You can purchase this book clicking here.

If you wish to purchase further titles already reviewed here, please return each time to SBB. Using the direct links available at our site is easier than searching by title, author, or ISBN number.

EDITORIAL INFORMATION

This book is concerned with structure of planets, the stars they orbit and the interactions between them. There are many planetary systems other than our own, but  it is only through a detailed understanding of the relatively accessible bodies in our Solar System that a thorough appreciation of planetary science can be gained. This is particularly pertinent with the recent discovery of extra-solar planets and the desire to understand their formation and the prospect of life on other worlds. Planetary science courses require an understanding of aspects from a wide range of subjects, including astronomy, astrophysics, geophysics, geology and mineralogy. This text addresses the needs of these wide ranging interests and courses, as it assumes no prior knowledge of astrophysics or geophysics. The book is then suitable for students in various disciplines and from differing scientific backgrounds.

(Extracted from the back cover).

GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

-Contents.

-Introduction.

-A Review of the Solar System.

-1. The Unity of the Universe.
-2. The Sun and Other Stars.
-3. The Planets.
-4. The Terrestrial Planets.
-5. The Major Planets and Pluto.
-6. The Moon.
-7. Satellites and Rings.
-8. Asteroids.
-9. Comets.
-10. Meteorites.
-11. Dust in the Solar System.
-12. Theories of the Origin and Evolution of the Solar System.

-Topics.

-A. Basic Mineralogy.
-B. Geochronology-Radioactive Dating.
-C. The Virial Theorem.
-D. The Jeans Critical Mass.
-E. Free-Fall Collapse.
-F. The Evolution of Protostars.
-G. The Equilibrium of Stars on the Main Sequence.
-H. Energy Production Stars.
-I. Evolution of Stars Away from the Main Sequence.
-J. The Chandrasekhar Limit, Neutron Stars and Black Holes.
-K. Planets around other Stars.
-L. Solar-System Studies to the Beginning of the Seventeenth Century.
-M. Newton, Kepler's Laws and Solar-System Dynamics.
-N. The Formation of Commensurate Orbits.
-O. The Atmosphere of the Earth.
-P. The Physics of Planetary Interiors.
-Q. The Transfer of Heat.
-R. Seismology-The Interior of the Earth.
-S. Moments of Inertia.
-T. The Gravitational Field of a Distorted Planet.
-U. Precession of the Earth's Spin Axis.
-V. Intrinsic Planetary Magnetism.
-W. Magnetic Interactions Between Planet and Star.
-X. Planetary Albedoes.
-Y. The Physics of Tides.
-Z. Darwin's Theory of Lunar Origin.
-AA. The Roche Limit and Satellite Disruption.
-AB. Tidal Heating of Io.
-AC. The RAM Pressure of a Gas System.
-AD. The Trojan Asteroids.
-AE. Heating By Accreation.
-AF. Perturbations of the Oort Cloud.
-AG. Radiation Pressure and the Poynting-Robertson Effect.
-AH. Analyses Associated with the Jeans Tidal Theory.
-AI. The Viscous-Disk Mechanism for the Transfer of Angular Momentum.
-AJ. Magnetic Braking of the Spinning Sun.
-AK. The Safronov Theory of Planetary Formation.
-AL. The Eddington Accreation Mechanism.
-AM. Life on a Hospitable Planet.
-AN. The Role of Space Vehicles.
-AO. Planetary Atmospheric Warming.
-AP. Migration of Planetary Orbits.
-AQ. Interactions in an Embedded Cluster.

-Appendix I.

-Physical Constants.

-Solutions to Problems.

-References.

-Index.