.

Also, you only have to look at the surface of every moon and terrestrial planet in our solar system to see that impacts once occurred regularly. And when a three-mile wide chunk of comet Shoemaker Levy 9 struck Jupiter four years ago, it left a massive impact streak as large as the earth itself! And this bolide was only HALF the size of the rock that bore the Chicxulub crater.

Powell only suggests the POSSIBILITY that periodic impacts triggered mass extinctions. And he thinks this premise deserves a fair hearing instead of being rejected outright.

As a combined scientific detective story and riveting historical account, Powell's book is a masterpiece! Every science student should read it.

A fascinating case history of how science really works.
This well-written book provides a complete and interesting account of how a brilliant and insightful father-son team scratched their heads, followed their instincts, and opened up a new window of understanding on the processes that have shaped the geological and biological history of the planet. The science itself is well-conveyed. Even the nonscientist will follow the compelling evidence that a large impact occured 65 million years ago in what is now the Yucatan. An impact of this magnitude would lead to such global devastation of the ecosystem that extinction of most forms of terrestrial life would seem an inevitable outcome. The disappearance of the dinosaurs during this same geological blink of an eye, after a reign of over 150 million years, is not plausibly coincidental.

While the science in the book is fascinating, the work is most significant for the insight that it provides into the process of the scientific enterprise. In art, music, and literature, value is fundamentally a matter of taste. In science, on the other hand, nature has the final say as to the ultimate value of an idea. A "more correct" idea should eventually win out over a "less correct" idea, regardless of the prejudices of the people involved. "Night Comes to the Cretaceous" is a testament to that process. The book tells the tale of how an originally unlikely idea successfully faced the challenges of experiment and observation, and in the process displaced scientific orthodoxy. It also tells the very human story of how honest, healthy skepticism on the part of a number of established scientists gradually became instead the unreasoned and sometimes vindictive attacks of those who had been left behind by the advance of knowledge.

One of the most influential books about the history and philosophy of science is Thomas Kuhn's "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions." In some ways Powell does the job better, simply by providing a blow by blow account of a current-day scientific revolution centering on one of most compelling and generally accessible scientific questions of our time: "Whatever happened to the dinosaurs?"

Night Comes to the Cretaceous
All in all, James Lawrence Powell did a superb job in writing this book. He is highly opinionated and interprets data in a manner to support his fundamental belief (that an asteroid caused the KT extinctions).
I advise readers to get a balanced view by also reading "The Great Dinosaur Extinction Controvery" by Charles Officer and Jack Page. I felt that Powell covered the topic very thoroughly and provided historical context to help the novice extinctions reader. I felt that the book was very weak in dicussing the paleontological aspects of the extinction. Next revision perhaps.

How Scientific Revolutions Actually Happen
One of the great scientific revolutions of our times has been the recognition that the biological evolution of Earth is influenced random impacts by comets and asteroids. When this concept was put forward in 1980, it was radical; today it is the accepted wisdom in paleontology, geology, and evolutionary biology. Jim Powell tells a fascinating story of the evidence for this transformation and of the scientists who have been protgonists in the struggle to understand this evidence and integrate it into our broader undestanding of our planet. This is one of the best books ever written to trace the history of a scientific controversy and of the people involved, warts and all.

Night Comes to the Cretaceous
Night Comes to the Cretaceous: Dinosaur Extinction and the Transformation of Modern Geology wriiten by James Lawrence Powell is a comprehensive work on the powers of scientific reasoning about what happened to the dinosaurs from the information that is available to us.

There has been a lot of controversy about what reallly happened to the dinosaurs, after all they ruled the earth for 160 million years and then...poof... they are gone. Why did this happen and was the... poof... not so all of a sudden, but over and entended period of time. We do not know for sure, but we have some very interesting information from this book that will shead some light on the matter.

Luis and Walter Alvarez found an interesting clue in the geology of the earth itself. Luis is a Nobel Prize winning physicist and Walter is his son, they found something that would turn the scientific community on its collective ear, that a single random event caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. There is an immense impact crater buried deep in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico that was identified as Ground Zero called Chicxulub or red devil

You see what the Alvarez's found was an Iridium layer in the rocks and soil core samples, why would that be so interesting, well, iridium mainly comes from extraterrestrial sources as it is not found in abundance on earth. This iridium layer is found all around the earth at the K-T layer (Cretaceous-Tertiary) at about the right geological time 65 million years ago.

Reading this book will fill in a lot of details as it is a masterful work in scientific reasoning. I found it to be a very educational, entertaining read. ... Read more

Book Description

The appearance of this comet caused so many panicked inquiries to be made of Pierre Bayle, one of the Enlightenment's greatest thinkers, that he decided to formally respond to them, hence the present work, which first appeared in 1682. The book's principle task was to undermine the influence of "superstition" in political life, and it was here that Bayle made the notorious suggestion, unique in the history of political thought until then, that a decent society of atheists is possible in principle. There is no other English translation of this book in print--the only other version was printed in 1708. This translation is based on a recently revised critical edition of the complete French text and includes a substantial interpretive essay that both elucidates the arguments of the work and indicates the importance of Bayle in the history of the modern Enlightenment. ... Read more

Book Description

Mars has always held a special interest because of the possibility that life may have existed there, and its water history is crucial to understanding its geology, climatology, and biology.Moreover, recent studies in molecular phylogeny suggest that volcanic hot springs, which may have been common in early Mars, are also the most likely point of origin for life on Earth.In this book, Dr. Carr explores the history of water on Mars, including evidence that liquid water was once abundant at the planet's surface; ways in which the climate might have changed to accommodate liquid water; and what an abundance of water implies for the formation of Mars and other planets, including Earth.The book's argument rests on interpretation of data acquired on Viking missions, and on information from meteorites, found on Earth, that almost certainly originated on Mars.Because liquid water is universally regarded as essential for life, the water story has particular biological significance, with important implications for the future exploration of the planet, and should be a valuable study for geologists and planetary scientists. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Water on Mars
"Water on Mars" is an excellent source for basic and intermediate theories on the Martian geologic and atmospheric history. The book clearly shows Carr's bias towards a wet, warm early Mars but he does suggest alternative theories, if only briefly. The book includes many fabulous images from Viking and other sources, clearly defines the important aspects of Martian topology, and in general provides a fluid and easily readable description. "Water on Mars" is an excellent text book for any Mars related class, or important reference for anyone interested in Mars. ... Read more

Book Description

Giant as it is, Neptune is so remote that it is below naked-eye visibility and so was not discovered until the development of the telescope. As the most distant major planet in the solar system, Neptune was the last to be visited by a spacecraft from Earth. The encounter of NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft with Neptune in August 1989 has provided a wealth of new information about the planet, its ghostly rings, remarkable satellites and environment, and has led to some amazing discoveries. This book gives the fascinating historical background to the discovery of Neptune, its satellites and rings and goes on to describe the Voyager mission in detail. This allows the reader to appreciate the dramatic leap in the knowledge and understanding of the Neptunian environment that planetary scientists found from the Voyager flyby. All the latest information is given, illustrated with the definitive pictures from the NASA mission. No more visits by space-probes to the outer planets are likely for several decades; this book therefore represents a timely summary of our knowledge of Neptune of lasting value and enjoyment to professionals and amateurs alike. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The authoritative guide to Neptune
After their superb atlases of Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus, Hunt and Moore delight us once again with an "everything we know about" book, this time on the farthest of the four gas giants, Neptune.

Even more so than its predecessors, this work is primarily based on the data returned by Voyager 2 in its August, 1989 flyby, which resulted in the discovery of the "Great Dark Spot", of new minor satellites, and gave us spectacular close-ups of the surface of Neptune's sole giant moon, Triton, and its strange "cantalope terrain". All of these marvels are reproduced in full color, making this book as visually appealing as it is intellectually stimulating. Sadly, since no further missions to Neptune are planned, this will probably be the state-of-the-art of our knowledge of Neptune for some years to come, making this book a worthy investment.

A historical overview of the discovery and telescopic exploration of Neptune and a brief technical discussion of Voyager 2's mission and the unique technical challenges it faced during the Neptune encounter complete this work. A wonderful book that should not be missing in any astronomical library. ... Read more

Book Description

The Cambridge Planetary Handbook is an invaluable reference text, bringing together key facts and data on the planets and their satellites, discoverers and researchers. It summarises many centuries' worth of data, from the earliest observations of the planets through to the most recent spaceprobe findings. The author discusses the history, mythology and theories of the main objects in our solar system, and provides a comprehensive information section with accurate and up-to-date data on the planets. The book contains excellent photography and explanatory illustrations, along with numerous historical drawings from Galileo, Huygens, Herschel and other astronomers. This book is a must for all astronomy enthusiasts, as well as academic researchers, students and teachers. Those unfamiliar with the sky will find this a user-friendly guide written in clear, non-technical language. ... Read more

Book Description

How old is Earth? How old are the planets, the Moon, meteorites, stars, and the Universe itself? How do scientists know these things? If you’ve ever asked yourself some or all of these questions, then this book is for you.

Planet Earth and the other bodies of the Solar System are 4.5 billion years old. They reside in a galaxy (the Milky Way Galaxy) that is 12-14 billion years old, and are part of a universe that is 13-15 billion years old.G. Brent Dalrymple, a geologist and widely recognized expert on the age of Earth, reviews the evidence that has led scientists to these conclusions and describes the methods by which this evidence has been gathered.

The book is written in a highly accessible style, free of mathematics and complex graphs, and is intended for non-scientists who have an interest in the subject. People with scientific backgrounds who wish to have a thorough summary of the subject will also find the book useful. ... Read more

Book Description

A spectacular tour of the moons of Jupiter in 106 stunning NASA images.

Launched in 1989, Project Galileo is NASA's most ambitious interplanetary mission to date. The Galileo spacecraft is scheduled to crash into Jupiter's turbulent atmosphere in September 2003, nearly nine years after it entered orbit around the mighty planet. During this time, Galileo made a number of startling discoveries and transmitted more than 6,000 images of Jupiter and its many moons.

This book explores Jupiter's moons: Io, which simmers with more than 100 active cauldrons and spews lava fountains some 5,000 feet high; Europa, encrusted with salt-stained ice that may hide a once-living subterranean sea; Ganymede, the only moon in our solar system known to generate its own magnetic field; and Callisto, which may harbor a buried ocean and is one of the oldest and possibly unchanged places in our solar system; as well as Jupiter's so-called inner moons and thirty-two additional minor moons. It shows that the Jovian system is like none we know. 106 color illustrations. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

Look Further...
Say your time (and money) and buy Beyond: Visions of the Interplanetary Probes by Michael Benson which covers the same ground and more.

Mythology and poetic descriptions
This book suffers greatly from the text - poetic descriptions of the images ('...notice there are white gossamer snow flake patterns with jewel-like rays over a greenish background...') (my paraphrase) are annoying - the images are there to see for ourselves. Extensive mythological backgrounds for the names (of which there are a very large number) of every moon, every crater, every mountain ('...W who is the son of the god of X and married the goddess of fate Z and then killed Z's father after he...') (paraphrase) are usually as long as the accounts of scientific facts. A three paragraph blurb will have one of mythology, one of poetic description, and one will be informative. Buy this book for the pictures.

An Artist's Opinion
I recently came across a copy of The Moons of Jupiter and found it to be a remarkably useful book for my purposes. As an artist I was especially appreciative of both the variety of the imagery and the innovative layout of a number of the pages, some of which could pass for works of art themselves. Although I know little about astronomy, I enjoyed the mix of mythology and science in the accompanying text . The Moons of Jupiter is a welcome addition to my visual resource library.

humanities and science integrated
I loved this book. The graceful writing links the images from the spacecraft to the myth, art, and poetry inspired by the subjects of these images.

A SADLY BOTCHED JOB - GALILEO DESERVES BETTER
The story of Galileo is an exciting exploration success story, and through this craft we gained an incredible trove of new information about the Jovian moons. The pictures are unrivaled in sheer, mysterious beauty. Unfortunately, however, this book seems hastily thrown together. The text is riddled with errors and misconceptions that competent editing could have caught. Many of the photos are quite poorly reproduced. Save your money for a more satisfying treatment. ... Read more

Book Description

Rain of Iron and Ice shows us the unmistakable evidence-from space-probe flybys of the planets to the scars on our own Earth-of cataclysmic comet and asteroid impacts.By comparing what we know about the earth's geology and paleontology with the ages of the other planets and moons in our solar system, Lewis makes the strongest case yet of the sudden, dramatic extinction's and assesses the risks to planet Earth. ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Don't worry about my review -- just read the book
This fine book is designed primarily with one goal in mind. Aimed at a popular audience, it is written to counteract the unfortunately widespread myth that no one has ever been killed, or will ever be killed, by a falling asteroid or meteor. John Lewis reworks this statement, reminding us that the way it should be phrased is as follows: "no one as ever been killed or hurt by a meteor or asteroid in the presence of a Western, 20th/21st century journalist or meteoriticist."

This book demonstrates, through statistics and anecdotes, that it is more than just a question of occasional asteroids like the one that killed the dinosaurs, or like the ones in the asteroid movies from the summer of 1999. There is an extremely wide range of asteroids, meteors, and other random space-rocks, of all different shapes, sizes, and compositions. The ones large enough to do fairly serious damage land all over the planet, and substantially more often than many of us tend to believe.

Chapter 14 alone is worth the price of the book. In it, Dr. Lewis shows us computer simulations of several likely asteroid strikes. Let me clarify that -- he presents the results of computer simulations of 10 randomly computer-generated "centuries" on Earth, and what the statistical likelihood of pretty awful asteroid collisions are in each century. Many of the simulations are pretty terrifying. The one that opens the chapter, taking place in the Phillipines, is one of the most horrifying things you'll ever read.

Another valuable part of the book is the table in chapter 13, which lists dozens of damaging asteroid or meteor strikes throughout recorded history, all over the world. Stories like this crop up throughout the book, they aren't just in chapter 13.

The intent of this book is to raise public awareness. It succeeds dramatically. Please buy a copy, and get copies for some of your friends. Two thumbs up.

The best book for the lay reader
This book is a natural five-star. It clearly and eloquently discusses the threat from asteroids and comets. The scenario of a SMALL asteroid falling in the Philippine Sea should be eye-opening to even the most jaded. Also especially worth reading are the chapters on Mercury and on computer created scenarios of falls over a century's time. The book maintains a steady pace throughout, and is a must for anyone interested in meteoritics.

It "Rocks"
__________________

The need for radioastronomy to detect near Earth objects on the day-side is documented in this book. Amateur astronomers have a real opportunity to potentially save all life on Earth. Despite the efforts expended (mostly since 1994, after the impact of the fragments of Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter) the estimate is that 90 per cent of nearby asteroids are unknown. As David Morrison has warned, nothing can be told about the unknown majority, and the odds are that there will be no warning.

At least four large impacts occurred during the 20th century, the best known being the Tunguska object in 1908. I was a bit startled to learn of the small 1919 impact on Lake Michigan (p 159) having never heard anything about this from elderly folklore-prone relatives.

Perhaps most useful is Lewis' discussion of the various myths about our safety from such impacts.

See also "Night Comes to the Cretaceous" by James Lawrence Powell.

Excellent, and scary
Dr. Lewis is an acknowledged expert on the topic of impacts, and it shows. His writing is clear and vivid; his descriptions of impact events are some of the best (and most chilling) I have read. There is a wealth of detail about potentially hazardous asteroids and comets, yet he never talks above the reader's head. As a professional astronomer myself and one who has talked about this subject many times, I highly recommend this book.

Kaboom! (But you'd never hear it coming...)
This is a truly great science book: it combines accuracy and completeness with readability. It's even entertaining, though scary as hell. The newspaper excerpts are a great touch, and the computer simulations are CHILLING. Serious readers should also read Dr Lewis' book on computer modelling of high-energy impacts. Apocalypse overdue??? ... Read more

Amazon.com

Asteroids are many things to many people. For some observers, those "mountains in the sky" point to the cataclysmic origins of the universe. Others see untold wealth in the planetary fragments, which harbor great stores of precious metals. Still others see in asteroids the likelihood of global destruction--after all, one of them, slamming into the earth millions of years ago, may very well have condemned the dinosaurs to extinction, and deep space harbors untold potential threats to the earth.

In this engaging volume, Curtis Peebles surveys the science of asteroids, offering a highly readable account of the many ways in which they form out of the flotsam and jetsam of larger celestial bodies, the dust and debris of space. He adds to this scientific overview an anecdotal history of asteroid discovery and detection, which, he writes, was often the work of gifted astronomers working with less than ideal equipment, and all too often dismissed by their professional counterparts. Peebles discusses in detail the rules by which asteroids are catalogued and named--some, for instance, bear the monikers of eminent scientists, others of their patrons, and still others of more unlikely honorees, such as the group of asteroids named for the various Beatles. He also touches on efforts to protect Earth from asteroid impacts--the father of that planetary defense being none other than the poet Lord Byron--which he calls "the only natural disaster that human society can prevent."

Students of the history of space science will profit from Peebles's careful research, while astronomy buffs will enjoy his lucid narrative.--Gregory McNamee ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Excellent book for those interested in the topic
Once upon a time, asteroids were "the vermin of the skies," as Peebles indicates. However, with the success of the NEAR mission and with concerns over the cataclysmic effects of asteroid impacts making their way even into popular culture, they are of great interest today.

The book lives up to the title, providing a very brief background on the birth of modern astronomy with Kepler and Galileo before getting to the discovery of the first asteroids. The first clue was the large gap between Mars and Jupiter, where astronomers in the 1700s began looking for a missing planet. By early in the next century, they'd found several, though they were all too small. And by the early 1900s, astronomers were getting a little tired of them, there were so many (about 2,000).

Skipping up to modern times, we now have dedicated instruments that are all but swamping the system with findings: The Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) project, using automated techniques, found over 25,000 new asteroids in less than two years.

Peebles also focuses on different categories of asteroids, since not all are found between Earth and Mars: some approach the Earth (sometimes unnervingly closely), while others, in the Kuiper Belt, are beyond the orbit of Neptune. The discovery of each of these classes is described in separate chapters as well as, when appropriate, the theory behind the formation of each and how it was developed.

Two chapters serve as something of footnotes, one on the different sources of asteroid names (dead astronomers, Greek mythology, places, etc.), and the other on the controversy in San Diego over streetlighting. The latter seems somewhat out-of-place in this book, though the story is worth telling: basically, there was a great fight over whether the city should install streetlights with a low impact on the nearby Palomar Observatory or a higher impact. The former were disliked by some due to their orangish, unflattering lighting. To make a long story short, the astronomers win in the short-run but lose in the long-run as a new administration comes in and, at significant expense, votes to install the high-impact lighting. Peebles does not describe the resulting effects at Mt. Palomar, which is a great absence from the book and effectively undercuts much of his argument.

The final chapters cover the potential for asteroid impacts, the discovery of Shoemaker-Levy 9 and its subsequent impact on Jupiter, and the possibility of defending against impacts.

Some minor goofs: Minor Planet Center director Brian Marsden (one of the most significant figures in modern solar system astronomy) is referred to as "Bruce Marsden" once, and the NASA administrator during the Challenger disaster, James Beggs, is consistently referred to as "Biggs."

My only other criticism is that the recounting gets a little tedious at times: asteroid X is discovered, then asteroid Y, then asteroid Z, and so on. But that would be a little hard to avoid in this sort of history, and Peebles manages to provide enough background, covering theory, techniques, and historical circumstances, to stay out of that rut most of the time.

It's an excellent book for those interested in the topic.

Worthwhile despite a quirky complaint...
An outstanding introductory and reference work on the current thinking behind the asteroid phenomenon, including the controversies over naming, geological studies etc. Covers in some depth the main periods of asteroid discovery, from visual to photographic to automated. Also deals briefly with issues of asteroid origin; a very interesting discussion of the analysis of "groups" of asteroids, identified by similarities in their orbital elements, as well as interesting treatment of Jupiter's effects on sweeping out lanes in the asteroid belt. Excellent treatment of the NEA threat, from its inception up through the SL-9 impact.

Quirky treatment of light pollution in the middle of the book, in the context of the naming phenomenon (an asteroid was named for the city of San Diego after a light pollution ordinance was passed, but later rescinded, though the asteroid kept its name). It was an interesting discussion, and a story that deserves to be told, but didn't belong in the middle of this book.

A tribute to the asteroids and comets hunters
A very good book to anyone that desires to acquire a good glimmer about the subject of Near Earth Objects and their threat to our civilization.

It covers all aspects from technical to politics and is a real tribute to many dedicated professionals and amateurs astronomers, geologist and others various scientists which are making history in asteroid and comets hunting. It also make me disapointed to know that the Southern hemisphere, were I live, is like a blind concerning the NEOs search effort.

Only one aspect prevent me too score 5 stars: In my opinion, the too long discussion on chapter 8 about he streetlights issue of San Diego.

A wonderful start book for anyone who intend to initiate in the NEOs study.

A good history of the "vermin of the skies."
Although it's a little dry in places and could use some more illustrations and a few more photographs, the book does a decent job of introducing the reader to the history of asteroids, their discoverers, the implications for mass extinctions on earth, and the efforts being taken today to detect them and deflect them before they have a chance to make a bad impression. ... Read more