The Planets

Dava Sobel’s The Planets offers a literary and creative journey from the Sun to the outer reaches of our solar system. Organized as a series of essays about each planet (and including our moon and asteroids), Sobel concisely summarizes the state of knowledge about the particular planet and augments the science with allusions to history and literature. Jupiter’s chapter highlights its importance to astrology, as well as the historical break between astronomy and astrology that discoveries about Jupiter enabled. The chapter on Mars is told from the point of view of the oldest Mars rock to find its way to Earth (“Allan Hills 84001”, or “Thing from Mars”) while the chapter on Uranus is a letter from one esteemed woman astronomer show more to another. Incorporating our present knowledge of the planets with how we have come across that knowledge, Sobel seamlessly integrates the process of discovery into each chapter.
The facts and figures are kept at a minimum, and rather than simply being listed, are ruminated upon as someone who has just learned these facts. What would it mean to live on Venus where a day is longer than a year? What does it matter whether Pluto is really a planet, or merely one of many hundreds of “Kuiper Belt Objects”? Told with the wonder of an eleven-year-old boy scout, but in the eloquent and erudite prose of an renaissance astronomer-poet, Sobel gracefully interweaves recent and historical knowledge of the planets with the literary fabric that makes these bodies seem so heavenly. show less

The Planets is quick and comprehensible look at the wondrous celestial bodies roaming that big black void we call the night sky. It is not the most in-depth book out there, but neither is it a strenuous or difficult read. What we have here is a light and enjoyable outline of the planets in our solar system, a chapter dedicated to each (except Uranus and Neptune naturally being combined) and bonus chapters on the moon and a look into the Cassini spacecraft landing on Titan, one of Saturn's many moons.

The book is intended for the casual reader, as you do not have to worry about difficult jargon or astronomical numbers here. Instead you get short and sweet chapters that give you a brief yet memorable overview of the planets nearest to our show more own. It definitely makes the book more approachable.

What sets the book apart, and what I think Dava Sobel did best here, was give each planet a distinct personality. For example, the chapter on Venus is complimented with romantic poetry written about her, and the chapter about Earth is partially historical nonfiction about those thinkers who wondered if Earth wasn't at the center of the universe after all. Her ability to make each planet distinguishable, not only by describing what about the planet makes it such an individual but by also formatting the chapters in so many different ways, really helped make each planet unique in my mind.

I think The Planets is perfect for anyone who has an offhand fascination with the solar system but is weary of diving into a topic that can be dense and difficult to understand for many. I think there is plenty here to make it worth reading for those more knowledgeable as well, if not simply for the history of how each planet was discovered, but I think those of a more casual interest in the subject will get the most out of this one. As for me, I thought it was very enjoyable. 4 stars! show less

I read this book a few years ago, and my memory was that it was less structured than Longitude, one of Sobel's other books, and that this was mainly because there was a central figure in the latter, whereas the planets do not lend themselves to a single character-based narrative. However, while reading it back for this review, I discovered elements that I don't remember noticing before, such as a poem written by Maxwell about Venus, along with a footnote pointing out that he wrote poems "as a hobby, and saw forty-three of them published" (2005, Fourth Estate, p68). The interspersed poems provide a brief interlude, and they can always be skipped over if the reader would rather continue with the narrative. In addition, Sobel does not show more limit herself to bare facts about the planets. The chapters have names like 'Sci-fi' and 'Music of the spheres', rather than simply being named after each of the planets. Sobel incorporates mythology, astrology and religion into the mix, and the chapter on Mars is narrated from the point of view of a Martian meteorite. All of these elements contribute to making this more than a typical popular science book.

At the end, Sobel says that she wishes she could tell the reader what happened next (in this case, with the Cassini mission to Saturn). She rightly points out that a book such as this will necessarily be rooted in the time in which it was published, but if she has ignited some spark of interest in the subject despite not being able to continue the story herself, she would be happy. I agree with Sobel's sentiment, and would take it further. For me, a book can still hold interest years after it has been published. There will be details that have changed in the intervening period (Pluto's re-classification from a planet to a dwarf planet is one example, although Sobel does allude to Pluto's incongruity) , but, in this book especially, it doesn't matter. It is as inspiring in 2011 as it would have been in 2005. show less

I'm not usually into pop science books but was attracted by the volume's presentation, which is, in a word, gorgeous. The paper is thick and creamy, the text peppered with full color illustrations that reminded me of the Voyager Tarot. So that is what initially caught my eye, but the writing drew me in. Far from some bare bones astronomy textbook retread, Sobel's "Planets" takes all nine (at that time) of its namesakes as starting points for unexpected forays into poetry, free (though never far-straying) association, and storytelling, so that Mercury's chapter is about Greek mythology, Neptune's about two little-known female astronomers, and Earth's about the development of geography. Good stuff. The writing is airy and beautiful; Sobel show more reminds me very much of Ciaran Carson--one of my all time favorite authors. I will definitely be checking out her other works. show less

What a great book! Dava Sobel writes about the 9 planets (yes, Pluto is included - this was written in 2006 after all), plus the sun and the moon, in a way that is both lyrical and scientific. I learned a lot about the origins and compositions of the celestial bodies of our solar system while at the same time gaining an understanding about the absolutely bananas way scientists, astronomers, and explorers figured out what the heck was going on in our universe with super basic tools and knowledge. Sobel could have just written about these things like in a textbook, but instead she brings a creative non-fiction style that enabled me to just blaze through this; she explores the origins of Mercury through mythology, the composition of Venus show more through the poets who rhapsodized about her beauty, the understanding of Earth through cartography, the evolution of Mars as "told" by an actual Martian rock that fell to Earth, and the song of Saturn's rings through music. I love space and the beauty of the written word, and this book combines the best of both! show less

Dava Sobel offers interesting takes on the familiar objects in the night sky. Each planets occupies a cultural niche in society and she explores them all. From the allusions to Venus's beauty to the discovery of Neptune, she develops very apt portraits of each of the planets. There is also a fair amount of science and geology in each chapter, but she tries very hard not to make the planets as cold as they seem to be. If you don't want to go out and buy a telescope after reading this book, stick with Grisham and Koontz.

A lovely little book as fluent in the science of the planets as it is the mythology, the music (!), the literature and the language of outer space. The nomenclature alone in here is worth the price of purchase-- from the many moods of the moon's features ("The Sea of Crises", "The Lake of Fear", "The Sea of Calm") to Jupiter's hold over our sanguine selves and thus the "jovial" (!) disposition of Jupiterians vs. their mercurial, martial, and saturnine counterparts. A nice narrative companion to other mythological histories of the heavens like "Star Names and their Meanings" and a very sympathetic, anthropomorphic guide to outer space.