Colliding Worlds: How Cosmic Encounters Shaped Planets and Life

by Simone Marchi

Simone Marchi presents the emerging story of how cosmic collisions shaped both the solar system and our own planet, from the creation of the Moon to influencing the evolution of life on Earth.

The Earth emerged out of the upheaval and chaos of massive collisions in the infancy of the Solar System, more than four billion years ago. The largest of these events sent into orbit a spray of molten rocks out of which the Moon coalesced. As in ancient mythological tales, this giant catastrophe marks the birth of our planet as we know it.

Space exploration has shown that signs of ancient collisions are widespread in the Solar System, from the barren and once-habitable Mars to the rugged asteroids. On Earth these signs are more subtle, but still cataclysmic, such as the massive asteroid strike which likely sparked the demise of the dinosaurs and many other forms of life some 66 million years ago. Signatures of even more dramatic catastrophes are concealed in ancient rocks. These events wreaked havoc on our planet's surface, influencing global climate and topography, while also enriching the Earth with gold and other rare elements. And recently, modern science is finding that they could even have contributed to developing the conditions conducive to life.

In Colliding Worlds , Simone Marchi explores the key role that collisions in space have played in the formation and evolution of our solar system, the development of planets, and possibly even the origin of life on Earth. Analysing our latest understanding of the surfaces of Mars and Venus, gleaned from recent space missions, Marchi presents the dramatic story of cosmic collisions and their legacies.

Genres: Science, Astronomy

224 pages, Hardcover

Published September 1, 2021

Reviews

[jeffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars for me, for this very brief, but perhaps unavoidably somewhat dry exploration of the solar system and how "cosmic encounters" have led up to the present state of the universe. The illustrations are a mixed bag, with some of the gray toned diagrams a little indistinct. Interesting is the thought that so many chance or random events led to us being here to talk about books.

[Monika Landy-Gyebnar · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was nothing new in it, and it was far from interesting. I wonder what makes the author avoid the phrase 'siderophil'?
This book might be good for you if you know nothing about collisions and impacts. If you are familiar with the topic, and need a good book on it,I won't recommend this one.

[Jorgon · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent introductory book on the subject. It is short, and inevitably skims over a lot of interesting material, but it is not meant to be a deep study. For those new to the subject, it is excellent, for the rest...it may serve as a good refresher, especially for newer discoveries.

[Richard Archambault · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting topic, but ultimately disappointing. A fair bit of padding and talking about subjects that were only somewhat related, and it was also quite short. I feel like the potential for this book was there, but it was dumbed down.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating and admirably clear look at the formation of the solar system through the mechanism of things--from particles of dust to entire planets--crashing into each other.

[Maku · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read, full of interesting facts about space missions and exciting info on astronomy's new frontiers.

[Teemu Öhman · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's always nice to read books about impacts written by scientists who actually study them (from one perspective or another). And I know I gave this 4 stars (I tend to round up - 3.5 stars would have been much closer to the truth). Nevertheless, I have to say I was somewhat disappointed.

The book is very short: only 169 pages plus the end notes, written in quite a large font size. The colour plates look great and the diagrams are OK, but the quality of the black and white photos is often quite awful. And there are some silly mistakes ("shattered cones") and misleading or odd phrases that would have easily been avoided by proofreading by someone who knows the subject.

Marchi also likes to write very lengthy paragraphs (over a page), and doesn't believe in the use of subheadings or any other similar ways to give the reader a natural place to pause. And there's really no reason to artificially make this an expensive book (£20.00 / $25.95) by printing it in hard covers. A cheap paperback would've done just fine.

The most entertaining part of the book is the stuff that Marchi knows best, i.e. dynamical simulations about the migration of the giant planets throughout the history of the solar system, and the effects that might have had. When he talks about craters and cratering or planetary geology, it was all rather disappointing (I might be biased here, because cratering is what I know best).

For the inquisitive adult who hasn't read any other planetary science books this probably works as an easy introduction to some aspects of the topic, but I wouldn't really recommend it, except for the nice and understandable explanation of the migration of the the giant planets (i.e. the Nice model).

[Aislyn Bell · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Would be good for a freshman undergrad, or a scientist studying something other than astronomy! Definitely filled in some gaps in my knowledge

[Canadian Scholar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting in parts, extremely boring in others