From Dust to Life : : The Origin and Evolution of Our Solar System / / Jacqueline Mitton, John Chambers.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Princeton University Press Complete eBook-Package 2017
• VerfasserIn: Chambers, John,; Mitton, Jacqueline,
• TeilnehmendeR: Chambers, John.; Mitton, Jacqueline.
• Place / Publishing House: Princeton, NJ : : Princeton University Press, , [2017]; ©2013
• Year of Publication: 2017
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (320 p.) :; 41 halftones. 19 line illus. 7 tables.

The birth and evolution of our solar system is a tantalizing mystery that may one day provide answers to the question of human origins. From Dust to Life tells the remarkable story of how the celestial objects that make up the solar system arose from common beginnings billions of years ago, and how scientists and philosophers have sought to unravel this mystery down through the centuries, piecing together the clues that enabled them to deduce the solar system's layout, its age, and the most likely way it formed. Drawing on the history of astronomy and the latest findings in astrophysics and the planetary sciences, John Chambers and Jacqueline Mitton offer the most up-to-date and authoritative treatment of the subject available. They examine how the evolving universe set the stage for the appearance of our Sun, and how the nebulous cloud of gas and dust that accompanied the young Sun eventually became the planets, comets, moons, and asteroids that exist today. They explore how each of the planets acquired its unique characteristics, why some are rocky and others gaseous, and why one planet in particular--our Earth--provided an almost perfect haven for the emergence of life. From Dust to Life is a must-read for anyone who desires to know more about how the solar system came to be. This enticing book takes readers to the very frontiers of modern research, engaging with the latest controversies and debates. It reveals how ongoing discoveries of far-distant extrasolar planets and planetary systems are transforming our understanding of our own solar system's astonishing history and its possible fate.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- Tables -- Preface -- ONE. Cosmic Archaeology -- TWO. Discovering the Solar System -- THREE. An Evolving Solar System -- FOUR. The Question of Timing -- FIVE. Meteorites -- SIX. Cosmic Chemistry -- SEVEN. A Star Is Born -- EIGHT. Nursery for Planets -- NINE. Worlds of Rock and Metal -- TEN. the Making of the Moon -- ELEVEN. Earth, Cradle of Life -- TWELVE. Worlds of Gas and Ice -- THIRTEEN. What Happened to the Asteroid Belt? -- FOURTEEN. The Outermost Solar System -- FIFTEEN. Epilogue: Paradigms, Problems, and Predictions -- Afterword to the 2017 edition -- Glossary -- Sources and Further Reading -- Index