Reviews from Amazon

The Planets

Each chapter of this book deals with one of the planets in the solar system, and goes from early myths, through the history of the study of the planet up to the present day with information from space probes and other observations. The book is written in a much more poetical style than Sobel's earlier works. But this doesn't mean that it's full of airy nothings, on the contrary I was very impressed by her skill in packing such a lot of information into a small space while at the same time producing a book which is easy to read.

Some author's attempts to write in a lyrical style are very off-putting, but I didn't find this with Sobel. Writing one chapter from the view of the meteorite ALH 84001 and, another as a fictional letter from Caroline Herschel to comet finder Maria Mitchell seemed to fit in very well. Perhaps younger readers might prefer something more straightforward or take a while to get used to the style. Apart from that the book should have wide appeal, and it has so much to tell that I feel that even those experienced in the subject are likely to find plenty to interest them.

Amazon.com info

Hardcover 288 pages
ISBN: 1857028503
Salesrank:
Weight:1.06 lbs

Published: 2005 Viking

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Amazon.co.uk info

Hardcover 288 pages
ISBN: 1857028503
Salesrank: 205237
Weight:1.06 lbs

Published: 2005 Fourth Estate

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Product Description
With her blockbuster New York Times bestsellers Longitude and Galileo’s Daughter, Dava Sobel used her rare and luminous gift for weaving difficult scientific concepts into a compelling story to garner rave reviews and attract readers from across the literary spectrum. Now, in The Planets, Sobel brings her full talents to bear on what is perhaps her most ambitious subject to date—the planets of our solar system. The sun’s family of planets become a familiar place in this personal account of the lives of other worlds. Sobel explores the planets’ origins and oddities through the lens of popular culture, from astrology, mythology, and science fiction to art, music, poetry, biography, and history. A perfect gift and a captivating journey, The Planets is a gorgeously illustrated study of our place in the universe that will mesmerize everyone who has ever gazed with awe at our night sky.

Product Description

With her blockbuster New York Times bestsellers Longitude and Galileo’s Daughter, Dava Sobel used her rare and luminous gift for weaving difficult scientific concepts into a compelling story to garner rave reviews and attract readers from across the literary spectrum. Now, in The Planets, Sobel brings her full talents to bear on what is perhaps her most ambitious subject to date—the planets of our solar system.

The sun’s family of planets become a familiar place in this personal account of the lives of other worlds. Sobel explores the planets’ origins and oddities through the lens of popular culture, from astrology, mythology, and science fiction to art, music, poetry, biography, and history. A perfect gift and a captivating journey, The Planets is a gorgeously illustrated study of our place in the universe that will mesmerize everyone who has ever gazed with awe at our night sky.

Imaginative and engaging *****
I've read and been delighted by "Longitude" and "Galileo's Daughter" so when I came across "The Planets." I was intrigued and wanted to read it. I knew even before I bought the book that it would be nothing like the other two by Dava Sobel, but by now she has established herself as a great writer and I trusted her and her instincts. If she wanted to take an unorthodox trip across the Solar System, I was all too willing to buy a ticket for the journey. And it was a refreshingly new look at the landscape that I thought I had already known all too well and have become a bit jaded with. Part informative, part imaginative this book both entertains and educates. It is well suited for both young and old readers. Each planet gets its own "voice" and is approached and dealt with from a unique point of view. The two works of art - one in fiction one in music - which this book reminds me of are Italo Calvino's "Cosmicomics" and Gustav Holst's "The Planets." Like Calvino and Holst, Dava Sobel possesses a rare gift of imagination and skill to bring a potentially dry subject and weave it into something that entices us and enthralls us. That's why I decided to recommend this book to my college Astronomy class that I teach this year.

Imaginative and engaging *****

I've read and been delighted by "Longitude" and "Galileo's Daughter" so when I came across "The Planets." I was intrigued and wanted to read it. I knew even before I bought the book that it would be nothing like the other two by Dava Sobel, but by now she has established herself as a great writer and I trusted her and her instincts. If she wanted to take an unorthodox trip across the Solar System, I was all too willing to buy a ticket for the journey. And it was a refreshingly new look at the landscape that I thought I had already known all too well and have become a bit jaded with. Part informative, part imaginative this book both entertains and educates. It is well suited for both young and old readers. Each planet gets its own "voice" and is approached and dealt with from a unique point of view. The two works of art - one in fiction one in music - which this book reminds me of are Italo Calvino's "Cosmicomics" and Gustav Holst's "The Planets." Like Calvino and Holst, Dava Sobel possesses a rare gift of imagination and skill to bring a potentially dry subject and weave it into something that entices us and enthralls us. That's why I decided to recommend this book to my college Astronomy class that I teach this year.

Good exercice for your mind *****
Did you know that sunlight travels to us at 186 thousand miles per second, or that on Mercury, a day is twice as long as a year? Or that the Aztecs saw Venus as the twin brother of the sun and that a single carat of moon rock sold at auction for more than four hundred thousand dollars? Dava Sobel, author of Longitude and Galileo's Daughter and now The Planets, gives us an awakening insight on the subject.

Good exercice for your mind *****

Did you know that sunlight travels to us at 186 thousand miles per second, or that on Mercury, a day is twice as long as a year? Or that the Aztecs saw Venus as the twin brother of the sun and that a single carat of moon rock sold at auction for more than four hundred thousand dollars? Dava Sobel, author of Longitude and Galileo's Daughter and now The Planets, gives us an awakening insight on the subject.

Okay, not fabuous **
I find it a little odd that several people have expressed disappointment that the "letter" from Caroline Herschel to Maria Mitchell about the discoveries of Uranus and Neptune in the chapter "Night Airs" was the author's creation. Sobel uses this letter as a means of conveying the info in an interesting manner, much as she communicates from the point of view of the Martian meteorite Allan Hills 84001 a few chapters earlier. Perhaps these same people will be disappointed to learn that the meteorite didn't actually "speak" the words attributed to it in that chapter? I found this to be a quick read, and I had read the entire book cover to cover in about two hours. It's really written at about a sixth-grade level. It might be a good read, especially if you're unfamiliar with astronomy or need a quick refresher. However, in this reader's opinion, Sobel's other two books "Galileo's Daughter" and "Longitude" are much better.

Okay, not fabuous **

I find it a little odd that several people have expressed disappointment that the "letter" from Caroline Herschel to Maria Mitchell about the discoveries of Uranus and Neptune in the chapter "Night Airs" was the author's creation. Sobel uses this letter as a means of conveying the info in an interesting manner, much as she communicates from the point of view of the Martian meteorite Allan Hills 84001 a few chapters earlier. Perhaps these same people will be disappointed to learn that the meteorite didn't actually "speak" the words attributed to it in that chapter?

I found this to be a quick read, and I had read the entire book cover to cover in about two hours. It's really written at about a sixth-grade level. It might be a good read, especially if you're unfamiliar with astronomy or need a quick refresher. However, in this reader's opinion, Sobel's other two books "Galileo's Daughter" and "Longitude" are much better.

My verdict: essentially mediocre, justified (by) Sobel's unusually nice prose ***
In the hierarchy of sciences, astronomy must be towards the top in popularity, and within that field, the topic of the planets continues to fascinate. Dating back to the era of astronomy's ancestor astrology, the planets have been a subject of interest far longer than black holes, neutron stars, supernovae or big bangs. Dava Sobel's Planets takes a somewhat classical view of the planets, when they were the ancient wanderers against a fixed-star sky. Thus she includes the moon and sun in her collection (along with Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn), but also discusses more modern-day planets as Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, not to mention the Earth, which was not viewed as a planet until Copernicus removed it from the center of the universe. Each chapter is an essay about a particular planet (with Uranus and Neptune combined). Sobel doesn't merely describe the given celestial body but instead attaches another theme. For example, her discussion of Earth is given in the context of a history of geography and Mars in the context of the possibility of extraterrestrial life. In her chapter on Pluto, she writes about the controversy of Pluto's planethood; this tiny body would be demoted after the publication of her book. If you are an astronomy buff, you'll not find much new material here, merely stuff you already know discussed in a slightly different fashion. While decently written, it is not perfect. As an example, due to either poor writing or an actual error, she incorrectly states that Mercury's day is equal to two of its years, though later in the chapter, she gives the correct measurement (roughly 59 Earth-days for a rotation, compared to 88 Earth-days for a revolution). Overall, this is an okay book, worthy of a high three stars, but not of the same caliber as Galileo's Daughter (the only other Sobel book I've read). If you don't have much knowledge of the planets, this book is a creative (if imperfect) way to learn about them.

My verdict: essentially mediocre, justified (by) Sobel's unusually nice prose ***

In the hierarchy of sciences, astronomy must be towards the top in popularity, and within that field, the topic of the planets continues to fascinate. Dating back to the era of astronomy's ancestor astrology, the planets have been a subject of interest far longer than black holes, neutron stars, supernovae or big bangs.

Dava Sobel's Planets takes a somewhat classical view of the planets, when they were the ancient wanderers against a fixed-star sky. Thus she includes the moon and sun in her collection (along with Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn), but also discusses more modern-day planets as Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, not to mention the Earth, which was not viewed as a planet until Copernicus removed it from the center of the universe.

Each chapter is an essay about a particular planet (with Uranus and Neptune combined). Sobel doesn't merely describe the given celestial body but instead attaches another theme. For example, her discussion of Earth is given in the context of a history of geography and Mars in the context of the possibility of extraterrestrial life. In her chapter on Pluto, she writes about the controversy of Pluto's planethood; this tiny body would be demoted after the publication of her book.

If you are an astronomy buff, you'll not find much new material here, merely stuff you already know discussed in a slightly different fashion. While decently written, it is not perfect. As an example, due to either poor writing or an actual error, she incorrectly states that Mercury's day is equal to two of its years, though later in the chapter, she gives the correct measurement (roughly 59 Earth-days for a rotation, compared to 88 Earth-days for a revolution).

Overall, this is an okay book, worthy of a high three stars, but not of the same caliber as Galileo's Daughter (the only other Sobel book I've read). If you don't have much knowledge of the planets, this book is a creative (if imperfect) way to learn about them.

CDs make a nice companion ****
These five CDs make an informative companion that is easy to follow, without a major investment. At only five hours, you can pick up current thinking about the planets and related bodies (well, this was at least before Pluto got bounced, but the author presciently indicated Pluto was on the ropes), as well as solid, general background information. Except for news from the last ten years or so, I didn't learn much, because the solar system has long been a topic of interest. I was certainly satisfied with the return on the time investment, and the narrator was easy enough on the ears. My initial concerns about the obvious lack of diagrams and illustrations in a recorded book on the solar system were unfounded. The text evoked enough mental images to get past that, or for this book, they really didn't matter that much. Perhaps I should look at the hardcopy and see what I missed. The essay-based structure also facilitates listening in blocks, as the sections stand relatively freely. The author seems to find a reasonable balance of technical tone and an approach intended for a more casual, general reader. That goal wasn't always achieved, with the result a bit of a mixed bag from the talking Martian rock to the letter from the woman in the Herschel family to fairly traditional exposition. I could have done without the astrology content and maybe some other asides, such as the friend who ate the moon dust. 3.5 stars, rounded up

CDs make a nice companion ****

These five CDs make an informative companion that is easy to follow, without a major investment. At only five hours, you can pick up current thinking about the planets and related bodies (well, this was at least before Pluto got bounced, but the author presciently indicated Pluto was on the ropes), as well as solid, general background information. Except for news from the last ten years or so, I didn't learn much, because the solar system has long been a topic of interest.

I was certainly satisfied with the return on the time investment, and the narrator was easy enough on the ears. My initial concerns about the obvious lack of diagrams and illustrations in a recorded book on the solar system were unfounded. The text evoked enough mental images to get past that, or for this book, they really didn't matter that much. Perhaps I should look at the hardcopy and see what I missed. The essay-based structure also facilitates listening in blocks, as the sections stand relatively freely.

The author seems to find a reasonable balance of technical tone and an approach intended for a more casual, general reader. That goal wasn't always achieved, with the result a bit of a mixed bag from the talking Martian rock to the letter from the woman in the Herschel family to fairly traditional exposition. I could have done without the astrology content and maybe some other asides, such as the friend who ate the moon dust.

3.5 stars, rounded up

Out of this world *****
Read on a train trip to Torquay, this was a delightful meander through the Solar System. Snippets of information, entertaining tangents, flights of fancy...all perfect for those wanting to read something escapist and interesting but probably a nightmare to the 'shoes in a strait line' scientific reader. This is not the book for you if you want to know the specific gravity of Io or if you need to calatlogue the rotation speeds of Neptune's moons. It is the sort of book that you read in order for your mind to go somewhere else. There are plenty of fascinating passages, but there are also lots of gentle pushes from Sobel that launch you off into a completely seperate set of thoughts that will see you returning in a page or two's time having missed the book's action but, nevertheless, had a fine time. It will drive scientific minds mad. I'm OK with that.

Out of this world *****

Read on a train trip to Torquay, this was a delightful meander through the Solar System. Snippets of information, entertaining tangents, flights of fancy...all perfect for those wanting to read something escapist and interesting but probably a nightmare to the 'shoes in a strait line' scientific reader. This is not the book for you if you want to know the specific gravity of Io or if you need to calatlogue the rotation speeds of Neptune's moons.

It is the sort of book that you read in order for your mind to go somewhere else. There are plenty of fascinating passages, but there are also lots of gentle pushes from Sobel that launch you off into a completely seperate set of thoughts that will see you returning in a page or two's time having missed the book's action but, nevertheless, had a fine time. It will drive scientific minds mad. I'm OK with that.

Fact, Context and Wonder ****
I started to read this book because I wanted to have a brief summary of what is known about the planets in our own solar system and because I had enjoyed "Longitude" by the same author. Sobel succeeds in her task by taking a well-worked subject and finding a new angle with which to approach it. In this book she has each chapter based around a planet but selects a different entry point to the topic each time, through for example an imagined letter from one of the characters involved at the times of discovery or through poetry or ancient myths. This approach is fresh and lively but at the same time is a vehicle by which to introduce just enough facts about each planet to be informative. For those who want a more detailed presentation of astronomy this book is not the one; in fact I could imagine it irritating some readers as it flirts with the mystical awe of the solar system as well as presenting the scientific knowledge available. However, if you want an interesting mix of fact, historical context and a glimpse of wonder in an engaging style then "The Planets" provides a perfect read.

Fact, Context and Wonder ****

I started to read this book because I wanted to have a brief summary of what is known about the planets in our own solar system and because I had enjoyed "Longitude" by the same author. Sobel succeeds in her task by taking a well-worked subject and finding a new angle with which to approach it. In this book she has each chapter based around a planet but selects a different entry point to the topic each time, through for example an imagined letter from one of the characters involved at the times of discovery or through poetry or ancient myths. This approach is fresh and lively but at the same time is a vehicle by which to introduce just enough facts about each planet to be informative. For those who want a more detailed presentation of astronomy this book is not the one; in fact I could imagine it irritating some readers as it flirts with the mystical awe of the solar system as well as presenting the scientific knowledge available. However, if you want an interesting mix of fact, historical context and a glimpse of wonder in an engaging style then "The Planets" provides a perfect read.

The Planets - A Pulpit's View *
As someone who'd thoroughly enjoyed 'Longitude' I'd greatly anticipated reading Dava Sobel's take on our extended home. Not that new scientific revelations had been expected, no, but simply a well-written and entertaining new slant on what countless Horizon programmes and suchlike had already amply illustrated in recent years. Just scanning the table of contents had me frown. Just a little. Chapter two, 'Genesis' - mmh... Could it be? Yes, it could! Before you can say Creationism, we meet the "architect", his subtle but all-pervading presence insidiously slipped in between romantic hogwash about the formation of our early solar system. 'Let there be light...', 'The Book of Genesis tells...', and perhaps most gallingly, when the chapter draws to a confused close on the subject of solar eclipses and marvels at the matching relative size of moon and sun, '...is this startling manifestation of the Sun's hidden splendour part of a divine design?' Never before have I tossed a book in disgust. I have now. Expecting an if not scientific then at least factual account based on current understanding, what we get is a book that could easily be thrust in your face by those persistent, motormouthed disciples after ringing your doorbell on Saturday afternoons. Sadly, these days one cannot be sure if this abomination of science is Dava Sobel's own doing, or indeed was foisted on her by money-grabbing US editors, along with the generally bloated style of writing that milks the more romantic aspects of our solar system until the udders hurt. Given the currently raging US-based controversy re. the His Dark Materials movie, the latter seems more likely. Conclusions: don't bother reading this book, unless sickly sweet writing and the notion that our world was created in a handful of days don't offend you.

The Planets - A Pulpit's View *

As someone who'd thoroughly enjoyed 'Longitude' I'd greatly anticipated reading Dava Sobel's take on our extended home. Not that new scientific revelations had been expected, no, but simply a well-written and entertaining new slant on what countless Horizon programmes and suchlike had already amply illustrated in recent years.

Just scanning the table of contents had me frown. Just a little. Chapter two, 'Genesis' - mmh... Could it be? Yes, it could! Before you can say Creationism, we meet the "architect", his subtle but all-pervading presence insidiously slipped in between romantic hogwash about the formation of our early solar system. 'Let there be light...', 'The Book of Genesis tells...', and perhaps most gallingly, when the chapter draws to a confused close on the subject of solar eclipses and marvels at the matching relative size of moon and sun, '...is this startling manifestation of the Sun's hidden splendour part of a divine design?'

Never before have I tossed a book in disgust. I have now. Expecting an if not scientific then at least factual account based on current understanding, what we get is a book that could easily be thrust in your face by those persistent, motormouthed disciples after ringing your doorbell on Saturday afternoons. Sadly, these days one cannot be sure if this abomination of science is Dava Sobel's own doing, or indeed was foisted on her by money-grabbing US editors, along with the generally bloated style of writing that milks the more romantic aspects of our solar system until the udders hurt. Given the currently raging US-based controversy re. the His Dark Materials movie, the latter seems more likely.

Conclusions: don't bother reading this book, unless sickly sweet writing and the notion that our world was created in a handful of days don't offend you.

A gem *****
How I wish I was Dava Sobel. When someone manages your thoughts with such clarity, it's spooky and hypnotic. How boring is it to read a drone about planets? Not here - Dava just drips out an image and it lands on your mind "plop". In a matter-of-fact explanation of the moon eclipsing the sun, she writes: "At totality, when the Moon is a pool of soot hiding the bright solar sphere....". I could tell you better lines but this morning, I loved that one. I'm on my third reading of her book but I mainly just read Lunacy (her chapter on the moon) over and over again - it has me floating. Dava stimulates such emotion around the wonderment of creation; it almost feels like a religion.

A gem *****

How I wish I was Dava Sobel. When someone manages your thoughts with such clarity, it's spooky and hypnotic. How boring is it to read a drone about planets? Not here - Dava just drips out an image and it lands on your mind "plop". In a matter-of-fact explanation of the moon eclipsing the sun, she writes: "At totality, when the Moon is a pool of soot hiding the bright solar sphere....". I could tell you better lines but this morning, I loved that one. I'm on my third reading of her book but I mainly just read Lunacy (her chapter on the moon) over and over again - it has me floating. Dava stimulates such emotion around the wonderment of creation; it almost feels like a religion.

Journey through the solar system ****
This charming guide to the solar system explains the planets in everyday language while drawing on history, myth, science fiction, art, literature and the latest scientific advances. It discusses the ongoing discoveries in our planetary system, dealing with every body from the sun to Pluto. The writing style is accessible and highly engaging. The chapter Genesis deals with the sun and the formation of the solar system, Mythology is devoted to Mercury and astronomers like Tycho Brahe, Copernicus and Kepler, and Beauty is reserved for Venus, where the poetry of amongst others, Blake, Wordsworth, Oliver Wendell Holmes and CS Lewis is quoted. Earth gets its turn in Geography (On Becoming a Planet), and the Moon in the chapter Lunacy. Jupiter and the Galileo spacecraft are investigated in Astrology, whilst Music Of The Spheres is about Saturn and the music of the planets as represented by Holst in his Opus 32 and Kepler's book Harmonice Mundi in which he interpreted their motions as music. Uranus and Neptune are discussed in the chapter Discovery, and Pluto in UFO where the controversy on whether Pluto really is a planet is explored. The concluding chapter Planeteers discusses the Cassini spacecraft and the Huygens probe which landed on Saturn's moon Titan in January 2005. The author concludes with the observation that the planets have always been stalwarts of human culture and the inspiration for much of mankind's higher-minded endeavor. The book concludes with a glossary, notes by chapter and a bibliography. There are black and white illustrations, photographs and maps throughout the text. The PS section at the end contains an interview with the author by Travis Elborough, Sobel's favorite books and writers, Other books by Sobel and books she recommends, and an essay about the New Horizons spacecraft launched on 19th January 2006 on its 10 year journey to Pluto.

Journey through the solar system ****

This charming guide to the solar system explains the planets in everyday language while drawing on history, myth, science fiction, art, literature and the latest scientific advances. It discusses the ongoing discoveries in our planetary system, dealing with every body from the sun to Pluto. The writing style is accessible and highly engaging.

The chapter Genesis deals with the sun and the formation of the solar system, Mythology is devoted to Mercury and astronomers like Tycho Brahe, Copernicus and Kepler, and Beauty is reserved for Venus, where the poetry of amongst others, Blake, Wordsworth, Oliver Wendell Holmes and CS Lewis is quoted. Earth gets its turn in Geography (On Becoming a Planet), and the Moon in the chapter Lunacy.

Jupiter and the Galileo spacecraft are investigated in Astrology, whilst Music Of The Spheres is about Saturn and the music of the planets as represented by Holst in his Opus 32 and Kepler's book Harmonice Mundi in which he interpreted their motions as music. Uranus and Neptune are discussed in the chapter Discovery, and Pluto in UFO where the controversy on whether Pluto really is a planet is explored.

The concluding chapter Planeteers discusses the Cassini spacecraft and the Huygens probe which landed on Saturn's moon Titan in January 2005. The author concludes with the observation that the planets have always been stalwarts of human culture and the inspiration for much of mankind's higher-minded endeavor. The book concludes with a glossary, notes by chapter and a bibliography. There are black and white illustrations, photographs and maps throughout the text.

The PS section at the end contains an interview with the author by Travis Elborough, Sobel's favorite books and writers, Other books by Sobel and books she recommends, and an essay about the New Horizons spacecraft launched on 19th January 2006 on its 10 year journey to Pluto.