THE SECRET LIVES OF PLANETS: A User's Guide to the Solar System

Paul Murdin

ISBN 10: 1529319412 / ISBN 13: 9781529319415

Published by Hodder & Stoughton, London, 2019

About this Item

This copy is in mint, unmarked condition bound in cloth covered boards with black gilt titling to the spine. This copy is bright, tight, white and square. The unclipped dustwrapper is in mint condition International postal rates are calculated on a book weighing 1 Kilo, in cases where the book weighs more than 1 Kilo increased postal rates will be quoted, where the book weighs less then postage will be reduced accordingly. 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. Ref JJJ 4.

Seller Inventory # 023472

Bibliographic Details

• Title: THE SECRET LIVES OF PLANETS: A User's Guide to the Solar System
• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton, London
• Publication Date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1529319412
• ISBN 13: 9781529319415
• Binding: Hardback
• Edition: First Edition
• Condition: Mint
• Dust Jacket Condition: Mint

About this title

Synopsis

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.

About the Author

Paul Murdinhas worked as an astronomer in the USA, Australia, England, Scotland and Spain. Since 1963, he has been a research scientist (studying supernovae, black holes and neutron stars), an observatory administrator and a science policy maker for the government and the Royal Astronomical Society in the UK. He has travelled to universities and science centres in capital cities, to mountain-top observatories and to remote launch-pads. He works emeritus at the Institute of Astronomy in the University of Cambridge, England. He has had a secondary career as a broadcaster and commentator for the BBC and CNN, and is a talented lecturer and writer on astronomy. He is identified as the co-discoverer of the first stellar black hole found in our Galaxy, Cygnus X-1. He has been honoured by the Queen with an OBE for his work in international astronomy and for helping make astronomy accessible to everyone.