Meteorites

by Caroline Smith, Sara Russell, Gretchen Benedix

A fascinating and authoritative introduction to the science of meteorites, written by leading experts in the field. Meteorites are rocks from space that have fallen to the Earth's surface. Once considered bad omens, they are now recognized for giving us a unique insight into the nature of the material that was present when our solar system formed. In Meteorites , experts from the Natural History Museum in London, England, provide a compelling and up-to-date introduction to these otherworldly objects. This fully illustrated guide In clear, jargon-free language, the authors explain how meteorites provide us with invaluable information about planets beyond Earth -- both within our solar system and around other stars. With its combination of color photographs, diagrams and maps, Meteorites is the ultimate reference to these mysterious objects from space.

Genres: Science, Astronomy

112 pages, Hardcover

First published August 28, 2009

Reviews

[Visubooks (Sofia) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read! You learn about the different type of meteorites and their compositions, how they are formed, their history, and where they come from. You learn about comet and other meteor like objects and their purpose. You get a great comprehensive review of everything that has to do with meteorites, with lots of detail. Great read to learn more about everything to do with meteorites! Totally recommend!

[Bruce Feingold · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a nice overview of the different types of meteorites that were know at the time it was written. It would be great to see an updated version in this constantly growing field of knowledge.

[David Czuba · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meteorites by authors Caroline Smith, Sara Russell, and Gretchen Benedix, all of them with UK's Natural History Museum, has concisely represented the (nearly) current state of the known here in this little book, at first glance in the similarly slim, hardcover style of a children's book, but packed with scientific information not too esoteric as to put off the less mathematical among us. Since its publication, NASA's Stardust mission has looked at the artificial crater made in comet Tempel 1 by the projectile of another NASA mission, Deep Impact, the ESA's Rosetta mission has visited comet P67 Churyumov-Gerasimenko with the lander Philae, and the OSIRIS-Rex mission has visited and sampled asteroid Bennu. In other words, it is an exciting time to read this tidy book amid the scientific returns of long-term space missions which include lunar and Martian sample missions. Our understanding of the solar system and its dynamic interaction with the interstellar medium is informing us of how the planets came to be, and how other systems might have formed. No sooner did I put the book down than Dutch computer scientists made a map of places in Antarctica to potentially find many more space rocks. The collectors among us will be intrigued by this. By the time you finish reading, you will want to discover meteorites of your own, and you will know what to look for. Happy hunting!