Solar System Books

This is a great book. Other worlds is for anybody that just loves to look at images of space. Easy reading, informative and thought provocing. It will be on my read often shelf!.

Over the years, the National Geographic Society has produced many excellent books about the exploration of space such as Mars by Raeburn and Golembek and Orbit by Jay Apt. This time they have chosen some of the best photographs obtained from the various NASA probes to the planets and the Hubble space telescope. Most of the book is filled with many high quality photographs (all color) and includes only some supporting text. For this reviewer, the small amount of text was a nice bonus, since it increased my viewing pleasure. I found this book to be a good addition to my collection of space related books.

Approximately two-thirds of this book covers our sun, its planets and the minor objects like asteroids and comets. The book contains the latest photographs from the Mars Pathfinder, Mars Global Surveyor and Galileo space probes as well as the many classic photographs taken during the early years of the space program. The final third of the book contains deep space photographs mostly taken by the Hubble telescope. These photographs examine many of the more famous deep sky objects, like the Eagle and Helix Nebulae, but also include numerous galaxies and super novae photographs. Again, the latest and highest quality photographs are shown here.

If you like a book that is filled with many high quality photographs of our solar system and deep sky objects, this book is for you.

Although I started out rating this a "4", I changed my mind and gave it a "5", mainly because I found it for half price and also because some of these pictures are so marvelous that it's scary. You've never seen the Eagle or Helix nebulae like this before and some of the pictures within our own solar system give you a good idea of what it must be like if you're out there--scary. Away from Earth and in a desolate zone millions of miles away. Galaxies, star clusters, etc.. are so much more defined than the photographs of these wonders that come from Earth-based observatories. No atmospheric turbulence and also great photos from the greatest scope man has invented. Galileo would marvel at the photographs of Jupiter and its Moons, which he first discovered long ago. He sure didn't see them like this.

The book goes from the sun and the solar system, through galaxies and nebulas, up to the edges of the known universe, giving great and worthy images (and info) in each "station", all printed on a high quality paper, of course. Especially good are the images from the galaxies and nebulas. Those from the near planets I liked a bit less, and I've seen better ones elsewhere...
The text all the way is well written and enjoyable to read. It gives, in addition to the info about each object, some nice (but basic) introduction to astronomy in general - things such as how distance from stars is measured, how light coming from objects is analyzed, astronomy history etc...
However, as it covers the entire universe, it is, as you might think (considering it's size...), pretty basic - both the images and the info. It gives just a small (but good!) taste of everything, not going too deep anywhere.

All in all, it's an excellent book, but I think it'll be worthy to you only if you don't have many other astronomy books, since it's pretty basic.

This is another sumptuously produced book from the National Geographic Society. The text is a little "mickey-mouse" by my standards, but the photos, many from NASA planetary missions are Hubble, are beautifully reproduced and well worth the price of admission.

The book is divided into sections: inner planets, outer planets, and deep space, with text and photos (in that order) for each.
Nicely done and well worth browsing.

This book is a good read for the general amateur astronomer and a required text for the dedicated planet observer. I fall in the "general amateur" category and do not have the patience nor inclination to devote my observing time to sketching the planets night after night. Yet I enjoyed the book anyway and it gave me a sound appreciation for the dynamic nature of our neighbors in the solar system as well as the numerous ways in which the serious amateur can contribute to the science.

This book is replete with details on the numerous features visible on the planets through amateur telescopes. It also gives advice on what type of telescope to use and what magnifications to employ. Basic scientific data on each planet (rotation rate, mass, distance, etc.) is included for reference as well as a lengthy history of observation for each planet, but the emphasis of this book is on *amateur observation*, as implied by the title. You won't find theories on Saturn's cloud decks or the origins of Mars' surface features. What you will find are detailed tips and advice on how to look for and draw the spokes in Saturn's rings, festoons between Jupiter's cloud belts, the "purple haze" on Mars, filters to employ, etc.

A necessary work at a great price for the hardcore planet observer! For the casual amateur, a bit expensive and over-the-top but still a useful addition to the library. I give it five stars because it adheres to its stated purpose faithfully and with style.

This terrific book is an illustrated and textual exposition of the Solar System - a guided tour of the planets and their characteristics - from the transients of Mercury to eclipses and occultations of Pluto and Charon. Except for a few singular and minor omissions, The Planet Observer's Handbook qualifies as one of the best works on the Solar System to date. In fact we've included it on the Belmont Society's "Required Reading List" for the amateur astronomer.

Advanced amateurs may want to skim through the first chapters - dealing with telescope types, accessories, components of the celestial sphere, and introductory terminology. There are however, some eye-catching moments for jaded readers, like the apodizing (antidifraction) screen, a simple homemade device to limit diffraction and the effects of atmospheric turbulence while not adversely affecting image contrast or quality (it's actually an old trick, but not that well known).

This book was not intended to be a "post card catalog" of pretty pictures. Thus there are no contemporary photographs such as pictures of Venus from the HST, or a Cassinni fly-by image of Io against the festooned background of Jupiter. There are however, many pertinent photos and illustrations to serve historic interest and to offer educational impact. We find this arrangement to be perfectly suitable and appropriate.

Some may be surprised and/or a little disappointed that our moon is not included here. But keep in mind that the moon is a subject unto itself, and thus deserves a work of a separate magnitude - and there are several available.

There are some disappointments: Aside from some basic illustrations for the purpose of scale, this work is notably lacking in accurate renditions of the orbital planes of major satellites. Also, in light of various discussions about several other oddities, there is virtually none (or even any speculation) about the drastic tilt of Uranus. We find this to be curiously conspicuous, as it's one of the most striking anomalies in the Solar System.

There is skillful discussion of little-known and much-neglected Solar System components, like the Kuiper Belt and the Oort Cloud, and some insightful speculation of such things as their respective associations with short and long term comets. There is also some discussion of an almost ubiquitous "Planet-X", the existence of which is argued to this day as being the cause for Neptunian perturbations. This parallels some speculation (or at least the opinion) that Pluto and Charon are in fact not the ninth planet and its moon, but simply major lost-in-space chunks of accreted or captured "debris".

We found the brief presentation and subsequent explanation of Bode's Law to be the best we have seen offered in a non-college level text. This intriguing mathematical statement is so staggeringly significant, (yet surprisingly simple) that it boggles the mind.

Finally, there is considerable discussion of the data and knowledge that can be contributed by amateur astronomers. This discussion is a clever form of interactive "provocation" and is to be applauded. Author Price emphatically encourages dedicated amateurs to take up the gauntlet, and involve themselves in observational contributions to the sciences, and he makes a fair attempt at describing how to accomplish it, including addresses of where to send your observations and data. However, you shouldn't feel bad if you don't have the time or the inclination to engage in such ambitious activities.

The average amateur astronomer who is even mildly interested in the Solar System will benefit greatly from this work, and will likely gain a great deal of knowledge and insight about the countless and innumerable objects that circle the Sun.

Highly recommended.

Fred Price has produced a wonderful guide to the inquisitive amateur astronomer who wants to undertake solar system observations. The book provides a very thorough and useful discussion of the solar system and "celestial sphere," and progresses into a fairly standard, but very informative, discussion about telescopes and atmospheric conditions. The meat of the book assigns one chapter to each planet; for each planet the author provides the essential orbital characteristics, physical properties, etc., and an enlightening relation of the history of each planet's observations. This history not only prepares the observer for what to expect to see at the eyepiece, but allows him to place the quality of his observations in historical context. Finally, Dr. Price provides suggestions of good science which a dedicated and moderately well-equipped amateur can perform, contributing usefully to human knowledge of the solar system. I found this book quite informative, and found that it has enriched my observing experience at the telescope.

Unlike the other reviews, I thought the book was not that technical at all. The book at first seemed to dedicate too many pages to the same topics you find in every beginner astro book, telescope types, eyepiece types, etc... The information on the planets were not as detailed as I had hoped (sans Saturn). Most of this information and much more can be found on the Web. I did think the chapter on the minor planets was worth the read.

I must admit, my opinion of this book may have been heavily skewed because I "accidentally" read the introduction. In there, Fred Price compares planetary astronomers to real "observers" and anyone who observes deep-sky objects to "sightseers".

Hmmm... the AAVSO might differ with that opinion, as would a number of organizations who do deep sky research. Maybe I was just too sensitive, but the introduction did rub me the wrong way. It is true, I do often "sight see" deep sky objects for the challenge of seeing something I had not seen and to improve my "observing eye" (ability to see detail with your eyes). I do not care what Dr. Price thinks of me in doing so. However, I know many people who think the opposite way, that observing the planets is a dull and boring task that already much is known about. I think both sides are wrong to be so damned elitist about it.

Besides that, it is a good book :-)

I was surprised by the technical flavor of this book, as I expected (wrongly, it turned out) a beginner to mid-level observation handbook which I could take out with me on my observation trips.

The book is over 400 pages long, all written in 10 point Times font. There are very little illustrations and photo, and they are all in black and white. So it looks like a college science textbook and is very challenging visually.

Each of the sections on each planet have the same subsections such as "History of Observation" (mostly useless to me), "Observing [Jupiter, etc.]" and "Space craft Obsevation of [Jupiter, etc.]"

It also seems that to see most of the stuff described in this book, you need to have a telescope that is at least 8 inches, so that is out of my league.

However, in fairness, I know that this is a very compresensive book on the subject, and answers all possible questions that one may have on observing the planets.

But as I said, this book is more suitable for the advanced amateur Astronomer.

Joan is part of a new generation of researchers who are trying to sort wheat from chaff by diluting the truth about the history of aliens on earth from the legacy of aging UFOlogists. Her whole book is one big question mark. It asks many more questions than it answers. But it is asking all the RIGHT questions, and that alone sets it aside from the pack. If you haven't read all the books Joan D'Arc quotes from to reach her conclusions, Space Travelers and the Genesis of the Human Form is a great introduction to this type of revisionist anthropology. I saw a cartoon once with a school teacher sporting a big grin pointing at a black board. The first image was for "creationism" with God in the sky zapping Adam into existence. The next one was for "evolution" with a fish mutating into a man. The third? An alien, just like the one in Monty Python's Life Of Brian, zipping around in a UFO. Reading Joan D'Arc's book will put that big grin on your face, because you'll be part of a growing club of people who are finally starting to accept we were never alone. She puts the pieces of our genetic puzzle back together again after centuries of mystery schools hidding from the church to protect the secrets of this knowledge. Her book will let your guards down and remove the blinders. Buy it, read it, and get the ammunition you need to give your college professors a hard time!

This book is thought provoking and extremely well-researched. It blows apart the theory of evolution with facts evolutionists don't mention. The author's unique style and courage to address these issues - spiced with wit - in the face of rather startling information is refreshing. The book introduces readers to the maze of information- some of which might be factual, some of which might have been disinformation. All in all, this book is well-written and is a rollicking ride for those who dare to read it.

Joan is part of a new generation of researchers who are trying to sort wheat from chaff by diluting the truth about the history of aliens on earth from the legacy of aging UFOlogists. Her whole book is one big question mark. It asks many more questions than it answers. But it is asking all the RIGHT questions, and that alone sets it aside from the pack. If you haven't read all the books Joan D'Arc quotes from to reach her conclusions, Space Travelers and the Genesis of the Human Form is a great introduction to this type of revisionist anthropology. I saw a cartoon once with a school teacher sporting a big grin pointing at a black board. The first image was for "creationism" with God in the sky zapping Adam into existence. The next one was for "evolution" with a fish mutating into a man. The third? An alien, just like the one in Monty Python's Life Of Brian, zipping around in a UFO. Reading Joan D'Arc's book will put that big grin on your face, because you'll be part of a growing club of people who are finally starting to accept we were never alone. She puts the pieces of our genetic puzzle back together again after centuries of mystery schools hid from the church to protect the secrets of this knowledge. Her book will let your guards down and remove the blinders. Buy it, read it, and get the ammunition you need to give your college professors a hard time!

I don't know who this author really is, but she sure does like to "hear herself talk!" This is a book you cannot wait to put down, and will be sorry you ever picked up.

The "research" cited is mostly work from a set of kooks who don't know what they're talking about and continually cite each other as reliable sources in their collective body of work. It's cyclical madness, if you ask me.

Joan is obviously a creationist who cloaks herself in the "intelligent design" label because she's afraid to admit she believes in God. In an effort to prove evolution to be wrong she rambles on and on about ideas that have been far better postulated by others. Read some of her other writings on the net (she googles well) and you'll understand what I mean.

When you first start reading, you'll think, WOW, she really is intelligent! but then you'll soon realize just because a person can string a bunch of big words together, that doesn't mean that person has anything intelligent to say. (If you're not sleeping first.) After all, if the discombobulators can be banboozled by the hyperbole of transdimensional space travel, that does not mean they will disintegrate and reintegrate upon command on the far side of the fractile universal infrastructure. See what I mean?

In her discussion of Neanderthal man, author Joan d'Arc makes an important point about "prehistory". We do not actually know for sure what happened on planet Earth eons ago and our various systems of understanding the history of this planet are jig-sawed together from a variety of fossils and artifacts which by serendipity happened to be the artifacts located by university professors and acknowledged authors. Beyond this scattering of information, a cultural selection no more universally valid than the winning lotto tickets of a sweepstakes are valid in culturally representing the population of the area in which the sweepstakes was held, there are other bits and pieces of valid information which do not conform to any of the historical interpretations in the academic and/or popular publications canon. Because only the available artifacts and fossils have been used to build Darwin's "theory of evolution", the simple journalistic observations of author Joan d' Arc serve to call the absolute acceptance of this theory into question. In similar fashion, her observations on documented systems of "space travel", genetics and political "causality" which lie outside the accepted canon of academic literature are excellent journalism oriented toward the liberation of the reader's mind. Read this book. It may cause you to change your "earthbound thinking."

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.

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.

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.

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.

If you are looking for a book with a lot of pretty pictures of the lunar surface, take a big pass on The Clementine Atlas of the Moon.

If, however, you are looking for a professional lunar atlas utilizing spacecraft photos, this is your book. The images shown on the pages of The Clementine Atlas of the Moon are reproduced at the same scale and under nearly identical lighting conditions. This alone provides a consistency that has been sorely lacking in lunar atlases made from photographs taken by other NASA spacecraft.

The main part of the atlas features 144 plates made from images taken at the 750nm wavelength by the Clementine spacecraft launched in 1994. Plates generally correspond to the LAC (Lunar Aeronautical Chart) system of the early 1960s. The plates, each with a two degree by two degree grid overlay, are on even number pages. A small inset map of the front and near side is at the upper left-hand corner of each plate and shows its location on the lunar surface. Corresponding maps annotated with the names of various prominent features are on the facing odd number pages. Each map also has a grid and indicates the plate numbers to the north, south, east and west. The atlas must be turned ninety degrees to the right for use and north is always on top (or "up"). At the lunar equator a plate is 20 degrees wide in longitude and 16 degrees height in latitude and physically measures 23 cm by 18.5 cm. The entire moon is covered.

Image quality is very good, but the plates themselves are somewhat bland due to the fact that the lighting is overhead, or at lunar noon. Nonetheless, there was not a single feature for which I searched that I could not find. The somewhat generous plate scale, about 1.1 cm per degree at the equator, and grid makes finding lunar features fairly straightforward if you are armed only with a set of coordinates.

The front part of the book, about 40 pages, describes modern lunar exploration, the Clementine mission itself, and the atlas. This section ends with maps of the near and far sides that are overlaid with the LAC system of chart numbers to provide a quick guide reference guide. The back portion of the atlas offers a 25-page gazetteer which keys in names of lunar features to coordinates and atlas plate numbers. I found only one discrepancy in the gazetteer for features I needed to find. The crater Leakey is shown to be on plate 79, but was not indicated on its corresponding annotated map.

I did find it curious that the six Apollo landing site are designated on the appropriate plates, but Ranger, Surveyor, Luna and Lunokhod landing sites are not. Perhaps "boots on the ground" was the criteria for inclusion. This, however, is nitpicking as The Clementine Atlas of the Moon should be an essential part of any serious student-of-the-moon's library, whether that person is an amateur or professional.

The Clementine Lunar Atlas of the Moon, by Bussey & Spudis, provides a wealth of information on basic lunar facts, history, and exploration (part 1), and is the best global compilation of lunar geography and imagery in one book to date (part 2). The remarks of the Italian reviewer concerning the figures in part 1 are overstated. One of the figures is blurred, however, none of the figures appear as badly scanned from another book and carelessly pasted in the text. In addition, the criticism about the pixel size of some of the global remotely sensed element maps is unwarranted. The reader is observing the data at the resolution Lunar Prospector acquired it (~60 km per pixel). There just isn't anything that can be done about it except go back to the Moon and acquire better, higher resolution measurements.

The atlas fills an important niche in my collection. A reference guide to finding any crater named in any article I am reading, and getting a good first-order understanding of the crater's local geography. The quantity of craters named (using the Madler system), the extent of coverage (both the far side and near side of the Moon), and the comparable (Nadir) viewing geometry of all the images makes this atlas a must have for lunar scientists, gradstudents, and amateur astronomers alike.

This book has been released more than one year later than the initial scheduled date. Previously I read several astronomy books issued by the same editor, being some of them atlas (Compact NASA Atlas of the Solar System) or specifically dedicated to Solar System objects (Planetary Sciences, The New Solar System, The Giant Planet Jupiter,...) and others catalogues or handbooks (Planetary Observer's Handbook, Observing the Moon,...): in any case the quality, both of the contents and the edition, was very good if not excellent. I had therefore great expectations about this specific book, but, as soon as I received it, I was greatly disappointed. It is divided in two sections: the first is a general discussion about the Moon and its properties (geological history, motion in space, lunar exploration by the Americans and the Soviets). The section ends with a discussion of the Lunar Prospector and Clementine Missions. I have not read this section deeply, but the names of the two authors should make a warrant for its content. I would in any case rate it quite general, if not common or superficial. Furthermore, the few photographs in it, all selected from well known images taken from the various missions to the moon, are of exceedingly poor quality: in fact they look as if badly scanned from an other book and carelessly pasted in the text. They give you the idea of an unfortunate draft version of the book. The same applies to the few graphs reported.
Second section is the true atlas, in black and white: facing pages contain on the left the Clementine 750 nm images and on the right a digital global shaded relief images by the USGS (1 cm on the image or maps corresponds to roughly 25 km on the Moon in Mercator projection). A lat./long. grid is superimposed on the both of them: the lines are white and look as if they were drawn with Paintbrush! The map on the right is reproduced so that pixels stand out as large as a square with the side up to 0.5-1 mm long.
Furthermore the paper quality is poor: leaves are opaque.
I am not discussing the contents, that are in any case worth of the book, But I still think that such a book should have deserved much more attention by the editor, better quality, deeper review: if you are searching for top quality images and edition such as those of the compact NASA Atlas of the Solar System, well, probably you should better save your money!

This book represents a groundbreaking and unique resource for both professional and amateur lunar enthusiasts. The first section of the book consists of a concise, yet comprehensive review of lunar exploration and lunar science. The authors bring many years of experience to bear on a subject in which they are clearly well versed and highly knowledgable.
The main section of the book represents the first global atlas of the Moon covering both the near and the far sides, and as such is an unique and unprecendented resource. The Clementine images have been reproduced at a high quality and the use of annotated shaded relief maps ensures an unobscured view of the Clementine mosaics.
Finally, the atlas contains the most complete gazeteer of lunar features ever produced.
I have to disagree with the other reviewer's comments about the book. The book was clearly never intended to primarily be a general interest book about lunar exploration (many excellent books on this subjects already exist). Instead it is intended to be an atlas of use to both professional researchers and amateur astronomers (and would no doubt be an interesting addition to any coffee table), and it fills this role admirably.

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 stories 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 (some kind of 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 may be misreading the biblical data, but it is only a small distraction from his great book.

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, comets, 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.

I first heard of Duncan Steel when he was interviewed on NPR in June of 2002; the audio of that was once available on the internet.

This is an unusually comprehensive book about lunar and solar eclipses. I only wish that the book were a larger format and contained color illustrations instead of just black and white.

The book is relatively small at 7.25 x 5.25 inches, and so the illustrations are quite small. The only color photo is on the cover jacket, which is a shame. I recognize a number of the B&W illustrations, and so I know that the originals were in color.

Despite its shortcomings, this book is a welcome addition to my eclipse library.

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.

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.

To the publisher I would appreciate it if the publisher could produce an audio adaptation of this book. I would love to listen to this while I drive to work and to let my 16 month old son listen to it as a bedtime story. My goal is to expose him to some of my favorite passions, maths, sciences, physics, geophysics, paleontology, astronomy, electronics, photonics, new science and discoveries etc. The more audio books you can produce of the above genre the more I will support you. Arnold D Veness

I liked the book, but do not rate it as highly as "Rain of Iron and Ice" by John S. Lewis and "Impact" by Gerrit L Verschuur. However, it is much better than "Fire on Earth" by John and Mary Gribben.
My chief reservation about Steel's work is that he seems easily drawn to flights of whimsy such as Clube's and Napier's contentions regarding Beta Taurid cometary impacts that have affected history on a mammoth scale. While these are captivating proposals, perhaps, there isn't enough hard scientific evidence for them clutter up what was otherwise a hitherto fine scientific presentation of a real problem by Steel. Up to the author's dalliance into the speculative, the book is a good read about a serious, overlooked, preventable threat. His admonitions should be taken seriously.

Duncan Steel is one of the best known advocates for a near Earth observation system, and he and others like him should be listened to. Unfortunately the book is not too great. It didn't hold my attention, partly because of the intrusion of some of his opinions. If nothing else is available on the topic, this could be an okay choice. See instead "Rain of Iron and Ice" by John S. Lewis

Related titles include "Night Comes to the Cretaceous" by James Lawrence Powell and "T Rex and the Crater of Doom" by Walter Alvarez.

Three events in the past decade have caused a great deal of interest in objects around us in space. Giotto's encounter with Halleys Comet, Hubble Space Telescope pictures of the Shoemaker/Levy comet crashing onto Jupiter and lastly the naked eye sightings of the Hale/Bopp Comet we have enjoyed earlier in the year. Originally from Somerset, Duncan Steel now works at the Anglo-Australian Observatory and his book provides a very readable account of the nature and movements of these very varied objects.

Ever since the first pictures of other planets and in particular their moons arrived, studies have been made of their cratering records. Pictures from space have also been the main method of detecting craters but this time down on earth where plate tectonics, erosion, sediments or vegetation tend to erase them.

Astronomy and Geology linked up when cosmic impact events were suggested as possible cause or trigger for some of the major extinctions we find in the fossil record. The effects of both solar and cosmic cycles on all aspects of life on the planet are now widely studied.

Mr. Steel gives an account of a very bright meteor seen by many people in 1993 in New South Wales. When asked for an estimate of how soon it would before another such sighting to occur the answer was given in years. One week later, however, an object estimated to be 2-3 meters in size and traveling at 30Km/Sec exploded 18Km overhead with the amount of energy produced by a Hiroshima Bomb. Events such as these and the trail of impacts left on Jupiter show that objects in space are certainly not solitary. Lines of craters have been found on other moons in the system. Comet Hale/Bopp provided a spectacular sight a few months ago but for now the interest is in the debris and dust they and asteroids can leave behind often in highly eccentric trails across our orbit. Gravitational forces and solar wind affect the objects and the trails have a structure and it is the "busy" parts of the belt which give the peaks to meteor showers as we pass. The widely varying time scales which have been linked with extinctions and other cycles are the result of earth and solar system moving round the galaxy.

The possible effects of a large impact, global warming, ice ages, large fire storms or basalt floods have all been discussed elsewhere but the book considers several other theories. A large object landing in the ocean could cause a truly instant catastrophe.

This is the tsunami wave which can be caused by earthquakes or large undersea slope collapse. Islands in the middle of the Pacific can feel the effects of activity right across the ocean. The sloping continental shelves amplify the height of the waves and in low lying areas they can reach well in land. Observations of the cratering pattern on Mercury led to one theory where the shock waves from a large impact travel round the globe and fracture the crust on the opposite side. Reconstruction of the continents at the times of suggested impact events seems to make it possible to link basalt floods such as the Deccan traps with their "opposite" partner.

The remainder of the book deals with the problems involved first in detecting objects which may be a threat to the earth and also discusses what or how anything could be done about it. The pictures of S/L 9 described as a "string of pearls" as it approached Jupiter show just how much of a problem this could prove. For a book found

on the astronomy shelves in the library this one provided a very interesting read and shows that we on earth are not alone in space.

I enjoyed the book . It explains things easily. The only thing I didnt get was on one page, it said "the next 3 planets are the gas giants..." and it has a picture of 4 planets. I dont know if its a typo or what! LOL Then it also confused me because it doesnt consider Pluto a planet. I grew up thinkingit was. Maybe scientists changed that recently but it threw me off a little.

excellent, up to date book about space/solar system. lots of words, but my 2 yo still enjoys it and will grow with it.

I am kind of disappointed at this book. The illustration is dull. The words are plain.

Not very appealing for preschoolers or 1-2 graders, while it is too simple for a savvy reader. I would not recommend it for either gifts or self use.

What a GREAT book! I was looking for a book for my 3 1/2 year old that would introduce him to space in a simple way, "What's Out There" is exactly what I wanted. He is so captivated by this book, it is short, simple and easy to understand. It is perfect for him now and will be for the next several years. All of the basics are covered such as the 9 planets and their relation to the sun, how the earth travels around the sun and spins, the moon, gravity, the make-up of all the planets, asteroids etc. Each topic is explained in a fun and easy way for a child to understand and the illustrations are wonderful. Highly recommend as a first book about space!

As it is usual in Meeus' books, it presents a thorough exposition of all the algorithms needed to calculate with high accuracy all you can imagine, but there is not the slightest sketch of a mathematical proof in the whole text, making it incomplete. You will find it very useful, as I have, to compute the local circumstances of solar eclipses in remote or very particular locations, and much more, but you will LEARN nothing.

Vaataks raamatut

The main tabular body of this book are Besselian Elements calculated using the newest theories of the motions of the Sun and Moon. The author gives algorithms and numerical examples on how to calculate circumstances of a solar eclipse anywhere on the earth's surface, these algorithms can easily be programed on a home computer. The book's biggest drawback is that it contains no maps showing paths of eclipses.

In addition to reading this great book, I have had the good fortune of meeting Dr. Reynolds in person. He is as engaging a speaker as he is an author, and has a way of bringing you into a subject like no one else. Falling Stars is an excellent introduction to meteor observing and meteorite collecting. This really is a branch of astronomy that anyone can get involved with. I highly recommend this book!

This book is not thick enough to discourage meteorite-wannabes to finally finish it front to cover. Through its few pages, of course one cannot expect a detailed description for every topic in meteoritics, but in some sense contains very useful information not usually found in other books. A list of useful meteorite dealers presented, a guide-list price for every popular meteorites per gram, this alone aided me in my decision making whether a meteorite posted in the web is overpriced or not. Useful to start with, but could have been written more lengthly as I feel the author has this "feel" of what a new collector would be.

Falling Stars: A Guide to Meteors and Meteorites is just that, a short introduction to the wonderful world of meteors and meteorite collecting. There are a number of good books out there on this subject, but this one is a handy quick reference guide for novice collectors and those interested in learning a little about the origins of these fascinating pieces of rock and metal from space. It gives a brief overview of meteors and comets, descriptions of the major meteor showers, major impact craters, and famous meterorite falls, as well as a breakdown of the various types of meteorites and tektites. It doesn't go into great detail on, say, the difference between an octahedrite, hexahedrite, and ataxite nickel-iron meteorite for example, but it does provide some sound info for the beginner.