Full Description
The Earth in Context: A Guide to the Solar System tells a tale of scientific discovery, with two interwoven strands - one tracing the development of understanding the Earth's geological history, and the other placing this in the context of processes at work on the other planets of the solar system. Although planetology is assigned half of the text, the primary focus of the book is the Earth. It is discussed in two parts, the first summing up our knowledge of the Earth as it is today and the other considering it as it was long ago.
Contents
List of figures.- List of tables.- Foreword.- Acknowledgements.- Author's Preface.- Origin of the Solar System.- Discovering the Earth.- The Lure of the Moon.- The Red Planet.- Mysterious Venus.- Ancient Mercury.- Precambrian Earth.- Giant Jupiter.- Saturn's retinue.- Planets Beyond.- Life and Death.- Appendix 1: Planetary data.- Appendix 2: Space missions.- Glossary.- Index.