Synopses & Reviews
Anyone with a little extra cash and a plane ticket can take a and#8220;grand tourand#8221; of Europe. But a tour of the Solar System? Now thatand#8217;s an experience deserving of the word
grand. Introducing the new edition of the book praised as and#8220;spectacularand#8221; (
London Times), and#8220;eye-bogglingand#8221; (
Future Life),and#8220;concise and informative . . . the colorful and imaginative paintings steal the showand#8221; (
Chicago Tribune), with and#8220;page after page filled with new color paintings, each the well-controlled evocation of a spectacular sceneand#8221; (
Scientific American).Originally published in 1981 and revised in 1993,
The Grand Tour, an astronomy classic with 196,000 copies in print, takes readers on an imaginative trip through every corner of the solar system, in much the same way as Cookand#8217;s once took travelers on a grand tour of the Continent.
Completely updated and revised and drawing on discoveries made by Voyager I and II, Magellan, Galileo, the Hubble Space Telescope, the Mars Global Surveyor Missionand other space initiatives, The Grand Touris a dazzling journey that combines lush art and up-to-the-minute science. One hundred new paintings give travelers an unprecedented view of phenomena such as Saturnand#8217;s rings from Saturn itself; the rusty-red dune fields of Mars; the rugged surface of Mercury, saturated with impact craters; and the Kuiper Belt of planetesimals, the largest of which is Plutoand#8212;now considered a half-planet. From the vast reaches of Jupiter to tiny frozen Rhea, like a snowball orbiting around Saturn, it is a journey of astonishing proportions.
Synopsis
Hurricanes so enormous that the earth itself could be lost in one; a volcano larger than the state of Missouri and higher than Everest; a planet with a billion moons; a planet that rotates on its side; worlds made of solid ice; a world where it rains gasoline. These are not inventions of fantasy or science fiction, but are places that really exist-in our own solar system.
Now with 190,000 copies in print, here is a spectacular Grand Tour of the solar system featuring a unique blend of science and art-photographs along with dazzling full-color paintings, drawings, and maps based on years of astronomer William Hartmann's research, personal observation, and interviews with colleagues.
In text and diagrams, too, The Grand Tour explains how the strange and uncanny worlds on the journeys came to be, and what it would be like to actually set foot upon them today. The book includes an atlas of the planets and their satellites, and of the Earth's moon.
Complete with a selection of previously unpublished photographs taken by the Apollo astronauts, and by the Mariner, Viking, and Pioneer planetary probes, The Grand Tour is unique and breathtaking, majestic and eerie, and wonderful, taking the reader to more, and to the beyond. Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club, Quality Paperback Book Club, and Newbridge Book Club.
Synopsis
A DAZZLING JOURNEY
The trunks are packed, your passport's in order. But instead of sailing to Le Havre for a Cook's tour of the Continent, you're embarking on a voyage through the solar system. That is the wonder of THE GRAND TOUR.
Originally published in 1981 and now completely updated by the scientific findings of the past decade, the revised edition of THE GRAND TOUR includes 10 new chapters, 52 new and/or revised paintings, 24 new photographs, and new drawings and maps. Through its unique marriage of art and fact, the book transports readers to unimaginable places-worlds of pure ice and utter night, of volcanic tumult and swirling acid clouds, of deep cut canyons and startingly beautiful vistas. From the vast reaches of Jupiter to tiny frozen Rhea, orbiting like a snowball around Saturn, it takes us on a journey of astonishing proportions.
Astronomer William K. Hartmann is internationally known as a planetary scientist, painter, and writer. Ron Miller, a former director of the Albert Einstein Spacearium at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., is widely known for his astronomical and science-fiction paintings. Their other collaborations include Out of the Cradle, Cycles of Fire, and The History of Earth.
About the Author
William K. Hartmann is the author, most recently, of A Travelers Guide to Mars and co-author of Out of the Cradle. He is an internationally known scientist, writer, and painter, and winner of the first Carl Sagan Medal from the American Astronomical Society. He has an asteroid—#3341—named after him. He lives in Tucson, Arizona.Ron Miller, co-author of Out of the Cradle, is an illustrator known for his astronomical and science fiction paintings, and served as a production illustrator for the movies Dune and Total Recall. He is a fellow of the British Interplanetary Society and member of the Academy of Astronautics. He lives in King George, Virginia.
Table of Contents
Introducing the Territory
PART I: THE FIFTEEN LARGEST WORLDS
JUPITER: Planet of the Gods
SATURN: Lord of the Rings
URANUS: A Sideways World
NEPTUNE: The Last Giant
EARTH: The Planet of Life
VENUS: The Veiled Inferno
MARS: The Rusted Planet
GANYMEDE: A New Wrinkle
TITAN: The Masked Moon
MERCURY: Child of the Sun
CALLISTO: The Battered Moon
IO: A World Turning Inside Out
THE MOON: Earth's Companion
EUROPA: An Icy Cue Ball
TRITON: A World Out of Place
PART II: SELECTED SMALLER WORLDS
Pluto and Charon
Titania and Oberon
Rhea
Iapetus
Umbriel and Ariel
Dione and Tethys
1 Ceres
Enceldus
4 Vesta
Miranda
Mimas
Nereid
624 Hektor
Amalthea
2060 Chiron
Janus and Epimetheus
Themus
Naiad
Comet P/Schwassmann-Wachmann I
Phobos and Deimos
951 Gaspra
Halley's Comet
1221 Amor and 1862 Apollo
4769 Castalia and 4179 Toutatis
1991 BA
APPENDIX
Glossary
Further Reading
Index