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The Solar System
Series: Kosmos
Brief Description
An inviting expedition across our galactic neighbourhood, from Mercury to the Sun's furthest satellites, complete with the latest discoveries. The Space Age probes to the Moon, Venus and Mars ushered in a golden age of planetary science, transforming planets from distant mysteries into vividly realised worlds....
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Format: Hardback
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The Solar System
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See moreAn inviting expedition across our galactic neighbourhood, from Mercury to the Sun's furthest satellites, complete with the latest discoveries.
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Description
An inviting expedition across our galactic neighbourhood, from Mercury to the Sun's furthest satellites, complete with the latest discoveries.
The Space Age probes to the Moon, Venus and Mars ushered in a golden age of planetary science, transforming planets from distant mysteries into vividly realised worlds. The Solar System provides a comprehensive, accessible survey of the entire solar system, covering all major planets from Mercury to Saturn, the outer solar system, and asteroids.
It includes insights from leading scientists through in-person interviews, offering an engaging overview for general readers and amateur astronomers. Noting Earth's small, beautiful and precarious nature, this book fills a unique niche, presenting the latest discoveries without losing sight of the broader picture, making it essential for anyone interested in our celestial neighbourhood.
Series: Kosmos
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Solar Eclipses
For millennia, solar eclipses have stirred awe and fear. Once seen as omens, they are now celebrated as rare spectacles that unite science and wonder. This accessible, richly illustrated book explores their cultural, emotional and scientific significance, from ancient myths to modern eclipse-chasing expeditions. It traces how eclipses helped unlock secrets of the Sun, and why witnessing one inspires powerful...Hardback$8800Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 2-3 weeks -
Uranus and Neptune
The most distant planets in our solar system, Uranus and Neptune were unknown by the ancients. Uranus was discovered in the 1780s and Neptune only in the 1840s. Our discovery and observation of both planets have been hampered by their sheer distance from Earth: there has only been one close encounter, the Voyager 2 mission in the late 1980s. The...HardbackSold Out -
Venus
This new and beautifully illustrated account of Venus delves into the most recent research about this mysterious, inhospitable world. It examines the history of our observations of the planet, ranging from early astronomy to upcoming space missions. The book seeks to answer several unresolved questions, such as why Venus and Earth, despite being so similar in size and mass, have...HardbackSold Out -
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Asteroids
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Jupiter
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Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781836390640
Publisher: Reaktion Books
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 01 August 2025
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Reaktion Books
Illustration: 110 illustrations, 80 in colour
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Width: 171.0mm
Height: 220.0mm
Weight: 250g
Pages: 408
About the Author
William Sheehan is a noted historian of astronomy, writer and retired psychiatrist. His books include Mercury (2018), Saturn (2019) and Venus (2022) in Reaktion's Kosmos series. He lives in Arizona, and asteroid 16037 is named Sheehan in his honour.
Clifford J. Cunningham is a Research Fellow at the University of Southern Queensland and Associate Editor of the Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage. His books include Asteroids (2021) in Reaktion's Kosmos series. Asteroid 4276 (Clifford) is named in his honour.
Also by William Sheehan
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Mercury
The last of the five naked-eye planets discovered in ancient times, Mercury has long been an elusive, enigmatic world. As seen from the Earth, it never emerges far from the Sun, and astronomers in the telescopic era found it challenging to work out such basic data as its rotation period, the inclination of its axis, and whether or not it...HardbackSold Out -
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This new and beautifully illustrated account of Venus delves into the most recent research about this mysterious, inhospitable world. It examines the history of our observations of the planet, ranging from early astronomy to upcoming space missions. The book seeks to answer several unresolved questions, such as why Venus and Earth, despite being so similar in size and mass, have...HardbackSold Out -
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