Planet Quest: The Epic Discovery of Alien Solar Systems - Hardcover

Croswell, Ken

4.04

53 ratings by Goodreads

9780192880833: Planet Quest: The Epic Discovery of Alien Solar Systems

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0192880837 ISBN 13: 9780192880833

Publisher: Oxford Univ Pr, 1999

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

Are we alone? In 1995 planet hunters discovered the first alien solar system around a star like our own Sun. Ken Croswell tells the fascinating story of this discovery and the people who made it, then explores the possibility that one day we may have the technology to travel to different solar
systems and find life.

`an excellent guide to how far astronomy has come Fascinating and worthwhile'

John Durant, New York Times

`A thrilling account - stands out for its human interest and its accuracy'

Sir John Maddox, editor emeritus, Nature

`Excellent - I find it hard to see how anyone could have done a better job in bringing this exciting field to the general reader'

Ian Morison, New Scientist

`An exciting story well told - an interesting and comprehensive history of the search for planets both inside and outside our solar system.'

Lawrence Krauss, author of The Physics of Star Trek

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:

Astronomers confirmed the existence of planets outside our own solar system relatively recently--in 1992. Their long-anticipated discovery was hardly a surprise, but was quite a while in coming. Nobody has found an Earth-like world that is able to sustain life as we know it, but it seems only a matter of time before that happens. Meanwhile, Planet Quest explains the science behind the search for new planets. Readers who need to brush up on the basics of their own solar system will find a helpful introductory chapter, as well as an interesting discussion of why there is probably no "Planet X" orbiting the Sun beyond Pluto. The bulk of the book, of course, is devoted to extrasolar worlds and the planet hunters who seek them.

About the Author:

Dr Ken Croswell is a regular writer for Astronomy, Sky and Telescope, New Scientist, and Star Date Radio (which airs on 200 NPR stations), as well as contributor to the New York Times. The author of the highly acclaimed The Alchemy of the Heavens, he lives in Berkeley, California.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.