Product Description
This textbook is intended to be used in a lecture course for college students majoring in Earth Sciences. Planetary science provides an opportunity for these students to apply a wide range of subject matter pertaining to the Earth to the study of other planets and their principal satellites. In this way, planetary science tends to unify subjects in the Earth Sciences that are traditionally taught separately. Therefore, planetary science is well-suited to be taught as a capstone course for senior undergraduates in geology departments and as an introduction to the solar system in astronomy departments. Both groups of students will benefit because planetary science bridges the gap between geology and astronomy and it prepares geologists and astronomers to participate actively in the on-going exploration of the solar system. The subject matter is presented in 24 chapters that lead the reader through the solar system starting with historical perspectives on space exploration and the development of the scientific method. The presentations concerning the planets and their satellites emphasize that their origin and subsequent evolution can be explained by applications of certain basic principles of physics, chemistry, and celestial mechanics and that the surface features of the solid bodies in the solar system can be interpreted by means of the principles of geology.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 1 review)

A fascinating look at the worlds of our Solar System by Gordon Trunk (Minneapolis, MN)

5 Stars
December 11, 2008
In this excellent textbook, Faure and Mensing succinctly and clearly describe what our Solar System is made of and how it works. Each planet is described in detail-its geology, history, satellites, chemistry, and orbital mechanics. The latest planetary knowledge is presented, and the book is very up-to-date on the latest developments in planetary science, with plenty of new information gleaned from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Cassini Probe. Principles of physics, chemistry, and geology as they pertain to the planets and their celestial mechanics are presented and every chapter is very well-written, clear, and fascinating. The excellent text is complemented by many brilliant and fascinating pictures in every chapter, including new pictures of the surface of Titan from the Cassini Probe. The high quality of the pictures was a major factor which induced me to buy this book! I have only one criticism, and that is that the book contains a large amount of typographical errors, which are very incongruous with the high quality of the information and pictures presented. It seems there is a spelling error on almost every other page, which is very strange for a book of this quality. For this reason, I would give it four and a half stars if that were an option, but I'll err on the side of generosity and give it five. The typographical errors are easy to ignore and do not detract from the text itself. Hopefully the next edition of the book will correct this problem. I would recommend this as a textbook for a geology class, and for anyone at all who has at least a basic background in science and wants to know more about the other worlds in our solar system and how they operate. It's not a cheap book but it's worth every penny.

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