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Planet Earth
The Companion Volume to the PBS Television Series
370 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1986
4 people are currently reading
88 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Weiner
32 books123 followersJonathan Weiner is one of the most distinguished popular-science writers in the country. His books have won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. A former editor at The Sciences and a writer for The New Yorker, he is the author of The Beak of the Finch, Time, Love, Memory, His Brother's Keeper among many others.
He currently lives in New York with his wife, Deborah Heiligman who is the children's book author, and their two sons. There he teaches science writing at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.
He currently lives in New York with his wife, Deborah Heiligman who is the children's book author, and their two sons. There he teaches science writing at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 23, 2021
A great comprehensive look at our beautiful planet. I learned so many cool new facts and relearned others. It was a happy coincidence that I finished this the day after Earth Day.
June 11, 2025
It’s been almost 40 years since Mr. Weiner published this remarkable book as a companion to the TV series and while much of it is dated, a much greater part is still extremely relevant. A typical example is found on p. 253;
“‘When the last astronaut left Skylab in 1976', explains Herbert Friedman of the National Academy of Sciences, ‘it was thought that the spacecraft was in a safe parking orbit where it could await a visit by an early Space Shuttle flight, which would push it to a higher orbit for safekeeping until it could be refurbished and reactivated. Unfortunately, the plan was frustrated by a delay in the Space Shuttle’s schedule and by a rapid rise of solar activity toward sunspot maximum. With high sunspot activity came a hotter and denser atmosphere at Skylab’s altitude, which increased the drag and caused the orbit to decay much faster than anticipated.’ The great, patched, abandoned space observatory came atumbling down. Thus, says Friedman, Skylab fell victim to sunspots. The lab we sent up to study the Sun was cast down by it.”
I remember hearing that Skylab crashed down to Earth because it’s orbit was too low, but I don’t recall actually understanding that sunspot activity precipitated the eventual re-entry.
Lots of amazing info throughout the book.
“‘When the last astronaut left Skylab in 1976', explains Herbert Friedman of the National Academy of Sciences, ‘it was thought that the spacecraft was in a safe parking orbit where it could await a visit by an early Space Shuttle flight, which would push it to a higher orbit for safekeeping until it could be refurbished and reactivated. Unfortunately, the plan was frustrated by a delay in the Space Shuttle’s schedule and by a rapid rise of solar activity toward sunspot maximum. With high sunspot activity came a hotter and denser atmosphere at Skylab’s altitude, which increased the drag and caused the orbit to decay much faster than anticipated.’ The great, patched, abandoned space observatory came atumbling down. Thus, says Friedman, Skylab fell victim to sunspots. The lab we sent up to study the Sun was cast down by it.”
I remember hearing that Skylab crashed down to Earth because it’s orbit was too low, but I don’t recall actually understanding that sunspot activity precipitated the eventual re-entry.
Lots of amazing info throughout the book.
June 17, 2024
monumental amount of interesting data
November 4, 2011
Why did I decide to read this book?
I decided to read this book because it caught my eye in the library and i thought it would be interesting and i could gather something from it.This taught me about another time in history.
Which category did you place it on the bingo board?
I placed this under the spot on my A book that teaches me about another time in history because it teaches me about another time in history. This has alot of information of through earths long history.
What i liked about this book and why?
I liked this book because of the vast amounts of information it had in it and how in depth and how detailed it was on the sub topics in earths history.This book taught me all about earths long history and i gathered alot from reading this book as i do not read much of these types of books and i liked mostly on the whole.
What did i not like about this?
I did not like the the fact that the book had so much information that i did not understand using world that i did not understand other than that i liked it.
Who would i recommend this to?
I would recommend this book to some one who likes books with facts and has a wide vocabulary. This is a very informative book so for someone who likes alot of information.
I decided to read this book because it caught my eye in the library and i thought it would be interesting and i could gather something from it.This taught me about another time in history.
Which category did you place it on the bingo board?
I placed this under the spot on my A book that teaches me about another time in history because it teaches me about another time in history. This has alot of information of through earths long history.
What i liked about this book and why?
I liked this book because of the vast amounts of information it had in it and how in depth and how detailed it was on the sub topics in earths history.This book taught me all about earths long history and i gathered alot from reading this book as i do not read much of these types of books and i liked mostly on the whole.
What did i not like about this?
I did not like the the fact that the book had so much information that i did not understand using world that i did not understand other than that i liked it.
Who would i recommend this to?
I would recommend this book to some one who likes books with facts and has a wide vocabulary. This is a very informative book so for someone who likes alot of information.
November 9, 2013
Not a bad review. The book is all encompassing and a companion to a PBS mini series older than me. I think this series even predates Cosmos. While the book is not shoddy, the information inside has been presented better elsewhere. The book covers everything about the earth. Starting with plate tectonics, heading to the depths of the ocean, moving beyond earth to out planetary neighbors, and a slight detour at the sun. Then back to earth to discuss more geology, specifically metals and minerals. The chapters start with some history of science and move into modern (at time of printing) theories and data.
The novelty of the book comes from reading about climate change from a 1980s perspective. All the general ideas about a warming earth, rise in sea level, and melting glaciers you hear today. That chapter ended with an anticlimactic (and disheartening) 'this is all just speculation' statement.
The novelty of the book comes from reading about climate change from a 1980s perspective. All the general ideas about a warming earth, rise in sea level, and melting glaciers you hear today. That chapter ended with an anticlimactic (and disheartening) 'this is all just speculation' statement.
February 15, 2008
I saw one PBS show of the series and ordered this book. I think I must have some Native American blood in me because I see the earth as a living thing with untold beauty and mystery over every hill and vally. A pleasure to contemplate.
May 6, 2018
Beautiful visual and verbal illustrations of planet earth.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews