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Geology of the moon.
Planet. Space Sci. 1974, Vol. 22, p. 643.
Pergamon Press. Printed is Northem
Ireland
BOOK REVIEWS E. R. DYER (Editor): Criticul Problems ofMag~e~ospheric Physics: Proceedings offhe .Toinl COSPARIIAGA/URSI Symposium held in Madrid, Spain, 11-13 May 1972. IUCSTP Secretariat, c/o National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D. C. 1972. vi -I- 264. $2.00 (including handling and surface postage; add $3.00 for international airmail if desired). AMONGa large number of international symposia on magnetospheric physics held during the last several years, the symposium Cri&al Problems of Magnefosp~eric Physics was one of the best. The organizing committee, chaired by Dr. N. F. Ness, is to be congratulated for its effort in in staging this excellent and highly successful symposium. It will be useful for many years, in particular in planning IMS (International Magnetosphere Survey), Since the speakers were so well selected and the subjects which concern us are covered so uniformly, it is also ideal material for a seminar at the graduate level, particularly as each paper has a reasonable reference list. It is important to note that the symposium was a joint venture among three major scientific organizations COSPAR, IAGA and URSI and that it is this joint effort, I believe, which made this meeting so successful. It would not have been as successful, if only one of the organizations tried to organize such a symposium. This is what the leaders of each organization, and organizers of future symposia in this field, should recognize. S-I. AKAsoFu
T. A. MUTCH: Geology ix + 391. ElO&I.
ofthe Moon. Second
Edition.
Princeton
University
Press. 1973.
a matter of great importance that the scientific results of the Apollo project should be concisely explained to the scientific community and to the public: no-one not actively working in the field of lunar studies can hope to grapple with the large number of papers being published as a result of this unprecedented enterprise. The time has probably not yet come for such a comprehensive book and Dr. Mutch’s book does not really attempt to fill this need. The first edition was published just before the first Apollo landing and represents an attempt to use the principles of geology to interpret the volcanic and impact history of the lunar surface making use of the much better photography of the Moon resulting from the early U.S. space effort. In this second edition there is added a survey of the Apollo results, particularly as it impinges on the aims of the first edition. For many scientists, as for Dr. Mutch. the specifically geological findings of the Apollo landings-the discovery of lava evidently broken from the flows filling the dark mare basins, the few but important hints that anorthosite fragments come from the highlands so indicating that the latter are early differentiates and the many petrological indications of the importance of meteoritic impacts on the development of the lunar surface-were no surprise. Thus reading Dr. Mutch’s book, restricted as it is to the geological rather than to the physical and chemical studies of the Moon, one gets the impression perhaps that the Apollo project merely dotted the i’s and crossed the f’s of lunar studies. It is of course through the chemical and physical studies of the returned lunar samples, and as a result of the various experiments on and around the Moon, made possible through the Apollo project, that completely unpredicted and unexpected aspects of the study of the Moon have resulted: for example the discovery of remanent magnetization of the lunar crust and the occurrence of moonquakes. This important field naturally does not figure much in Dr. Mutch’s account. The value of the work is reahy that it summarises the classical study of the Moon using the very beautiful photo~aphs of the lunar surface obtained primarily by the Ranger and Orbiter missions. The book is very well written and beautifully produced. However the historical section is not perhaps entirely reliable and Dr. Mutch’s comments on the controversies surrounding Copernicus and Galileo are not reliable. Also even from a classical standpoint Chapter 2, on the most fundamental problem of all-the Moon’s shape and motion-is not an adequate treatment. IT IS
S. K. RUNCORN 643
Pergamon Press. Printed is Northem
Ireland
BOOK REVIEWS E. R. DYER (Editor): Criticul Problems ofMag~e~ospheric Physics: Proceedings offhe .Toinl COSPARIIAGA/URSI Symposium held in Madrid, Spain, 11-13 May 1972. IUCSTP Secretariat, c/o National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D. C. 1972. vi -I- 264. $2.00 (including handling and surface postage; add $3.00 for international airmail if desired). AMONGa large number of international symposia on magnetospheric physics held during the last several years, the symposium Cri&al Problems of Magnefosp~eric Physics was one of the best. The organizing committee, chaired by Dr. N. F. Ness, is to be congratulated for its effort in in staging this excellent and highly successful symposium. It will be useful for many years, in particular in planning IMS (International Magnetosphere Survey), Since the speakers were so well selected and the subjects which concern us are covered so uniformly, it is also ideal material for a seminar at the graduate level, particularly as each paper has a reasonable reference list. It is important to note that the symposium was a joint venture among three major scientific organizations COSPAR, IAGA and URSI and that it is this joint effort, I believe, which made this meeting so successful. It would not have been as successful, if only one of the organizations tried to organize such a symposium. This is what the leaders of each organization, and organizers of future symposia in this field, should recognize. S-I. AKAsoFu
T. A. MUTCH: Geology ix + 391. ElO&I.
ofthe Moon. Second
Edition.
Princeton
University
Press. 1973.
a matter of great importance that the scientific results of the Apollo project should be concisely explained to the scientific community and to the public: no-one not actively working in the field of lunar studies can hope to grapple with the large number of papers being published as a result of this unprecedented enterprise. The time has probably not yet come for such a comprehensive book and Dr. Mutch’s book does not really attempt to fill this need. The first edition was published just before the first Apollo landing and represents an attempt to use the principles of geology to interpret the volcanic and impact history of the lunar surface making use of the much better photography of the Moon resulting from the early U.S. space effort. In this second edition there is added a survey of the Apollo results, particularly as it impinges on the aims of the first edition. For many scientists, as for Dr. Mutch. the specifically geological findings of the Apollo landings-the discovery of lava evidently broken from the flows filling the dark mare basins, the few but important hints that anorthosite fragments come from the highlands so indicating that the latter are early differentiates and the many petrological indications of the importance of meteoritic impacts on the development of the lunar surface-were no surprise. Thus reading Dr. Mutch’s book, restricted as it is to the geological rather than to the physical and chemical studies of the Moon, one gets the impression perhaps that the Apollo project merely dotted the i’s and crossed the f’s of lunar studies. It is of course through the chemical and physical studies of the returned lunar samples, and as a result of the various experiments on and around the Moon, made possible through the Apollo project, that completely unpredicted and unexpected aspects of the study of the Moon have resulted: for example the discovery of remanent magnetization of the lunar crust and the occurrence of moonquakes. This important field naturally does not figure much in Dr. Mutch’s account. The value of the work is reahy that it summarises the classical study of the Moon using the very beautiful photo~aphs of the lunar surface obtained primarily by the Ranger and Orbiter missions. The book is very well written and beautifully produced. However the historical section is not perhaps entirely reliable and Dr. Mutch’s comments on the controversies surrounding Copernicus and Galileo are not reliable. Also even from a classical standpoint Chapter 2, on the most fundamental problem of all-the Moon’s shape and motion-is not an adequate treatment. IT IS
S. K. RUNCORN 643