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Title: Beyond Pluto by John Davies ISBN: 0-521-80019-6 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 23 July, 2001 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $28.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.25 (4 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Beyond Pluto
Comment: Davies, a scientist with the UK Infrared Telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii, tells the story of the discovery and investigation of the Kuiper Belt. Rarely discussed in most astronomy courses, this structure exists outside Pluto's orbit and explains the odd behavior and nature of Pluto. The book details the work of the large number of investigators that finally characterized the belt and gives details as to the belt's structure and the constitution of belt components. Though not a technical treatise, this book is not for the uninitiated. A basic understanding of the solar system and a basic scientific vocabulary are needed to get the most benefit from the book. Davies tells a good story by first introducing the objects of the Kuiper Belt and going through the history of the belt's discovery. He then gives a fairly detailed description of belt composition and ends with a very interesting discussion on the consequences of these discoveries for models of the solar system's evolution. It seems that most of the news one is offered in astronomy is either about cosmology or black holes. Davies shows that interesting and revealing astronomical studies are still being carried out on our system. General readers.
Rating: 3
Summary: This book should really be called "Beyond Neptune"
Comment: I bought this book to get information on the trans-Plutonian objects recently discovered. While there is some material on this (apparently little is actually known), most of the book is about the scientists who discovered these objects and how they did it. If you're looking for a book on how scientists work, this is quite good, but if like me you're looking for a book on the results of that work, you may be disappointed. I feel the title is a misnomer (though probably attention getting), because Pluto and its moon are among the objects discussed! Also, most of the objects orbit between Neptune and Pluto (at least when Pluto is at its average distance), so are really better described as trans-Neptunian than trans-Plutonian. I don't mean to be so negative about the book; it wasn't what I expected, based on the title, but it could be just what you're looking for.
Rating: 5
Summary: Clear and concise
Comment: This book is a summary of the (few) things we (think we) know about the objects that orbit beyond Neptune. The author gradually guides the reader through the science of these small icy objects, which existence was suspected almost 50 years before their actual discovery.
Introductory historical and theoretical chapters, covering the period from the discovery of Pluto and the next decades, are followed by more and more discoveries and scientific results, most of them not older than 10 years. From the first Centaurs to the extrasolar dust disks observations, every aspect is clearly explained, and ultimately provides a complete picture of this region of the solar system.
Throughout this chronology, the author explains the science as well as the way this science is actually done, up in the observatories in Hawaii, or in an university office, in front of a computer screen. It is a very honest tribute to the people (the author being one of them) that spend most of their time trying to set-up complex experiments, understand the cryptic data sent back by their high-tech instruments, and then write articles about things they are usually the first to analyze.
This book is short because not much is known yet. But it is fascinating because almost everything we know has been discovered in the last 10 years, and you can expect more in the very near future. In order to get the most of what we be published, this book is the place to start.
And for those, like me, who are interested in the far regions of the solar system, I would recommend this other book about the "King of the Kuiper Belt", Pluto, written by another specialist (Alan Stern): "Pluto and Charon". It's a good complement to this one.
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Title: Lifting Titan's Veil : Exploring the Giant Moon of Saturn by Ralph Lorenz, Jacqueline Mitton ISBN: 0521793483 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 15 July, 2002 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
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Title: Pluto and Charon : Ice Worlds on the Ragged Edge of the Solar System by Alan Stern, Jacqueline Mitton ISBN: 0471152978 Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Pub. Date: October, 1997 List Price(USD): $47.50 |
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Title: A Traveler's Guide to Mars: The Mysterious Landscapes of the Red Planet by William K. Hartmann ISBN: 0761126066 Publisher: Workman Publishing Company Pub. Date: August, 2003 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Asteroid Rendezvous : NEAR Shoemaker's Adventures at Eros by Jim Bell, Jacqueline Mitton ISBN: 0521813603 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 01 August, 2002 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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Title:The Omega Man ASIN: 0790742802 Publisher: Warner Home Video Pub. Date: 05 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $19.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $16.38 |
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