THE PLANETS

This groundbreaking new work traces the ‘lives' of each member of oursolar family, from myth and history, astrology and science fiction, to thelatest data from the modern era's robotic space probes. Whether revealing what hides behind Venus's cocoon of acid clouds,describing Neptune's complex beauty, or capturing first-hand theexcitement at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory when the first pictures fromCassini at Saturn were recently beamed to earth, Dava Sobel's unique tourof the solar system is filled with fascination and beauty. In lyricalprose interspersed with poems by Tennyson, Blake and others, ‘ThePlanets' gives a breathtaking, intimate view of those heavenly bodies thathave captured the imagination since humanity's first glimpse of theglittering night skies. Timely and timeless, ‘The Planets' will engage and delight as itunravels the mysteries of the cosmos. It is of infinite relevance to thisage in which new planets are being discovered elsewhere in our galaxy.