An expert, entertaining review of what’s known about the solar system.
The sun and every body in its vicinity formed from the same primordial dust, yet every planet, moon, comet, and asteroid is different. This accomplished overview of planetary science describes the details.
The first photograph from another planet was the rocky surface of Venus, transmitted from a Russian lander in 1975. More Soviet Venus probes followed, and while NASA has been responsible for most of the rest, other nations are getting into the act. The result, featuring contributions from high-tech telescopes and computer simulations, is an explosion of information about our solar system and, more recently, solar systems throughout our galaxy. An enthusiast as well as a fine writer, Asphaug (Planetary Science/Univ. of Arizona) lays it out from the beginning. Despite their flawed theories, when the ancients observed and calculated, they proved that Earth was a sphere and measured its diameter and the distance to the moon and predicted eclipses. Geniuses from Copernicus to Einstein improved the big picture, but it was well into the 20th century before interesting details became clear. That meteor strikes formed the moon’s craters remained controversial until the Apollo landings proved it. After a nod to the Big Bang and formation of the sun, Asphaug concentrates on the history and current knowledge of the planets, familiar and unfamiliar moons, and unattached bodies in between. As an earthling, he favors earthlike features, and readers will share his pleasure as he discusses them. Rivers, lakes, oceans, and rain? Saturn’s moon, Titan, has them; Mars and perhaps Venus once enjoyed the same. Life began in water, so scientists are thrilled when they find it elsewhere. Ice doesn’t qualify, but there is evidence for liquid water oceans under the icy surface of Jupiter’s Ganymede and Europa, Saturn’s Enceladus, perhaps Mars, and even some asteroids and comets.
An expert, entertaining review of what’s known about the solar system.Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-265792-3
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Custom House/Morrow
Review Posted Online: Aug. 6, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2019
An intriguing meditation on the nature of the universe and our attempts to understand it that should appeal to both...
Italian theoretical physicist Rovelli (General Relativity: The Most Beautiful of Theories, 2015, etc.) shares his thoughts on the broader scientific and philosophical implications of the great revolution that has taken place over the past century.
These seven lessons, which first appeared as articles in the Sunday supplement of the Italian newspaper Sole 24 Ore, are addressed to readers with little knowledge of physics. In less than 100 pages, the author, who teaches physics in both France and the United States, cogently covers the great accomplishments of the past and the open questions still baffling physicists today. In the first lesson, he focuses on Einstein's theory of general relativity. He describes Einstein's recognition that gravity "is not diffused through space [but] is that space itself" as "a stroke of pure genius." In the second lesson, Rovelli deals with the puzzling features of quantum physics that challenge our picture of reality. In the remaining sections, the author introduces the constant fluctuations of atoms, the granular nature of space, and more. "It is hardly surprising that there are more things in heaven and earth, dear reader, than have been dreamed of in our philosophy—or in our physics,” he writes. Rovelli also discusses the issues raised in loop quantum gravity, a theory that he co-developed. These issues lead to his extraordinary claim that the passage of time is not fundamental but rather derived from the granular nature of space. The author suggests that there have been two separate pathways throughout human history: mythology and the accumulation of knowledge through observation. He believes that scientists today share the same curiosity about nature exhibited by early man.
An intriguing meditation on the nature of the universe and our attempts to understand it that should appeal to both scientists and general readers.Pub Date: March 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-399-18441-3
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Riverhead
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A magnificent account of a central reality of our times, incorporating deep scientific expertise, broad political and social knowledge, and ethical insight, and Idled with beautifully written biographical sketches of the men and women who created nuclear physics. Rhodes describes in detail the great scientific achievements that led up to the invention of the atomic bomb. Everything of importance is examined, from the discovery of the atomic nucleus and of nuclear fission to the emergence of quantum physics, the invention of the mass-spectroscope and of the cyclotron, the creation of such man-made elements as plutonium and tritium, and implementation of the nuclear chain reaction in uranium. Even more important, Rhodes shows how these achievements were thrust into the arms of the state, which culminated in the unfolding of the nuclear arms race. Often brilliantly, he records the rise of fascism and of anti-Semitism, and the intensification of nationalist ambitions. He traces the outbreak of WW II, which provoked a hysterical rivalry among nations to devise the bomb. This book contains a grim description of Japanese resistance, and of the horrible psychological numbing that caused an unparalleled tolerance for human suffering and destruction. Rhodes depicts the Faustian scale of the Manhattan Project. His account of the dropping of the bomb itself, and of the awful firebombing that prepared its way, is unforgettable. Although Rhodes' gallery of names and events is sometimes dizzying, his scientific discussions often daunting, he has written a book of great drama and sweep. A superb accomplishment.
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1986
ISBN: 0684813785
Page Count: 932
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1986
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