Product 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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3056044 in Books
• Published on: 2001-10-18
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 469 pages

Review
From the reviews of the first edition:

"This book is a very comprehensive examination of all of the planets and main planetary moons of the Solar System with an emphasis on internal structure. a ] the book is a very good starting point for anyone interested in the study of the solar system and in particular to geologists with such an interest." (Emlyn Jones, Astrology & Space, August, 2003)

"David Harland is well known for his previous books a ] . Those books were very popular due to their well-written and well-illustrated text, and this one is no different in those respects. a ] The main readership to benefit from this book might be first-year undergraduates with an interest in planetary science a ] . The main attraction of this book is the way it is written. It is extremely easy to read, making the progress of assimilating information a pleasure a ] ." (Sarah Dunkin, The Observatory, Vol. 123 (1173), 2003)

Customer Reviews

Short on Context.
I bought this book to see if it would be suitable background reading for university students on a planetary science course. On the whole, I decided I would recommend it, though with reservations, and not as a first choice. I liked the copious references to the scientific literature, but found the absence of an editorial voice somewhat frustrating - are all theories presented to be given equal weight? An undergraduate student might not be in a position to judge where consensus currently lies, while the professional probably already knows. The absence of references in the text to the many figures leaves the reader thumbing backwards and forwards to find images of the features being discussed. (Sometimes I never did find them.) I found the chapters on Mars and Mercury fascinating, but the coverage of the moons of the outer planets is inferior to Rothery's book.

I was left with a feeling that the title is a little misleading. This is a diligent cataloguing of information about the planets. What is lacking (or, at least, does not shine through) is the overarching understanding of the underlying reasons for these differences that would truly put the Earth 'in context'.