About this title: Dava Sobel, the author of GALILEO'S DAUGHTER and LONGITUDE, steers readers through the solar system in a series of lyrical essays, one for each planet, the sun, and our own moon. Sobel ornaments the facts about the celestial bodies with additional bits of history, geography, astrology, mythology, and personal reminiscences. In this way, she examines not only what the planets are, but also the many ways in which they are significant to those of us who dwell on the third rock from the sun.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Edition: First edition.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Viking Books
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9780670034468ISBN:0670034460
Description: New in new dust jacket. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 270 p. Contains: Illustrations. Audience: General/trade. Gift! New book, Great read! Fast Ship! read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Cloth
Publisher: Penguin Books Canada, Limited, Toronto, ON, Canada
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9780670034468ISBN:0670034460
Description: Very Good + to Near Fine in Very Good + to Near Fine jacket. Hard Cover. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" Full Number Line 1-10, no remainder marks. PO bookplate on FEP. Little wear. (Store Display-Science) read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Viking Adult
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9780670034468ISBN:0670034460
Description: A wonderful copy with some minor edgewear to the cover. Dust Jacket has some edgewear present. -, Hard Cover, Very Good / Very Good. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Very good. Book has appearance of light use with no easily noticeable wear. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Very good. Book has appearance of light use with no easily noticeable wear. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
"Although her language is a bit overblown at times, I still greatly enjoyed Dava Sobel's The Planets, a lay man's guide to the solar system.
According to the jacket cover, much of Sobel's work is dedicated to making astronomy interesting for the common person. I think she does a very good job at this. Her book was easy to read without being dumbed-down. Even rather complex concepts were explained in a way that makes quick sense.
I learned a lot from this book. I felt excited whenever I was reading it, and often found myself stopping to think about the universe in ways that I never had before. I would now like to read more astronomy books - if I can find other authors who are as readable as Sobel!
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who has an even passing fancy to know more about the worlds that make up our solar system."
... synonomous with "planets" and rather descriptive of Dava Sobel's little book of the same name, The Planets.
The book is organized as a set of independent short essays, one for each planet plus the Sun and Moon. Describing the planets as "an assortment of magic beans or precious gems," Sobel addresses these essays to cultural themes, not solar system science. The result is quite a departure from the compelling and coherent historical narratives of Sobel's recent best-sellers (Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time and Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love).
I recommend that you read the The Planets one chapter at a time, with plenty of breathing room. Each is a pleasant, New Yorker-style diversion. But as a book, the messages become jumbled and even contradictory. For instance, by the time you've absorbed the cultural ideosycracies of the other eight planets it's something of a shock in the essay titled "UFO" to hear Sobel side with the petty killjoys of the IAU who want to strip Pluto of its planethood."
"There is some good information here but the reading was somehow not really compelling. The writing had a feminine style that gave it a novel-like quality that would be appealing to some, but not me. This was like Danielle Steele giving a lecture on science."
"Reading this over the past two weeks has filled me with new electricity and excitement about the sky. Or rather, it's re-ignited a lot of my excitement about the cosmos. About the middle of my reading was the 4th of July, when apparently Jupiter and Neptune both are visible enough to see. And the same night four strange red lights hover high above us in the San Diego sky until sometime during the fireworks display. All these things and more now have a lot more weight now I've read this book and have at least an acquainted understanding of and now feel a compelling sense of worship for all these celestial bodies."
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