Amazon.com

Earth's moon, called Selene by the Greeks, is a gray, lifeless place, interesting geologically but perhaps a little disappointing to those of us looking for strange, colorful new worlds. But our moon is only one of more than 60 planetary satellites in the solar system, most of which are entirely unexplored. In Journey Beyond Selene, Jeffrey Kluger chronicles these unsung places and the heroes who explore them: the Jet Propulsion Lab's staff of dedicated adventurers, who build and fly sleek, unmanned spacecraft to investigate other moons. "When astronauts finally did reach the moon," Kluger writes, "the lean, fleet ships of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory had already gone elsewhere."

Why explore the satellites of other planets when the planets themselves remain mysterious? Kluger describes astronomers' first realization that in contrast to the lifeless gas giant Jupiter, its moons were a veritable scientific playground:

There were big moons and small moons, patterned moons and plain moons, brightly colored moons and pasty-pale moons.... There were moons that could have atmospheres, water, and even, perhaps, a spark of internal heat. Put them together, and you had moons that could, in theory, harbor life.

Journey Beyond Selene chronicles the history of a little-understood aspect of humanity's quest to discover new worlds. From the early Ranger orbiters through the incredible journeys of Voyager and Galileo, Kluger gives credit where credit is long overdue. They may not be astronauts, but these space jockeys have the right stuff. --Therese Littleton ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Very Interesting Read
I think most people remotely interested in astronomy will find Kluger's book a worthwhile and informative read. Unmanned space flight is the poor cousin to human exploration of space but the story behind JPL's many probes sent into space is fascinating. Those not interested in space may find the book hard going. The end result however, is a greater understanding of the planetary bodies in our solar system and some of the men behind our greatest astronomical discoveries. The book would have merited five stars had Mr Klugar included more photographs and diagrams.

Great Follow-Up to Apollo 13 for Jeffrey Kluger
I agree with the other positive reviews placed here as of this date; I disagree completely with the Pittsburgh reviewer who panned the book. As a huge fan of Kluger's "Apollo 13" and other, less known writings, I found "Journey Beyond Selene" to be a fascinating and informative read. Although it certainly helps to be interested in space exploration and the space program to begin with, one can enjoy the book without having that orientation. That's because the personal stories behind the purely scientific stories also are so darned interesting. Kudos to Jeffrey Kluger for writing another informative and readable book.

Lively, anecdote-filled history of JPL
This is a lively, often anecdotal account of many of the lunar and planetary missions developed by NASA/Cal Tech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The prologue in particular is overdramatic, but fortunately it settles down after that. The focus is on two projects: JPL's first program, the Ranger lunar missions, and the spectacular Voyager missions to the outer planets. The latter in particular is covered with great thoroughness from program conception to the final flyby, and beyond. It provides some interesting insight into the politics and pragmatism behind these great adventures.

If I have a criticism of this book, it's a simple one: there aren't enough pictures. There are only eight pages worth of color pictures, which isn't enough to do justice even to the Voyager missions. I can only think it was a misguided attempt to save costs.

Overall, though, it's an easy (for this space buff, anyway) and fascinating read about some of the most significant unmanned projects of the space age so far.

Even Better Than "The Race"!
This book focuses entirely on unmanned missions and all the human participants are entirely earth-based, so you might imagine that the story could be quite dry and clinical but Jeffrey Kluger brings the story to life in a most engaging and entertaining way. This book is a real page-turner -- you'll feel compelled to read it from cover-to-cover in one sitting! He brings the characters to life and the long cast involved on some of these amazingly longlived missions. It's a fascinating story with lots of amazing facts that I never knew before the read. And, it's an even better read than "The Race" which has garnered a lot of praise and also a very good book in its own right.

Superb. Inside the space exploration industry...
A wonderful book on the history of space exploration. Kluger concentrates mainly on the initial efforts to reach the moon with unmanned craft, but has good sections on one of the Apollo missions, as well as Pioneer and Voyager. For a breathtaking look at the inner workings of a space mission, read this book! ... Read more

Book Description

Jupiter is one of the brightest planets in our night sky, and by far the largest in the Solar System. What the Romans called "Father of the Sky" is huge -- its diameter is more than ten times Earth’s, and its mass is well over twice the total of all the rest of the planets in the Solar System. Yet in spite of its staggering size, its position relatively close to us, and its prominent place in our myths and imagination, Jupiter has remained one of the most enigmatic of our planetary neighbors. Does this gas giant have a solid surface? What drives its Great Red Spot -- a huge swirling storm hundreds of years old and tens of thousands of miles across? Was there ever a possibility of microbial life on its watery moon Europa? What are we to make of the active volcanoes on the moon Io? And what is the nature of Jupiter’s extraordinary magnetosphere?

This book tells the story of the Galileo space probe and the astonishing things it has told us about Jupiter -- and the new questions it has raised in the course of its mission, which has lasted well over a decade. The tiny spacecraft, which has spent more than five years orbiting the planet, is arguably the most successful NASA space vehicle since Apollo 11. It has survived political indifference, legal challenges, software glitches, a balky high-gain antenna, and, with some damage, intense radiation bombardment -- and it is still flying, still sending us extraordinary treasures of data from Jupiter and its moons.

By the end of its mission, Galileo will have traveled an extraordinary 2.8 billion miles and sent back more than 15,000 images of astonishing detail. MISSION JUPITER tells the amazing story of Galileo, including its interplanetary "pas de deux" with the Cassini Saturn probe. Beautifully illustrated with some of the most recent and spectacular images from the mission, and clearly written by noted astronomer Daniel Fischer, MISSION JUPITER shows us space exploration at its most exciting and rewarding. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

The Spectacular Journey of the Galileo Spacecraft!
Fischer tells the story of the Galileo spacecraft in an updated English version of a book published in Germany in 1998. Many books have been written about the solar system, but few have been directed at Jupiter. David Morrison and Jane Samz's Voyage to Jupiter (CH, May'81), for example, is now more than 20 years old. There is, indeed, a need for a detailed account of the Galileo flight, and Fischer has done an excellent job in tracking its history. There are a large number of black-and-white photographs throughout the book and a center section of 32 pages of beautiful color photographs. As might be expected, a large section of the book deals with the moons of Jupiter, because the planet has some of the most exciting moons in the solar system. Io, with its sulfur volcanoes, is discussed in detail, and there is an excellent discussion of the marking on Europa's surface. One of the most important questions in relation to Europa is, of course, Does it have an ocean beneath its outer surface? The consensus in this book is that it does. Strongly recommended. General readers; undergraduates through faculty.

Readable book on a major NASA interplanetary mission
Galileo is probably one of the most significant NASA missions since the Voyager pair. Here, Fischer covers both the background and the latest findings (as of presstime, anyway) of the mission.

The background is copious but appropriate, covering prior missions such as Pioneers 10 and 11 and the aforementioned Voyagers, as well as a brief history of Jupiter astronomy, going clear back to Galileo himself and his discovery of the moons of Jupiter.

The history of the mission is covered in detail, from conception through to execution with all its trials and tribulations. Bumps in the road such as the mission rescoping following the Challenger disaster and the failure of the primary antenna are covered thoroughly with no punches pulled.

Findings are covered, fortunately, in topical order rather than in chronological, with sections devoted to each of the major moons as well as Jupiter itself.

The book is translated from the German, though despite this it's consistently clear and easy to follow. There are at least two occasions when a wrong word is clearly used, however, once where "degrees" is used instead of "astronomical units," and another I simply didn't understand. But this is just one of my necessary quibbles, and overall the book is impressively readable. I strongly recommend it for those interested in the subject

Full of technical detail and hard science...
A must-read for any Jupiterphile. Fischer presents an in-depth look at the science behind the Galileo mission to Jupiter. From the history behind the probe, going all the way back to the 1970's, to the budget cutting, to the eventual launch and failure of the high-gain antenna. It's all covered in this volume, with exquisite detail and enough science content to take you well beyond the press releases. Highly recommended!

A planetary system inside a planetary system.
An interesting look at the space program from a non-american source, that gives the reader a text free of the usual "national" chauvinism (and a little bit a German-centric comments!).

But, most of all, it's an excellent source of information about the Galileo probe, from its 1970 original concepts to its long-delayed launch (which makes you wonder if NASA really cares about science). You will also find an excellent (and, of course, premature) synthesis of what we thought we knew about Jupiter and its moons, and what we think we now know...

Even though this english edition has been revised since the original 1998 German release, especially about Europa, you can expect most of its scientific content to be outdated in a few years from now... but, no, you shouldn't wait for another book, because the Viking probes, 25 years after their mission, are still giving up some secrets about Mars. So you can expect a few decades of data mining before having exhausted the information locked up in the Galileo database.

Enjoy your trip!

Good, But Not For The Casual Reader
For planetary astronomy fans, the book is great: chock full of pictures and engineering detail. (The slipcover is also lovely -- I wish I had it as a poster!) The writing is workmanlike and shows that the author's first language is not English, but it does the job. For the casual reader, though, the technical detail may be too much.
One gripe: the paper is a glossy bond that smudges and holds fingerprints something awful. This would have been fine for the photo pages, but *all* the pages are like that.
All in all, a good book and a much-needed addition to any space-lover's bookshelf. ... Read more

Book Description

This lavishly illustrated book introduces the sun, its physics, and its impact on life here on Earth. Using the most recent results based on radio telescope and satellite observations, the author describes the sun's awesome nuclear energy processes, its mysterious neutrino flux, its seismic activity, its magnetic fields and sunspots, its corona, solar flares and prominences, the solar wind, and the hugely important and multifaceted role of sunlight in both sustaining and endangering life on Planet Earth. Written in a light and friendly style, this is a delightful book for all who wish to understand the latest discoveries about the sun. It would make an ideal gift for all students of astronomy and related disciplines as well as for amateur astronomers. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Life within the Sun's atmosphere
Celebrate Sun-Earth Day on March 18th by reading this very accessible and beautiful book by Tufts University Astronomy Professor Kenneth R. Lang. (Science teachers if you're not already familiar with Sun-Earth Day, check out NASA's website at sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov. The theme this year is 'Live from the Aurora').

A relatively small-scale transient event on our Sun could mean life or death on Earth. "Sun, Earth and Sky" will teach you about sunspots, solar flares, and coronal mass ejections: chunks of the Sun's outer atmosphere that blow off into space and can strike the Earth, causing aurorae and disrupting power grids and satellite communications. We humans actually live within the Sun's atmosphere, so it should come as no surprise that this medium-size star plays a dominant role in our lives. One of this book's main themes, as can be guessed from its title, is the interaction between the Sun and the Earth's atmosphere through radiation and high-energy particles.

As with all astronomy texts, "Sun, Earth and Sky" went out-of-date immediately after publication in 1995 and does not contain recent discoveries such as solar tornadoes (first imaged by SOHO in 1998), the Solar Max 2000 research, or the data from RHESSI (Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager) space probe, launched in early 2002. However, that's no excuse not to read this book. I originally bought it to learn more about the interaction between solar flares and the Earth's magnetosphere (very lucidly explained), but soon found myself leafing through it just to look at the beautiful pictures (133 including 61 in color).

Dr. Lang starts out by describing the Sun as a cosmic laboratory--a site to test physical theories under conditions not readily attainable on Earth. He proceeds painlessly, i.e. without too much math or nuclear physics, to describe the inner Sun, "an unseen world of perpetual change and cosmic violence." Along with more standard illustrations, he also includes paintings by Turner and Monet. His chapters on the violent, visible solar phenomena such as CME (coronal mass ejections) are among the most interesting in the book.

And who would have guessed that we haven't yet solved the puzzle of the Sun's million-degree corona, even though its temperature has been known since the late nineteenth century.

As Dr. Lang approaches Earth he drills down into such topics as our planet's magnetosphere, our atmosphere and its vanishing ozone, and the effect that an 'inconstant sun' has on our well-being--indeed, on our very survival as a species.

I highly recommend "Sun, Earth and Sky" to anyone who is interested in a thorough grounding in solar astronomy.

For completely up-to-date information on our Sun, check out the sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov. There are some great pictures courtesy of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). You can even download a SOHO real-time solar images screen saver as part of your Sun-Earth Day celebration. ... Read more

Book Description

The early twentieth century saw the replacement of the Nebular Hypothesis with the Chamberlin-Moulton theory that the solar system resulted from the encounter of the Sun with a passing star. Fruitful Encounters follows the eventual refutation of the encounter theory and the subsequent revival of a modernized Nebular Hypothesis. Professor Brush also discusses the role of findings from the Apollo space program, especially the analysis of lunar samples, culminating in the establishment of the "giant impact" theory of the Moon's origin in the 1980s. ... Read more

Book Description

Whether interpreted as an auspicious omen or a sentinel of doom, eclipses have had a profound effect upon our cultural development. Throughout recorded history, they have evoked consternation, fear, and dread—as well as awe and wonderment.

Ancient peoples were clearly disconcerted by them. The Romans marked pivotal battles with the Greeks by references to an eclipse. The date of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ has been derived by using biblical mentions of an eclipse. Perhaps most famously, Christopher Columbus extorted much-needed foodstuffs from some increasingly unfriendly native hosts by purporting to demonstrate the wrath of his most powerful God when he accurately predicted a lunar eclipse.

The pattern that eclipses follow—a cycle, called the saros—was actually calculated thousands of years ago. However, it is only with the help of modern computers that we have been able to analyze and appreciate the data. Eclipses provide unique opportunities for today’s scientists to study such contrasting phenomena as the upper layers of the sun, the slowdown of our planet’s spin rate, and the effects of celestial events on human psychology.

In Eclipse, Duncan Steel expertly captures our continuing fascination with all manner of eclipses—including the familiar solar and lunar varieties and other kinds involving stars, planets, asteroids, and comets as well as distant galaxies and quasars. Steel helps us see that, in astronomical terms, eclipses are really rather straightforward affairs. Moving beyond the mysticism and the magic, the science of eclipses is revealed. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

by the time it gets dark

Contrary to what you see in the book and here, the 1919 eclipse evidence was actually more "believing is seeing". As William Corliss wrote:

"On the day of the eclipse, Principe was bedevilled by clouds, and only 2 photographic plates were deemed marginally acceptable. At Sobral, 18 poor plates and 8 better plates were obtained. The problem was that the 18 poor plates yielded a deflection of starlight much smaller than predicted by Relativity, while the 8 better plates produced a much higher value. By adding the 2 plates from Principe to the mix, Eddington managed to come up with a number close to that required by the Theory of Relativity. It was not the clear-cut victory for Einstein that the textbooks proclaim. Yet the spin was on!"['Science Frontiers', William R. Corliss, #126, Nov-Dec 1999]

Steel is in the camp of Clube and Napier, and as he badmouthed Velikovsky at least once in print I'm reluctant to review this book or anything else he's written. Still, as an introduction to the astronomical / astrological impact made on ancient societies, this book is probably a good choice. Steel has been involved in the search for asteroids on collision courses with the Earth, but his interest in Clube and Napier seems to have resulted in a certain amount of being held at arm's length. I noticed this in a David Morrison review of Steel's "Rogue Asteroids".

I have plenty of objections to using eclipses to date anything. More to the point, everyone should have at least some reservations:

"At 8.45 on the morning of 15 April 136 BC, Babylon was plunged into darkness when the Moon passed in front of the Sun. An astrologer, who recorded the details in cuneiform characters on a clay tablet, wrote: "At 24 degrees after sunrise-a solar eclipse. When it began on the southwest side, Venus, Mercury and the normal stars were visible. Jupiter and Mars, which were in their period of disappearance, became visible. The Sun threw off the shadow from southwest to northeast." If present-day astronomers use a computer to run the movements of the Earth, Moon and Sun backwards from their present positions, like a movie in reverse, they find something very odd. The total eclipse of 15 April 136 BC should not have been visible from Babylon at all." ['In the shadow of the Moon', New Scientist, 30 January 1999]

The rather more expensive "Historical Eclipses and Earths Rotation" by F. Richard Stephenson makes a good subsequent read, and is the source of the information in the above quote. Steel's book will make a decent introduction to the eclipse topic also, but remember to take it with a grain of salt.

Not completely accurate in its history, but I won't quibble
Steel melds his knowledge of history and science in a highly readable book. To propel his discussion of celestial bodies, he uses the fuel of such stores as:

* Einstein's theory of relativity as vindicated by an Eclipse
* Alexander's defeat of Darius the day after an eclipse in 331 BC.
* The bible's use of moon language, speaking of days where the moon will be darkened (lunar eclipse?)

With facts like this, Steel keeps us following a provocative discussion of the moon and its cycles. The history lessons are interspersed with scientific facts so that after a while one doesn't know if he is reading a history book or a science novel.

As the author points out, the Eclipse as a phenomena in the sky held special cultic meaning for the Ancient Near Eastern religions (esp. the Egyptians). But one is left wondering if Steel is accurate at all points of history. For example, when arguing from the Bible about supposed eclipse accounts therein, he sees the story Abraham as alluding to one, "And when the sun was going down...great darkness fell upon him." Because he sees this text as an eclipse, he dates the time of Abraham to 9 May 1533 BC 6:30pm. What is interesting in this is that there is an actual internet database maintained by NASA that allows the author (and us!) to track all eclipses for all time. Indeed, there was an eclipse visible in Jerusalem in 1533, but does that mean that the text in question is talking about an eclipse? Steel is probably misreading the bible, but it is only a small distraction from his great book.

Other questionable uses of the Bible exist in this otherwise excellent book about how the Eclipse changed the course of history. His science is wonderful, his reading of eclipses into the Bible is questionable. He uses his knowledge of Lunar Eclipses to date the death of Jesus to 3 April AD 33. This may be accurate, but some camps of Christianity will take issue with his use of the texts he alludes to in order to support this date.

It should be noted, Steel's book is not only about the moon, but about all of the celestial bodies and man's reaction to their appearances (Mars, comments, famous meteor storms, etc.).

This book is a good introduction for the novice about such things as "blue moons", "the diamond ring" affect, eclipses in general, the calendar and the moon, and other such relevant topics.

Blends science with history
Eclipses have long been perceived as portentous events and have affected world cultural development, from the onset or cessation of battles to dates of historic decisions. This blends science with history as astronomer Steel explains how eclipses occur, their history, and their influence on human lives. Black and white illustrations throughout capture eclipse history and drama. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Earth's moon is a gray, lifeless place, interesting geologically but perhaps a little disappointing to those of us looking for strange, colorful new worlds. But our moon is only one of more than 60 planetary satellites in the solar system, most of which are entirely unexplored. In Moon Hunters (published in hardcover as Journey Beyond Selene), Jeffrey Kluger chronicles these unsung places and the heroes who explore them: the Jet Propulsion Lab's staff of dedicated adventurers, who build and fly sleek, unmanned spacecraft to investigate other moons. "When astronauts finally did reach the moon," Kluger writes, "the lean, fleet ships of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory had already gone elsewhere."

Why explore the satellites of other planets when the planets themselves remain mysterious? Kluger describes astronomers' first realization that in contrast to the lifeless gas giant Jupiter, its moons were a veritable scientific playground:

There were big moons and small moons, patterned moons and plain moons, brightly colored moons and pasty-pale moons.... There were moons that could have atmospheres, water, and even, perhaps, a spark of internal heat. Put them together, and you had moons that could, in theory, harbor life.

Moon Hunters chronicles the history of a little-understood aspect of humanity's quest to discover new worlds. From the early Ranger orbiters through the incredible journeys of Voyager and Galileo, Kluger gives credit where credit is long overdue. They may not be astronauts, but these space jockeys have the right stuff. --Therese Littleton ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Nice appetizer
The writer often uses too many adjectives. The book is however full of interesting tidbits of information about the science returned from voyager etc. It also has some interesting anecdotes about the people and events surrounding a mission.
Over all : a good book to get you started on solar system science
-kg

Good Historic Summary
Kluger has tackled the task of covering the complete history of the exploration of the solar system's moons. In 320 pages Kluger has managed to fill a long standing gap in the historic documentation of space exploration. Beginning with the Ranger projects of the 1960's the author continues summarizing the major planetary/moon visits up until this time (2001). While, in so few pages, the book cannot delve into the level of technical and management detail that many would like to see, the author has done justice to the task in so few pages. Kluger has gone well beyond the usual abbreviated technical presentations found in NASA/JPL news releases.
This book should prove of great interest to engineers involved in space and ocean exploration where technical failure is a constant threat. Those who practice engineering understand that learning how things fail is as important as learning how things succeed and Kluger has shown several examples of the engineering difficulties and work arounds that led to the most far reaching and remarkable exploratory effort in human history. From a scientific perspective the author has done a nice job summarizing the scientific interests and expectations for the known moons in the solar system.
This book will prove to be a good one source reading for a concise summary of planetary exploration to this time.

Excellent read.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Its intended audience is probably those who have an interest in space, without being true fanatics (I use that term in a good way), since a great deal of what is presented in the book probably would be well-known to the long-time enthusiast. It should also be enlightening for those who just wish to learn more about the early space program and some of the robot probes first sent to the outer solar system.

The book is arranged chronologically and begins with the Ranger program, which was intended to send probes crashing into our own moon. This may be a program readers under 30 or so will have very little knowledge of (this reviewer is slightly older than that and still had little working knowledge of it). This portion of the book is most effective in its descriptions of the personalities involved (again, most of whom most people have never heard of) and the long, tedious, error-prone process by which these things got off the ground and to their eventual destination. The descriptions of the various problems that caused the first Rangers to fail is enlightening and shows how difficult spaceflight was (and is) even when the mission is fairly simple. Also of particular interest is the effects of failure on programs and personnel; recent events regarding the shuttle fleet show that constant vigilance on quality and safety issues are a recurring, probably an intrinsic, problem within NASA and really any organization.

I would have liked more discussion on the followup Surveyor missions, but from that point focus shifts outwards to the outer planets, and Mars and Venus. The Voyager program is where the book hits its stride, describing the inception of the program and the tradeoffs that had to be made within congressional budget constraints. Also fascinating is the explanation of how these things are navigated through space a billion miles away, a tedious job that most people don't think about. It is sure to increase our respect for the accomplishment of flying a small, barely-powered spacecraft to within a few thousands of miles away from a moon from over a billion miles away. It was truly an extraordinary accomplishment.

The later missions, Casini and Galileo, are probably more familiar to most readers so the novelty somewhat wears off at this point. There is still a good deal of useful information, much of which did not make it into the general news media so it is worth reading for this reason.

The great strength of the book is its descriptions of the spacecraft systems themselves and the personalities that built and flew them. The instruments, how they worked (or didn't), and the myriad of small things that had to go exactly right for the mission to succeed makes this book an excellent read for the technologically interested. Just as remarkable are the systems that didn't work and the ways the engineers and flight controllers worked around them. Less effective, though necessary of course, are the scientific examinations of the moons themselves and what was learned about them. However, this is a minor quibble and Kluger handles these issues effectively, providing enough detail for context but not getting bogged down in planetary detail. All in all, definitely a worthwhile read if you are at all interested in this aspect of NASA's history of unmanned spaceflight.

The most incredible extraordinary superfluous writing-style
The content is not bad, not technical enough, and, frankly, the book is definitly too short to cover those 60 moons. The main problem, IMHO, is that the text is cluttered with the most incredible collection of vain tentatives to make the story even more spectacular than it is by using all the literary tricks possible... boring, boring, boring. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Circular evidence
The author aims to prove the use of circular pattern on the Phaistos disk, but manages to come up with circular evidence. Pardon the pun, couldn't resist. The basic observations are valid and useful, such as the 30 fields on one side and 31 on the other, but his conclusions beyond this are essentially unsubstantiated. For example: He is assuming a certain number of degrees on the circle (366), and a certain number of arc-seconds per degree, and furthermore that the length measure is a foot, and that there are 36.6 feet per arc-second. If it is so, then the result corresponds to within a kilometre with the circumference of the Earth, which is remarkble. Since it is remarkble, he concludes that it must be true, which is of course a circular argument to say the least. The book is full of similar units and measures that are unsubstantiated. I can not recommend it.

A fascinating and thought provoking read.
The Bronze Age Computer Disc impressed me greatly. As much as a detective story into the ancient past it is a rich and fascinating travelog of a little understood and fabulous ancient culture - the Minoans. The book shows how the mysterious symbols of the Phaistos Disc, found in Crete at the beginning of the 20th century, can be used to demonstrate a fantastic system of measuring time, space and distance, that existed as early as 3,500 BC in the Far West of Europe. This book is an easy to follow read, beautifully crafted, and with parenthesis to sift out the mathematics for people who are willing to take the author's word. The Bronze Age Computer Disc ends with a promise of many more revelations to come. I honestly cannot wait. Within the book lie some of the most incredible assertions regarding our ancient ancestors ever proposed.

An easy read and an interesting thesis, but heavy on guesses
The book is easy and enjoyable to read, even for those without an archaeology background. It also combines some good social description with an intriguing hypothesis: that ancient Crete, with a simple round stone, could calculate time, distance and position as accurately as any watch, calendar or map that would be developed in the next 2,000 years. Neverthess, I found the proof a bit lacking in substance and heavy in supposition. ... Read more

Book Description

This text treats our knowledge of the solar system from an astrophysical point of view. Part 1 deals with the formation of the solar system and its interaction with the interplanetary medium. Part 2 presents its various objects: planets and satellites, asteroids, comets and interplanetary dust. The final sections on comparative planetology, open questions and future space exploration round off an introduction to a field which has grown dramatically following the space missions of the last twenty years.

Over the last decade many exciting observations have helped to reshape our understanding of the solar system and planetary science. In the third corrected and revised edition of this classic on the astrophysics of our solar system students and lecturers in astronomy and planetary science as well as planet observers will find a mine of up-to-date information. ... Read more

Book Description

The intriguing narrative of one of astronomy's strangest searches for a planet that never existed. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Another home run by Sheehan...
Another gem of a book by William Sheehan, joined in this venture by astronomer Richard Baum. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Newton's theory of universal gravitation had enjoyed some incredible triumphs, and stood as a monument to the mathematization of science. Three thorny problems remained however, to disrupt the harmony of Newton's universe: the motion of the moon, Mercury, and Uranus. Sheehan and Baum tell the amazing tale of mathematics and astronomy in their pursuit of the answers to these puzzles. This book is a must-read for any buff of astronomy history - Newton, Horrocks, Clairaut, Laplace, Lagrange, and so on. Considerable time is given to the discovery of Neptune, first on paper by Adams and Le Verrier, and by Galle at the telescope. Sheehan and Baum's retelling of his historic tale is even better documented than Grosser's book on the subject. Finally, the problem of the shift in Mercury's orbit. The pressure to find a Newtonian solution was immense, given the previous victories obtained using Newtonian mechanics. Le Verrier was susceptible to this pressure, owing at least in part to his previous success with Neptune. However, this problem resisted even Newton, and was not finally solved until Einstein's theory of gravity supplanted Newton's early in the 20th century. The interwoven stories of astronomers and their diligent search for the elusive planet Vulcan are entertaining and provide a unique perspective on 19th century astronomy.

No good
This was a pitiful excuse for a book. Not one mention of Mr. Spock or any of the other great Vulcans from Star Trek. You would think that if they wanted to do a search for the planet Vulcan, they would have taken it more seriously.

The concepts behind the discovery of the solar system
As an occasional naked eye astronomer I was able to follow Sheehan and Baum's work without difficulty. They provide an accessible history of the development of the concepts that lie behind the discovery of the solar system from Ptolemy to Einstein. They describe observations by astronomers but also pay attention to contributions from mathematicians without presenting the readers with a single equation. There are brief biographical asides on some of the main players (Sheehan's day job is as a psychiatrist) but the main thrust of the book is scientific.

Particular interest is shown in the (serendipitous) discovery of Uranus followed by the (predicted) discovery of Neptune. The discovery of Neptune based on the known perturbations of the orbit of Uranus. This success focussed attention on the erratic orbit of Mercury, which advances seemingly inexplicably. We now know that this apparent motion is caused by the bending of space/time by the Sun's gravity, but the authors leave this for last. At the top of the conceptual staircase we learn that when Einstein explained the advance in Mercury's orbit using Relativity he couldn't sleep for 3 days with the excitement.

A compelling search for a nonexistent planet
I know what you're thinking--an entire book about a planet that doesn't even exist? Although Vulcan doesn't exist, fortunately this book does, because it's very good. The early pages tell us a little more than we need to know about Kepler and Newton, who are hardly central to the story, but then it moves to the discovery of new planets--Uranus, Neptune, and then to the heart of the matter: the irregularities in Mercury's motion that seemed to signal the existence of Vulcan, a planet inside Mercury's orbit. The book has plenty of notes and references, but it's also a lively and compelling read. It fits in well with other recent planet books, such as David Grinspoon's VENUS REVEALED, Alan Stern and Jacqueline Mitton's PLUTO AND CHARON, and Ken Croswell's PLANET QUEST. Plus, it's got a cool cover! ... Read more

Book Description

The Great Comet Crash is a record of the spectacular collision between Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 and the giant planet Jupiter in July 1994. Researchers who were involved in all aspects of observing and interpreting the encounter give personal narratives of the events, from the discovery of the comet through to the dramatic effects on the appearance of Jupiter in the hours, days and months after the collision. The chapters are all by distinguished researchers who personally participated in the international teams who recorded the events. The book is illustrated in colour throughout by the very best images selected from professional observatories around the world. The Great Comet Crash is the definitive illustrated account by professional astronomers of the collision and its consequences. ... Read more

Book Description

This book is a collection of papers by four internationally known speakers who explore some key areas in solar physics. O. von der LÜhe discusses new techniques that are being developed for observing the sun at high spatial resolution and which have played a key role in most of the recent discoveries about the Sun.Egidio Landi Degl'Innocenti describes the magnetic field that dominates much of the structure we see and many of the active phenomena on the Sun.An understanding of how to measure the field is important. New solar telescopes in Europe and the United States have led the way in the present revolution in the understanding of the sun and important new breakthroughs are expected from LEST.In particular, the post-focus instrumentation has been crucial, and this is detailed by Hubertus Wohl; finally Pierre Mein writes about the solar atmosphere, which is now known to be a dynamic atmosphere with many puzzling features. ... Read more

Book Description

The space missions Yohkoh, SOHO and TRACE, together with complementary ground-based instrumentation, have in recent years given usa wealth of new results on the Sun, which are not readily available or digestible for the non-specialist. They are presented here in an organised, tutorial fashion by leading astrophysicists who gathered to observe the total eclipse of 11 August 1999 in Bucharest.Subjects covered range from the deep solar interior to the extended corona, with an emphasis on the diagnostic and on the physical interpretation of the spectacular phenomena represented by solar activity.Readership: Primarily graduate students. Senior scientists will appreciate the comprehensive update of solar physics. Amateur astronomers having an adequate knowledge of physics will also enjoy the book. ... Read more

Book Description

The Compendium of Practical Astronomy is a revised and enlarged English version of the fourth edition of G. Roth's famous handbook for stargazers. In three volumes 28 carefully edited articles, aimed especially at amateur astronomers and students and teachers of astronomy in high schools and colleges, cover the length and breadth of practical astronomy. Volume 1 contains information on modern instrumentation and reduction techniques, including spherical astronomy, error estimations, telescope mountings, astrophotography, and more. Volume 2 covers the planetary system, with contributions on artificial satellites, comets, the polar aurorae, and the effects of the atmosphere on observational data. Volume 3 is devoted to stellar objects, variable stars and binary stars in particular. An introduction to the astronomical literature and a comprehensive chapter on astronomy education and instructional aids make the Compendium a useful complement to any college library, in addition to its being essential reading for all practical astronomers. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

compendium of practical astronomy
for those of you who happen to be new in this amazing and challenging area of astronomy, you will be lost looking for information to start your studies. there are too many books in astronomy on the market, but all of them turn out to be too easy or too complicated. they are designed for people that only want to be superficial in astronomy or astronomy students. but if you have a technical background or at least, feel good with some technical stuff, this compendium will fulfil all your expectacions. it covers everything about astronomy, from the basic in instrumentation until stars formation, planetary sciences and weird space objects. highly recommendable. ... Read more

Book Description

The sun has been an object of fascination and scientific interest to humans since the time of the ancient Greeks. With minimum technical language, this book gives an account of what we now know about the sun's interior, its surface and atmosphere, its role in our solar system, and its relation to other stars.The ways that solar power is being converted to useful forms of energy are also explained. The book is aimed at anyone interested in learning about the latest developments in solar studies, from those at high-school level to the nonspecialist professional. ... Read more

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An excellent introduction as well as a long time companion
For me as a novice to the subject of solar physics "A guide to the sun" by K.J.H. Phillips provided me with an excellent, concise, and easy to read introduction into this fascinating topic.And with basicknowledge acquired I realized that it covers a lot of topics of currentdiscussion about solar physics like the SOHO mission. This book is an assetwhich once read will serve you as a reference and long time companion. ... Read more

Book Description

How were the features on the Moon created?. What is the evidence for past or future life on Mars? What might cause the Earth to become as hot and steamy as Venus? . Why do some say that a colliding asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago? From the earliest of times the human race has pondered upon the nature of the Heavens. The moons and planets have changed from mere points of light to fascinating, diverse worlds. Spacecraft have visited all the planets known to ancient people. Human beings have visited the Moon, and robot spacecraft have landed on Venus and Mars. This book presents the result of this captivating voyage of discovery, recording more than two decades of extraordinary accomplishments. The voyage starts with the still, silent and lifeless Moon. Then on to the contrasting world of Mars with its towering volcanoes and deep canyons. The exploration continues across asteroid belts and icy comets to the outer planets where Voyager II revealed cyclonic storms, liquid hydrogen and helium rain and the beautiful pink and blue dynamic world of Neptune. This book includes numerous photos from spacecraft as well as a few works of modern art. They provide the best available metaphors and images of the previously invisible worlds. ... Read more