Table Of Contents:

Finding Our Place in Space 1(29)

Watching the Sky: Sun, Moon, and Stars 2(5)

Watching the Sky: The Planets 7(2)

The Slow Growth of Reason 9(6)

Newton and the Law of Gravitation 15(5)

Perspective: Scientific Skepticism 18(2)

Escaping from Earth 20(2)

The System Revealed 22(2)

Quantitative Supplement: Kepler's Laws in Mathematical Form 24(5)

The Sun: An Ordinary Star 29(22)

The Sun as a Star 30(2)

Building Blocks: Atoms and Isotopes 32(1)

Composition of the Sun 33(3)

The Sun's Energy 36(4)

Life History of the Sun 40(2)

Solar Activity 42(4)

Quantitative Supplement: Radiation Laws 46(5)

Getting to Know Our Neighbors 51(24)

Basic Properties: Mass, Size, and Density 52(2)

Chemistry of the Planets 54(2)

Origin and Classification of Rocks 56(3)

Planetary Atmospheres 59(1)

Studying Matter from a Distance 60(8)

Perspective: Do the Planets Influence Our Lives? 67(1)

Exploring the Planetary System 68(7)

Meteorites: Remnants of Creation 75(20)

The Solar Nebula 76(3)

Classification of Meteorites 79(6)

Ages of Meteorites and Other Rocks 85(1)

Primitive Meteorites 86(3)

Differentiated Meteorites 89(2)

Meteorite Parent Bodies 91(1)

Quantitative Supplement: Radioactive Age Dating 92(3)

Asteroids: Building Blocks of the Inner Planets 95(24)

Discovery of the Asteroids 96(4)

Main Belt Asteroids 100(5)

Asteroids Far and Near 105(4)

Asteroids Close Up 109(7)

Perspective: Defending the Earth Against Asteroids 110(6)

Quantitative Supplement: Asteroid Collisions 116(3)

Comets: Messengers from the Cold, Dark Past 119(26)

Comets Through History 120(4)

The Comet's Atmosphere 124(3)

The Comet's Nucleus 127(7)

Comet Dust 134(1)

Origin and Evolution of Comets 135(5)

Quantitative Supplement: Albedos and Temperatures 140(5)

The Moon: Our Ancient Neighbor 145(32)

The Face of the Moon 146(4)

Expeditions to the Moon 150(7)

Perspective: Were the Apollo Landings Faked? 156(1)

Impact Cratering 157(7)

Early Lunar History 164(4)

Lunar Volcanism 168(3)

The Surface of the Moon 171(3)

Perspective: Being There and Going Back 173(1)

Quantitative Supplement: Impact Energies 174(3)

The Moon and Mercury: Strange Relatives 177(24)

An Elusive Planet 178(1)

Tides and Spins 179(6)

The Face of Mercury 185(5)

Interiors of the Moon and Mercury 190(2)

Colliding Planets: Origin of the Moon and Mercury 192(4)

Quantitative Supplement: Radar and the Doppler Effect 196(1)

Quantitative Supplement: Synodic Period 197(4)

The Earth: Our Home Planet 201(30)

Earth as a Planet 202(1)

The Earth's Interior 203(4)

The Changing Face of the Earth 207(5)

Plate Tectonics: A Unifying Hypothesis 212(4)

Ocean and Atmosphere 216(3)

Upper Atmosphere and Magnetosphere 219(4)

Climate and Weather 223(8)

Venus: Earth's Exotic Twin 231(28)

Unveiling the Goddess of Beauty 232(3)

The Atmosphere and the Greenhouse Effect 235(5)

Weather on Venus 240(2)

The Hidden Landscape 242(2)

Craters and Tectonics 244(4)

Volcanoes and Planet-Scale Convulsions 248(4)

On the Searing Surface 252(2)

Quantitative Supplement: The Greenhouse Effect 254(5)

Mars: The Planet Most Like Earth 259(40)

A Century of Changing Perceptions 261(4)

Global Perspective 265(7)

View from the Surface 272(6)

Volcanoes and Tectonic Features 278(4)

Martian Channels 282(5)

The Polar Regions 287(6)

Perspective: The Face on Mars 288(5)

The Martian Atmosphere 293(6)

Planets, Atmospheres, and Life 299(32)

Life on Earth 300(4)

Co-Evolution of the Planet and Life 304(5)

Comparing the Planets 309(2)

The Search for Life on Mars 311(8)

Perspective: Planetary Protection 319(1)

Early Mars: What Went Wrong? 320(3)

Goldilocks and the Three Planets 323(4)

Perspective: The New Science of Astrobiology 326(1)

Quantitative Supplement: Atmospheric Escape 327(4)

Jupiter and Saturn: The Biggest Giants 331(32)

Missions to the Giant Planets 332(3)

Internal Structure of Two Fluid Planets 335(3)

Atmospheric Composition and Structure 338(6)

Weather and Climate 344(7)

Clouds, Colors, and Chemistry 351(2)

Magnetospheres and Radio Broadcasts 353(6)

Quantitative Supplement: Building a Giant Planet 359(4)

In Deep Freeze: Planets We Cannot See 363(24)

Discoveries of the Outer Planets 364(3)

Three Distant Worlds 367(3)

Atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune 370(4)

Climate, Clouds, and Weather 374(4)

Magnetospheres 378(1)

Pluto and its Moon 379(5)

Perspective: Is Pluto a Real Planet? 381(3)

Quantitative Supplement: Discovering a Planet 384(3)

Worlds of Fire and Ice: The Large Satellites 387(34)

Impact Craters and Surface Ages 387(3)

Callisto and Ganymede, The Icy Moons 390(6)

Europa, the Moon with an Ocean 396(4)

Io, the Volcanic Moon 400(5)

Titan, the Atmospheric Moon 405(6)

Triton, Neptune's Maverick Moon 411(2)

Comparing the Large Satellites 413(8)

Perspective: Exploration Science 416(5)

Small Satellites and Planetary Rings 421(28)

Satellite and Ring Systems 422(3)

The Satellite Zoo 425(8)

The Broad Bright Rings of Saturn 433(4)

The Narrow Dark Rings of Uranus and Neptune 437(4)

Stability of Ring and Satellite Systems 441(3)

The Origin of Rings and Small Satellites 444(2)

Quantitative Supplement: The Tidal Stability Limit 446(3)

Origin of the Planetary System 449(22)

Basic Properties of the Planetary System 450(1)

The Life of a Star 450(4)

The Problem of Angular Momentum 454(3)

Evolution of the Disk: Condensation, Accretion, and Dissipation 457(5)

Terrestrial Planets and the Importance of Impacts 462(2)

Giant Planets and Their Rings and Moons 464(4)

Quantitative Supplement: Angular Momentum in the Solar Nebula 468(3)

Distant Worlds 471(32)

The Search for Planetary Systems 472(5)

Meeting Brave New Worlds 477(5)

The Challenge to Standard Models 482(4)

Seeking Other Earths 486(4)

Life in Other Planetary Systems 490(3)

The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence 493(5)

Perspective: UFOs and Ancient Astronauts: Two Modern Myths 494(4)

Quantitative Supplement: Motions in Planetary Systems 498(5)
Appendix: Measurements and Units 503(2)
Glossary 505(12)
Credits 517(2)
Index 519