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Loading... The Secret Lives of Planets: A User's Guide to the Solar Systemby Paul Murdin
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Good introduction to what we know about the planets and what we would like to know, but don't yet. The author does get a bit bogged down with the vital statistics in places but it's worth persevering. ( ) Short review of planets, jumping quickly between random trivia, history and, my least favourite, cutesy jokes and moralising on climate change. Every planet is introduced with basic stats and a "secret". The secret of earth is: "I was happy with the cyanobacteria, who changed the atmosphere for the better, but those humans are too many, they are messing everything up and I am thinking about getting rid of them.". Venus is also wondering if earth is going to end up like her. no reviews | add a review
'A deft, frequently dramatic tour' Nature 'A wonderfully clear and readable book . . . Gives a splendid overview of our Sun's planetary system, including its history and exploration' Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell * We have the impression that the solar system is perfectly regular like a clock, or a planetarium instrument. On a short timescale it is. But, seen in a longer perspective, the planets, and their satellites, have exciting lives, full of events - for example, did you know that Saturn's moon, Titan, boasts lakes which contain liquid methane surrounded by soaring hills and valleys, exactly as the earth did before life evolved on our fragile planet? Or that Mercury is the shyest planet? Or, that Mars' biggest volcano is 100 times the size of Earth's, or that its biggest canyon is 10 times the depth of the Grand Canyon, or that it wasn't always red, but blue? The culmination of a lifetime of astronomy and wonder, Paul Murdin's enchanting new book reveals everything you ever wanted to know about the planets, their satellites, and our place in the solar system. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)523.4Natural sciences and mathematics Astronomy Astronomical objects and astrophysics Planets, asteroids and trans-Neptunian objectsLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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