What do you think?
Rate this book
The 50 Most Extreme Places in Our Solar System
The extreme events that we hear about daily€”hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions€”are extreme in purely human terms, in the devastation they do. But this book moves our understanding of the extreme into extraterrestrial dimensions and gives us an awe-inspiring sense of what our solar system at its utmost can do. Martian dust devils taller than Mount Everest. A hurricane that lasts over 340 years. Volcanoes with ";lava"; colder than Antarctica. Hail made of diamonds. Here, as the authors say, the ";WOW"; factor is restored to our understanding of scientific discovery, as we witness the grandeur and the weirdness that inspire researchers to dig deeper and go ever farther into the mysteries of the universe. The 50 Most Extreme Places in Our Solar System combines a fascination with natural disasters and the mesmerizing allure of outer space to take readers on a journey that will forever change the way they view our solar
304 pages, Hardcover
First published September 7, 2010
1 person is currently reading
40 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 28, 2020
About a decade ago I was listening to NPR during a long drive when they had an interview with the author of this book. Immediately hooked, I sat mesmerized as I learned about all the fascinating things in our solar system. Yes, I knew some of them, but definitely not all. From diamond hail on Uranus and Neptune to Eiffel tower-sized lightning strikes on Saturn this book offers a lot of interesting facts when looking for science and solar system information in an easy-to-read format.
To tell all the intriguing facts about our solar system, the authors have divided the book into 8 sections and categories, such as oceans or ‘wild, wild weather’ followed by fairly entertaining or eye-catching subsections, such as “Wildly Wicked Winds of Neptune”. While some may want to just read it straight through this format actually helps to lead you to the sections you might be more interested in reading. Want to learn about volcanoes that spew ice instead of fire? Then turn to the Coldest Volcanoes section. Each section is filled with several pictures and is only a few pages long, giving you the interesting information very quickly so that you don’t feel bogged down before getting to the parts you actually want to read. A glossary is also included at the end.
Interesting facts include:
- Because Venus rotates so slowly a day in Venus can be longer than a year. Would make birthdays a bit tricky…
- Mars has a canyon grander than the Grand Canyon – it is over 2400 miles long and 6 miles deep. Roughly San Francisco to DC.
- Mercury is shrinking
Overall, a very enjoyable read where I learned a lot more than I thought I would going in. One of my best memories was showing the book to my then three-year-old nephew and telling him all about the stinky moon – IO, which fascinated him. He fell in love with it and asked if he could take it home and “read” it, where his mom told me he slept with it for several days.
To tell all the intriguing facts about our solar system, the authors have divided the book into 8 sections and categories, such as oceans or ‘wild, wild weather’ followed by fairly entertaining or eye-catching subsections, such as “Wildly Wicked Winds of Neptune”. While some may want to just read it straight through this format actually helps to lead you to the sections you might be more interested in reading. Want to learn about volcanoes that spew ice instead of fire? Then turn to the Coldest Volcanoes section. Each section is filled with several pictures and is only a few pages long, giving you the interesting information very quickly so that you don’t feel bogged down before getting to the parts you actually want to read. A glossary is also included at the end.
Interesting facts include:
- Because Venus rotates so slowly a day in Venus can be longer than a year. Would make birthdays a bit tricky…
- Mars has a canyon grander than the Grand Canyon – it is over 2400 miles long and 6 miles deep. Roughly San Francisco to DC.
- Mercury is shrinking
Overall, a very enjoyable read where I learned a lot more than I thought I would going in. One of my best memories was showing the book to my then three-year-old nephew and telling him all about the stinky moon – IO, which fascinated him. He fell in love with it and asked if he could take it home and “read” it, where his mom told me he slept with it for several days.
July 23, 2017
A conversation between two planetary scientists about their love of their interdisciplinary field created this book highlighting a balance of “WOW and serious science.” Each chapter starts with a way for the reader to personally relate to the extreme phenomenon being mentioned – impact craters are referred to as the result of “interplanetary paintball” – and pop culture references are cleverly woven in. The authors do not shy away from advanced vocabulary, but the inclusion of a comprehensive glossary and excellent use of illustrations support comprehension. The richly-detailed photographs, NASA images, and clear diagrams help explain concepts both succinctly and engagingly; relatable comparisons, such as equating the composition of carbonate-rich lava to laundry soap, are also used to scaffold knowledge. With its at-home experiments, such as the use of hot chocolate to examine the workings of plate tectonics, there is something for every level of science fan in this journey among some of the most riveting phenomena in our solar neighborhood.
November 23, 2021
Fantastic tour through our immediate cosmic neighborhood.
December 31, 2024
The solar system is vast, complex and surprising. This book is a great way to learn about it.
The volume includes a number of photos and illustrations. Readers learn of the sometimes planet-wide dust storms on Mars, a world containing a mountain that dwarfs Everest. They explore the icy rings of Saturn, the numerous moons of the outer planets, the enormous thermonuclear furnace that is our sun, the mystery of comets and asteroids, the environment at the distant edges of our solar system.
Some of the chapters deal with earth and help us understand the uniqueness of our planet, where countless forms of life not only exist but thrive.
The chapters are short and sometimes it feels like the authors have just gotten started when that section suddenly ends and it's off to a different topic. It would have been good to explore some of these subjects in more detail. On occasion the writing has too much of a gee-whiz tone but otherwise the authors do a great job of communicating the wonders of planetary science at a layman's level.
The volume includes a number of photos and illustrations. Readers learn of the sometimes planet-wide dust storms on Mars, a world containing a mountain that dwarfs Everest. They explore the icy rings of Saturn, the numerous moons of the outer planets, the enormous thermonuclear furnace that is our sun, the mystery of comets and asteroids, the environment at the distant edges of our solar system.
Some of the chapters deal with earth and help us understand the uniqueness of our planet, where countless forms of life not only exist but thrive.
The chapters are short and sometimes it feels like the authors have just gotten started when that section suddenly ends and it's off to a different topic. It would have been good to explore some of these subjects in more detail. On occasion the writing has too much of a gee-whiz tone but otherwise the authors do a great job of communicating the wonders of planetary science at a layman's level.
October 7, 2010
Somewhat interesting! I'm not really into science, but picked this up because one of the authors (Todd Ratcliff) is originally from my hometown.
The authors tried to make this as interesting & hip as possible. Some things were very interesting -- the planets and how they are tilted on their axis, the relationship between the Earth and our moon, etc. Other things did not interest me so much -- the rings around Jupiter, etc.
The authors tried to make this as interesting & hip as possible. Some things were very interesting -- the planets and how they are tilted on their axis, the relationship between the Earth and our moon, etc. Other things did not interest me so much -- the rings around Jupiter, etc.
June 6, 2011
The 50 Most Extreme Places in Our Solar System is a beautifully produced book. It is replete with stunning full color photos and illustrations throughout and is laid out in a very artful way making it a joy just to look at. Each of the 50 topics is described in about 3-5 pages of clear and well written text. Although it doesn’t go into a lot of depth, the book is informative and fun.
April 15, 2011
A great easily digestable book on our solar system. This book is easy to understand has short chapters and a lot pictures. Also the information presented was interesting. Great for high school students interested in science.
January 14, 2013
This is user-friendly tour of the solar system. Read it slowly, an entry per day at the fastest, and you'll always have something interesting that you can tell people you have found out about. This is a great gift for a teenager.
December 5, 2010
This is an absorbing survey of the amazing phenomena within our solar
system. Perfect for the armchair traveller.
system. Perfect for the armchair traveller.
November 25, 2010
Awesome! The planets are violently active out there, all the time. It's like Yellowstone geysers, all the time!
October 5, 2014
Good book for getting kids excited about astronomy. Fun, readable, to-the-point.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews