Meteorites and their Parent Planets

by Harry Y. McSween Jr

Overview

Meteorites and Their Parent Planets provides an engrossing overview of a highly interdisciplinary field—the study of extraterrestrial materials. The second edition of this successful book has been thoroughly revised, and describes the nature of meteorites, where they come from, and how they get to Earth. Meteorites offer important insights into processes in stars and in interstellar regions, the birth of our solar system, the formation and evolution of planets and smaller bodies, and the origin of life. The first edition was immensely popular with meteorite collectors, scientists and science students in many fields, as well as amateur astronomers. In this second edition all of the illustrations have been updated and improved, many sections have been expanded and modified based on discoveries in the past decade, and a new final chapter on the importance of meteorites has been added. Everyone with an interest in meteorites will want a copy of this book.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521587518
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	02/13/1999
Edition description:	REV
Pages:	324
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.71(d)

Table of Contents

Preface; 1. Introduction to meteorites; 2. Chondrites; 3. Chondrite parent bodies; 4. Achondrites; 5. Achondrite parent bodies; 6. Iron and stony-iron meteorites; 7. Iron and stony-iron parent bodies; 8. A space odyssey; 9. The importance of meteorites: some examples; Appendix of minerals; Glossary; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"...a detailed and extremely comprehensive introduction to the subject of meteoritics. The book discusses the nature of meteorites beginning with the reasons for suspecting their origin as extraterrestrial, through their different classifications, chemical compositions, geological histories, and what information meteorites carry regarding their parent bodies....McSween's fascination with meteorites and his enchanting style of writing contribute to the enjoyment of reading his book." Meteoritics & Planetary Science

"An illuminating introduction to the science of meteoritics, Meteorites and Their Parent Planets demonstrates what these visitors from space can tell us about the birth and infancy of our solar system." Astronomy Book Club

"...the book gives a very readable account of these interesting extraterrestrial rocks. I recommend the book as an excellent introduction to meteoritics for those Earth Scientists who have an interest in but not a specialist knowledge of the subject." Geological Magazine

"A pleasure to read, very personal and narrative, but most importantly, it is correct: no oversimplification, no omission of hard-to-describe facts like ages, isotopic and chemical peculiarities or nucleosynthesis. The author has to be congratulated; the book is highly recommended." Space Science Review

"Cambridge University Press offers the public, and those familiar with basic astronomy, an outstanding introduction to nearly everything currently known about meteorites." Planetarian

From the Publisher