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Product Description
Product Description
TEACH YOURSELF PLANETS is a comprehensive guide to the Sun's family of planets and their moons, illustrating their surface features and explaining the processes that have shaped them.
Extensively illustrated, this book describes the nature and origin of the solar system; looks at the internal structure, surface features and weather patterns of each planet and its major satellites; discusses the possibilities of finding life on other planetary bodies; covers asteroids and the icy bodies beyond Pluto; and explains how to see the planets in the sky.
Extensively illustrated, this book describes the nature and origin of the solar system; looks at the internal structure, surface features and weather patterns of each planet and its major satellites; discusses the possibilities of finding life on other planetary bodies; covers asteroids and the icy bodies beyond Pluto; and explains how to see the planets in the sky.
About the Author
David A Rothery teaches geology and planetary science at the Open
University, where he has been Director of Teaching for the Department of
Earth Sciences since 1999. He began his research career at the Open
University in 1978 when he mapped a large tract of ocean-floor rocks now
exposed in the Oman mountains in Arabia. Since then, he has performed
fieldwork in many parts of the globe, including North, Central and South
America, Australia, Hawaii and Sicily. He has also helped to characterise
the landing site for the Beagle 2 lander which is due to land on Mars at the
end of 2003. His current specialisms are active volcanoes and geological
processes on other planets.
University, where he has been Director of Teaching for the Department of
Earth Sciences since 1999. He began his research career at the Open
University in 1978 when he mapped a large tract of ocean-floor rocks now
exposed in the Oman mountains in Arabia. Since then, he has performed
fieldwork in many parts of the globe, including North, Central and South
America, Australia, Hawaii and Sicily. He has also helped to characterise
the landing site for the Beagle 2 lander which is due to land on Mars at the
end of 2003. His current specialisms are active volcanoes and geological
processes on other planets.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Teach Yourself Planets is the core subject book of the Open University Short Science (introductory) Course about planetary science. This book is as up to date as any book on the market and is written in a very easy to understand style. If you know nothing about the planets now you will feel like an expert when you have read it. No previous knowledge is needed. The author, David Rothery writes with authority in a style that is very easy to read and absorb. If you want a quick review of the subject with in depth knowledge buy this book - you will not be dissapointed.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
I bought this book to read as part of the Open University Short course (S196 Planets: an Introduction). I really enjoyed studying the course and this book is an integral part of that. However, I read it first a couple of months before the start of the course straight through from cover to cover, and found the style a little dry. That isn't to say that it isn't a fairly readable book, there are plenty of science books that you couldn't read from end to end like that without being bored to death. Nevertheless, I would imagine that if you were simply reading the book for your own information and not with a goal in mind like studying the OU course, it might be a bit heavy going at times.
However, the book is well set out and gets across a huge amount of information in a relatively small book. Each chapter looks at a different planet and has a table of information at the beginning and is simply packed with facts about the solar system including the asteroid and Kuiper belts. It also has a brief chapter at the end about exo-planets (planets that orbit other stars). Unfortunately the vast majority of illustrations are black and white, although it has some colour plates in the middle.
I would definitely highly recommend this as a reference book, rather than one to read straight through. You can dip in and find out a remarkable amount about any of the planets in just a few pages.
However, the book is well set out and gets across a huge amount of information in a relatively small book. Each chapter looks at a different planet and has a table of information at the beginning and is simply packed with facts about the solar system including the asteroid and Kuiper belts. It also has a brief chapter at the end about exo-planets (planets that orbit other stars). Unfortunately the vast majority of illustrations are black and white, although it has some colour plates in the middle.
I would definitely highly recommend this as a reference book, rather than one to read straight through. You can dip in and find out a remarkable amount about any of the planets in just a few pages.
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