Destiny or Chance Revisited : Planets and Their Place in the Cosmos

Taylor, Stuart Ross

ISBN 10: 1107016754 / ISBN 13: 9781107016750

Verlag: Cambridge University Press, 2012

Former library copy. Pages intact with minimal writing/highlighting. The binding may be loose and creased. Dust jackets/supplements are not included. Includes library markings. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers GRP87145315

Inhaltsangabe:

"This exciting tour of our universe explores what we now know about exoplanets and explains the difficulty of finding another Earth-like planet. Building on the remarkable story of our own solar system from his bestselling book Destiny or Chance, Stuart Ross Taylor now takes the reader further, comparing our solar system with the wider universe. How are planets made, and why are they are different from stars? Why are exoplanets all different from one another and from our familiar eight planets? What can Earth's nearest neighbours tell us about planetary processes in the whole universe? Why does Earth harbour life? Beginning with the basic concepts of planet formation and the composition of the universe, the book then summarizses our knowledge of exoplanets, how they compare with our planets, and why some stars have better habitable zones. Further sections provide a detailed study of our solar system, as a basis for understanding exoplanetary systems, and a detailed study of the Earth as our only current example of a habitable planet. The book concludes with a philosophical and historical discussion of topics surrounding planets and the development of life, including why our chances of finding aliens on exoplanets is very low. This is an engaging and informative read for anyone interested in planetary formation and the exploration of our universe"--

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor: Stuart Ross Taylor is a trace element geologist and an Emeritus Professor at the Australian National University. His research has covered wide-ranging topics involving trace element geochemistry, from the composition and evolution of the Moon, to tektites and the continental crust of the Earth. He has a DSc from the University of Oxford, is a Foreign Member of the US National Academy of Sciences and has received the Goldschmidt Medal of the Geochemical Society, the Leonard Medal of the Meteoritical Society and the Bucher Medal of the American Geophysical Union. Professor Taylor is the author of 240 scientific papers and nine books, including Planetary Crusts (with Scott McLennan, 2008) which won the 2010 Mary Ansari Best Reference Award of the Geoscience Information Society. He carried out the initial analysis of the first lunar sample returned to Earth at NASA, Houston in 1969 and Asteroid 5670 is named Rosstaylor in his honour.

Bibliografische Details

Titel: Destiny or Chance Revisited : Planets and ...
Verlag: Cambridge University Press
Erscheinungsdatum: 2012
Einband: Hardcover
Zustand: Good