Contributors Foreword by Sally K. Ride Preface Guide to the Encyclopedia The Solar System and Its Place in the Galaxy The Origin of the Solar System The Sun The Solar Wind Mercury Venus: Atmosphere Venus: Surface and Interior Earth as a Planet: Atmosphere and Oceans Earth as a Planet: Surface and Interior The Moon Mars: Atmosphere and Volatile History Mars: Surface and Interior Phobos and Deimos Atmospheres of the Giant Planets Interiors of the Giant Planets Io Titan Triton Outer Planet Icy Satellites Planetary Rings Planetary Magnetospheres Pluto and Charon Physics and Chemistry of Comets Cometary Dynamics The Kuiper Belt Asteroids Near-Earth Asteroids Meteorites Interplanetary Dust and the Zodiacal Cloud The Solar System at Ultraviolet Wavelenghts Infrared Views the Solar System From Space The Solar System at Radio Wavelengths Planetary Radar Solar System Dynamics Chaotic Motion in the Solar System Planetary Impacts Planetary Volcanism Searching For Other Planetary Systems Planets and the Origin of Life Planetary Exploration Missions Extra-Solar Planets: Searching for Other Planetary Systems Appendix Index
* Cross-referenced throughout for easy comprehension
* Superbly illustrated with over 700 photos, drawings, and
diagrams, including 36 color plates
* Provides 40 thematically organized chapters by more than 50
eminent contributors
* Convenient glossaries of technical terms introduce each
chapter
* Foreword written by astronaut Sally Ride
* Special web site for the Encyclopedia at www
academicpress.com/solar includes author-recommended web resources
for additional information, images, and research developments
related to each chapter of this volume
Paul R. Weissman is a Senior Research Scientist at JPL, specializing in comets. He is the author of over 100 scientific papers and 30 popular articles. He is also the co-author, with Alan Harris, of a childrens book on the Voyager mission. Dr. Weissman received his doctorate in planetary and space physics from the University of California, Los Angeles. His work includes both theoretical and observational studies of comets, investigating their orbital motion, their physical make-up, and the threat they pose due to possible impacts on the Earth. Dr. Weissman is an Interdisciplinary Scientist on ESAs Rosetta mission to comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Lucy McFadden is a planetary scientist at the University of Maryland. She was the founding director of the College Park Scholars Program, Science, Discovery and the Universe. She has published over 75 articles in refereed journals and has been co-investigator on NASAs NEAR, Deep Impact and Dawn missions exploring asteroids and comets. She has served on committees on solar system exploration for the National Academy of Sciences, and on the editorial board of Icarus. Torrence V. Johnson is a specialist on icy satellites in the solar system. He has written over 130 publications for scientific journals. He received a Ph.D. in planetary science from the California Institute of Technology and is now the Chief Scientist for Solar System Exploration at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He was the Project Scientist for the Galileo mission and is currently an investigator on the Cassini mission. He is the recipient of two NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medals and the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal and has an honorary doctorate from the University of Padua, where Galileo made his first observations of the solar system.
"This reference guide to four decades of exploration and discovery [...] is a valuable resource for academic and large public libraries." --LIBRARY JOURNAL, April 15, 2000 "The 56 contributors to this one-volume encyclopedia-all specialists in solar system science-describe the system from the galaxy inward to the sun and then outward through the planets...The audience the editors have aimed at includes teachers, students, advanced amateurs, astronomers who do not specialize in the solar system, and professionals in other scientific and technical fields. Such a person could read the volume straight through or plunge at once into any of the topics." --John Rennie, Editor-in-Chief, SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, March 1999 "...The Encyclopedia of the Solar System is a worthy choice for academic libraries." --AGAINST THE GRAIN "Four decades of the most exciting explorations in human history in one book! Up-to-the-minute details by the best writers to explore the solar system are wonderfully organized for both looking up quick facts and for in-depth study. This one pulls it all together. Any citizen of the solar system from age 8 to 80 should own this encyclopedia." --Dr. Jay Apt, Director, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, four-time Space Shuttle Astronaut "Weissman, McFadden, and Johnson have done a terrific job in assembling a roster of world-class experts to write about the key topics in planetary science. This should be a valuable guide both in the classroom and on the reference shelf." --Dr. William K. Hartmann, Planetary Science Institute, Tucson; Recipient of the American Astronomical Society's Carl Sagan Medal "I cannot imagine a trio of scientists better qualified to produce a volume about the solar system than Weissman, McFadden, and Johnson. This is more than a bookit is a fantastic voyage to neighbor worlds that combines the accuracy of science with the beauty and wonder that is our solar system." --Dr. David H. Levy, Astronomer "During the last forty years, the nature of the solar system has been gradually revealed as more and more capable spacecraft have ventured further from Earth's shores, and as theoreticians have developed increasingly sophisticated models to understand what has been found. At last we have a compact yet complete summary of these incredible discoveries, prepared by many of the scientists who did the original work." --Dr. Joseph A. Burns, Church Professor of Engineering and Professor of Astronomy, Cornell University "A distinguished group of editors and authors have produced a compendium of our current knowledge about the Solar System and how we obtained it. This volume will reside on my desk as a vital resource to help me answer questions from scientists in other fields, public officials, and the general public." --Dr. Robert W. Milkey, Executive Officer, American Astronomical Society "I wish I had this on my desk for all the years I've needed an immediate reference for explaining something complicated about the Solar System to Congress or the Administration." --Dr. Wesley T. Huntress, Jr., Associate Administrator for Space Science, NASA "The Encyclopedia of the Solar System has been crafted by working scientific experts who are directly engaged in [current space explorations]. It is a must-have reference for anyone in the lay public, any would-be planetary explorer, who wants to join up and come along with us as we reach out into the void and touch the planets." --Dr. Laurence A. Soderblom, United States Geological Survey
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
