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Planets of the solar system
ICARUS
73, 379-383
(1988)
BOOK REVIEWS Planets of the Solar System. By M. Ya. Marov. Nauka, Moscow, 1986. 319 pp, 1.2R (in Russian). This is a book for those who have no professional interest in its subject; nevertheless, specialists in planetary studies and the related branches of science may also be interested in it. This combination, in itself, usually signifies a high-quality popular book. The range of what we know about planets has expanded extraordinarily over the past several decades. This became possible mainly due to space flights, although the contribution of ground-based observations was also considerable. Marov calls planetary studies part of astrophysics, a statement which would be irrefutable some 25 years ago but which could hardly be regarded as such now. The very nature of planetary science has changed as well as the community engaged in these studies. It is now the science at the interface between astrophysics, geophysics, geochemistry, and geology. We are witnesses to the birth of a family of new subjects similar to the set of Earth sciences. This family involves physics of planetary atmospheres, cosmochemistry, planetology, and physics of planets’ interiors. It is not usual that specialists in these different fields understand each other perfectly well, and in this regard a book of the type reviewed here could be of help, although it is intended for a wider range of readers. Two schemes are possible for writing a book about the Solar System: (1) to describe one by one all the planets (Mercury, Venus, etc.), or (2) to describe similarities and differences in the structure of the surface of all the bodies under study and then their atmospheres, etc., with some comparative analysis. Each approach has its positive and negative aspects. The first is more traditional and may provide a more vivid picture. The second gives a better possibility for comparisons, for demonstrating general laws, etc., but there is a danger of making the presentation too dull. The author chose the second approach and sometimes did not avoid this danger. The book has five chapters. The first presents general information about the Solar System, its size, boundaries, and its location in the universe. This description is excellent but there are some unfortunate inaccuracies. For example, the difference between periodic and nonperiodic comets is not explained clearly enough. Furthermore, only HZ0 ice is mentioned from the whole list of possible volatiles in cometary nuclei. A good description of the zodiacal light as a celestial object is followed just in a few pages by a strange statement that dust is absent within the “internal part”
of the Solar System although the zodiacal light is the effect of solar radiation scattering by this dust. The second chapter is devoted to the sizes, masses, and motions of the planets. Tidal effects are described and explained very ingeniously, although perhaps in too difficult a way for the nonprofessional. Hypotheses about the formation of the Solar System are also included in this chapter but in my view a more detailed presentation would have been preferable. Chapter 3, devoted to planetary surfaces, is the largest chapter. This is the favorite subject for a popular book. Even a quick look at the sequence of illustrations gives a strong impression of a fantastic journey in new miraculous worlds. However, the presentation is not always sufficiently rigorous; for example, proper classification of different surface processes is absent. Sometimes the author is not careful enough in his evaluation of the nature of surface features. There are some inaccuracies in the description of possibilities of spectrophotometry and infrared radiometry. Chapter 4, dealing with the interiors of the planets and their satellites, is compact and easy to read. I have no objections to it. The last chapter, devoted to atmospheres, is not so perfect. The main reproach is its nonoptimal organization. The author begins with the origin of atmospheres, then moves to the composition and clouds, and then suddenly changes over to magnetospheres. By the end of the chapter he again returns to the lowest atmospheres to describe their thermal regimes and dynamics. There are three general critical remarks. (1) Explanations of physical and physicochemical processes are not sufficiently clear in some cases. (2) There are too many details for such a small volume and the primary issues are not always well separated from secondary things. (3) Scientific terms used in the text are not always appropriately explained. 1 think, however, that the book is interesting and useful for the general reader from students, to amateurs, to scientists, and to all those who want to know something new about our small part of the universe. All 50,000 printed copies of this book were sold in the USSR in a few days.
V. I. MOROZ Space Research Institute Academy of Sciences Moscow
379 0019-1035/88
$3.00
Copyright 0 1988 by Academic Press, Inc. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.
73, 379-383
(1988)
BOOK REVIEWS Planets of the Solar System. By M. Ya. Marov. Nauka, Moscow, 1986. 319 pp, 1.2R (in Russian). This is a book for those who have no professional interest in its subject; nevertheless, specialists in planetary studies and the related branches of science may also be interested in it. This combination, in itself, usually signifies a high-quality popular book. The range of what we know about planets has expanded extraordinarily over the past several decades. This became possible mainly due to space flights, although the contribution of ground-based observations was also considerable. Marov calls planetary studies part of astrophysics, a statement which would be irrefutable some 25 years ago but which could hardly be regarded as such now. The very nature of planetary science has changed as well as the community engaged in these studies. It is now the science at the interface between astrophysics, geophysics, geochemistry, and geology. We are witnesses to the birth of a family of new subjects similar to the set of Earth sciences. This family involves physics of planetary atmospheres, cosmochemistry, planetology, and physics of planets’ interiors. It is not usual that specialists in these different fields understand each other perfectly well, and in this regard a book of the type reviewed here could be of help, although it is intended for a wider range of readers. Two schemes are possible for writing a book about the Solar System: (1) to describe one by one all the planets (Mercury, Venus, etc.), or (2) to describe similarities and differences in the structure of the surface of all the bodies under study and then their atmospheres, etc., with some comparative analysis. Each approach has its positive and negative aspects. The first is more traditional and may provide a more vivid picture. The second gives a better possibility for comparisons, for demonstrating general laws, etc., but there is a danger of making the presentation too dull. The author chose the second approach and sometimes did not avoid this danger. The book has five chapters. The first presents general information about the Solar System, its size, boundaries, and its location in the universe. This description is excellent but there are some unfortunate inaccuracies. For example, the difference between periodic and nonperiodic comets is not explained clearly enough. Furthermore, only HZ0 ice is mentioned from the whole list of possible volatiles in cometary nuclei. A good description of the zodiacal light as a celestial object is followed just in a few pages by a strange statement that dust is absent within the “internal part”
of the Solar System although the zodiacal light is the effect of solar radiation scattering by this dust. The second chapter is devoted to the sizes, masses, and motions of the planets. Tidal effects are described and explained very ingeniously, although perhaps in too difficult a way for the nonprofessional. Hypotheses about the formation of the Solar System are also included in this chapter but in my view a more detailed presentation would have been preferable. Chapter 3, devoted to planetary surfaces, is the largest chapter. This is the favorite subject for a popular book. Even a quick look at the sequence of illustrations gives a strong impression of a fantastic journey in new miraculous worlds. However, the presentation is not always sufficiently rigorous; for example, proper classification of different surface processes is absent. Sometimes the author is not careful enough in his evaluation of the nature of surface features. There are some inaccuracies in the description of possibilities of spectrophotometry and infrared radiometry. Chapter 4, dealing with the interiors of the planets and their satellites, is compact and easy to read. I have no objections to it. The last chapter, devoted to atmospheres, is not so perfect. The main reproach is its nonoptimal organization. The author begins with the origin of atmospheres, then moves to the composition and clouds, and then suddenly changes over to magnetospheres. By the end of the chapter he again returns to the lowest atmospheres to describe their thermal regimes and dynamics. There are three general critical remarks. (1) Explanations of physical and physicochemical processes are not sufficiently clear in some cases. (2) There are too many details for such a small volume and the primary issues are not always well separated from secondary things. (3) Scientific terms used in the text are not always appropriately explained. 1 think, however, that the book is interesting and useful for the general reader from students, to amateurs, to scientists, and to all those who want to know something new about our small part of the universe. All 50,000 printed copies of this book were sold in the USSR in a few days.
V. I. MOROZ Space Research Institute Academy of Sciences Moscow
379 0019-1035/88
$3.00
Copyright 0 1988 by Academic Press, Inc. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved.