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The Planets |
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The Planets |
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基本信息·出版社：Penguin Books
·页码：288 页
·出版日期：2006年10月
·ISBN：0142001163
·条形码：9780142001165
·装帧：平装
·正文语种：英语
内容简介 With her bestsellers
Longitude and
Galileo's Daughter, Dava Sobel introduced readers to her rare gift for weaving complex scientific concepts into a compelling narrative. Now Sobel brings her full talents to bear on what is perhaps her most ambitious topic to date-the planets of our solar system. Sobel explores the origins and oddities of the planets through the lens of popular culture, from astrology, mythology, and science fiction to art, music, poetry, biography, and history. Written in her characteristically graceful prose,
The Planets is a stunningly original celebration of our solar system and offers a distinctive view of our place in the universe.
The paperback features twelve original, richly layered four-color illustrations by Lynette Cook that emphasize the themes explored in each chapter. The images, at once whimsical and scientific, graphically demonstrate the ties between planets and popular culture.
作者简介 Dava Sobel, a former
New York Times science reporter, is an award-winning author. In her thirty years as a science journalist, she has written for many magazines, including
Audubon, Life, and the
New Yorker.
编辑推荐 From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. Sobel's purpose in this lovely and personal volume is to show us the planets as she sees them. Writing in quite a different mode than in her best-selling
Longitude and
Galileo's Daughter, Sobel offers intimate essays inspired by the planets in our solar system, which she describes as "an assortment of magic beans or precious gems in a little private cabinet of wonder—portable, evocative, and swirled in beauty." She frames each essay in a different light, using a particular planet as a stepping stone toward a discussion of larger issues. Her "Jupiter" essay becomes a meditation on astrology, while her essay on the Sun, which relates the actual birth of the universe seemingly ex nihilo, evokes the Genesis account of creation in both its themes and the cadence of its language. Put simply, Sobel's conceits work (even, remarkably, the essay on Mars written from the perspective of a Martian rock) because each beautifully frames its planet. An essay that begins with the story of Sobel's grandmother coming to the United States as an immigrant, for example, sets up the author's musings on the odd nature of Pluto as somewhere in between "planet" and "other." This resonant and eclectic collection—informative, entertaining and poetic—is a joy to read.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to the Hardcover edition. From School Library Journal Adult/High School–The authors lifelong fascination with our solar system is evident in these essays that blend the latest scientific knowledge with popular culture, mythology, astrology, literature, music, and more. Beginning with the Big Bang and the Sun in Genesis, Sobel presents the nine planets in turn, inviting readers to share her sense of wonder. Each selection begins with a different point of view. In Sci-Fi, an ancient meteorite talks of the formation and physical nature of Mars; it is followed by an imaginative discussion of the colonization of the planet, including the views of science-fiction writers. Night Air begins with a letter from Caroline Herschel, daughter of Uranus discoverer William Herschel, and also his assistant to the American astronomer Maria Mitchell. Readers will probably assume that this is a real letter; not until the Details section at the end of the book is it revealed that it is fiction, although factually accurate. The writing is clear and elegant, almost lyrical at times, and the research is thorough. This unique and attractive book will be of interest to both science students and general readers.
–Sandy Freund, Richard Byrd Library, Fairfax County, VA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to the Hardcover edition. From Bookmarks Magazine Sobel, author of best-selling
Longitude and
Galileo’s Daughter, combines spare, poetic, and descriptive writing with facts worthy of a textbook. Readers will be familiar with some of Sobel’s stories about Kepler, Galileo, and Halley, but lesser-known ones featuring Maria Mitchell or Clyde Tombaugh will fascinate neophytes. While Sobel cleverly makes each planet relevant to various themes, from women’s issues to modern technologies, and never fails to entertain, critics agree that
Planets is not her best work to date. A few critics took umbrage at the chapter on Jupiter, which, in its embrace of astrology, undermines her scientific credibility. In addition, some critics viewed the different voices of each essay as schizophrenic. In the end, however,
Planets won’t disappoint sky gazers, especially those forever done with textbooks.
Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
Hoping to turn her readers on to the solar system, Sobel tours the sun and its revolving consorts. Intentionally evoking wonder over data, she tries out varying compositional forms for each orb, so that this work forms a set of essays, a literary counterpart to Gustav Holst's 1916 symphonic suite The Planets. The comparison waxes explicit when Sobel ruminates upon Saturn, the incomparable ringed beauty of the solar system and also Holst's favorite. Allusive of age and serenity, Saturn has inspired connotations in mythology and astrology, and these are turned over elegantly in Sobel's emotive prose, which recalls the awe it and its wandering companions inspired in ancient times but which city lights and, perhaps, space-age knowledge have washed out. Yet with subtle balance, Sobel adds background about the planets' discoveries without tipping her essays in the encyclopedic direction as she discusses Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter. However, she handles Uranus and Neptune altogether differently, in an imagined letter from Catherine Herschel, astronomer-sister of Uranus-finder William Herschel, to nineteenth-century American astronomer Maria Mitchell, which indirectly addresses the topic of women in science amid providing the history of the planets' first detections. A thoughtful, apt diction permeates Sobel's journey among the planets, creating a mood of reading pleasure that also helped make Longitude (1995) a best-seller. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Review
A lively exploration of the historical and cultural meaning of the planets. -- Kirkus Reviews
A sublime journey. [Sobel's] writing...is as bright as the sun and its thinking as star-studded as the cosmos. -- Atlanta Journal-Constitution
An incantatory serenade to the solar system...Grade: A- -- Entertainment Weekly
lyrical...each essay is a little gem, telling an interesting story without overwhelming the reader with facts. -- Washington Post Book World
Like Sobel's [Longitude and Galileo's Daughter]...[The Planets] combines masterful storytelling with clear, engaging explanations of the essential scientific details. -- Physics World
Readers who appreciated Sobel's rich writing in Galileo's Daughter also will enjoy The Planets. -- USA Today
There are not nine reasons for liking this book-there are as many as there are stars. -- San Diego Union-Tribune
With The Planets Dava Sobel...continues her reign as one of the most engaging and lyrical science writers around -- Portland Oregonian
[A] warm, whimsical portrait album of the nine planets...a little something for everyone. -- The New York Times
…playful...lyrical ... a guided tour so imaginative that we forget we're being educated while we're being entertained. -- Newsweek --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
