HarperCollins The Planets

i read it. it's a book

If you are well versed in the cosmos, you will find nothing new in Dava Sobel's book. It will be the icing on your cake of knowledge. And what luscious icing it is! If your knowledge of the planets consists of basic high school science, you will be amazed and enthralled with the beauty and mystery that is our solar system. This book is beautifully well written, easy to understand, lyrical, poetic,....I could go on and on. And, from one who has been known to buy books for their covers in the hopes that the inside would be as intrigueing as the outside, in this case I was not disappointed. The cover is a work of art; so follows the text. You'll look at the night sky with a new appreciation and sense of wonder after reading this gem.

Another Dava Sobel book that is fascinating and beautifully written. It is easily accessbile prose that is pure poetry. Sobel is one of the greatest writers of our age.

Nice book. Different to her other book ‘Longitude’, I bought it as a holiday read and would normally have left it at the hotel for someone else to read, but brought it home to read again!

When I began approaching this review I was going to start by saying "The Planets" is not a scientific book. That take wasn't going to be a criticism, simply an observation. There are no data presented in charts and tables, not one photo or illustration - nothing really quantified. And yet Sobel succeeds in a profile of the planets by weaving what they are into a cultural tale. After all, the majority of humans who ever lived had no real idea what those wandering lights were. Sobel juxtaposes planetary knowledge gained robotically in the last half century - knowledge that can seem almost pedestrian to us - with the long-ago myths and god-like status given to planets as an explanation for them was sought. I once interviewed people for a print publication. As any good interviewer knows, the point is not to simply ask a list of questions and check them off. The key is to begin a conversation with the subject. This process takes longer, as what will be the interview must be found in the taped conversation, and as background information about the subject is fitted around his or her words. So, really, this is what Sobel did - she interviewed the solar system. Although I agree Sobel can be verbose at times, other reviewers have criticized the book's lack of explicit presentation. I think they miss the point. I am not a lay person regarding the subject, but I enjoyed learning about the historically cultural aspects of our neighbors. As one example, Sobel's description of tidal action contains no coefficients, and yet it is an elegant and accessible depiction. This book can be a good starting point for the lay person.