EDITORIAL INFORMATION

The collection Noticias de la Ciencia, which deals with current scientific issues, publishes the book Catástrofes Cósmicas, el Choque de un Cometa con Júpiter Pone de Manifiesto la Amenaza que También se Cierne sobre la Tierra (Cosmic Catastrophes: the Crash of a Comet Against Jupiter Reveals the Threat that Hangs Over the Earth), produced by several experts in this field, among whom we find some members of the Sociedad Astronómica de España y América (SADEYA).

Written in an easy to understand way, aimed at the non-specialized readers, yet at the same time studying the technical aspects in depth, the book deals with several questions about the comets and other minor bodies, as well as the way such sky bodies affect our world. The most important impacts our planet has suffered throughout its history are likewise analyzed, their relationship with extinctions is evaluated, and the main craters still existing today are reviewed.

(Extracted from the press release).

GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS

-Indice.

-1- Un Alud de Cometas Sobre Júpiter. Carles de Torres.

-2- Meteoritos y Cuerpos Menores del Sistema Solar. David D. Meisel; Robert I. Desourdis, Jr.

-3- Origen y Formación de los Meteoroides. Carlos Amengual.

-4- Grandes Impactos y Extinciones. Carles de Torres.

-5- Geología de los Meteoritos. Carles López.

-6- Los Cometas. Manuel Bernabeu.

OUR REVIEW

The book is an agile and pleasant work. On the one hand, it offers enough scientific explanations so that the non-specialized readers get a general knowledge about the main characteristics, origin and orbital behaviour of minor bodies. On the other hand, it is a good summary of the main questions the average reader needs to get together in a single volume with not too many pages, thus allowing for a quick reference.

It must be pointed out the fact that, despite what the title may suggest, the content of this work is not merely limited to mentioning every impact from sky bodies that the Earth has suffered in detail and speculate on the probabilities of a future catastrophic event which may endanger the human species, but it deals with general questions referring to comets, asteroids, meteors and craters.