Planet Quest: The Epic Discovery of Alien Solar Systems - Softcover

Croswell, Ken

Softcover

ISBN 10: 015600612X ISBN 13: 9780156006125

Publisher: Mariner Books, 1998

Synopsis

A leading astronomer provides an “excellent introduction” (New York Times Book Review) to the search for faraway planets and extraterrestrial life-a “fascinating” guide (Astronomy) that is “everything a good science-for-the-public book should be” (Cleveland Plain Dealer). Black-and-white photographs.

About this title

Review:

Astronomers confirmed the existence of planets outside our own solar system relatively recently--in 1992. Their long-anticipated discovery was hardly a surprise, but was quite a while in coming. Nobody has found an Earth-like world that is able to sustain life as we know it, but it seems only a matter of time before that happens. Meanwhile, Planet Quest explains the science behind the search for new planets. Readers who need to brush up on the basics of their own solar system will find a helpful introductory chapter, as well as an interesting discussion of why there is probably no "Planet X" orbiting the Sun beyond Pluto. The bulk of the book, of course, is devoted to extrasolar worlds and the planet hunters who seek them.

About the Author:

Ken Croswell earned his Ph.D. in astronomy from Harvard University and is the author of the internationally successful The Alchemy of the Heavens, which was nominated for a Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and of Magnificent Universe, a beautiful, oversized book featuring 100 full-page, full-color photographs from leading observatories and astrophotographers around the world, as well as from spacecraft such as the Hubble Space Telescope. He lives in Berkeley, California.

About this edition

• Publisher: Mariner Books
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 015600612X
• ISBN 13: 9780156006125
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 336