Moons

Moons PDF Author: David A. Rothery
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0198735278
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 177

Book Description
Our Solar System contains more moons than planets. They show astonishing variety, and some look more likely than Mars to host microbial life. David Rothery describes these fascinating small worlds, their discovery, names, and what they can tell us about our solar system.

Moons: A Very Short Introduction

Moons: A Very Short Introduction PDF Author: David A. Rothery
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0191054216
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 177

Book Description
Proving to be both varied and fascinating, moons are far more common than planets in our Solar System. Our own Moon has had a profound influence on Earth, not only through tidal effects, but even on the behaviour of some marine animals. Many remarkable things have been discovered about the moons of the giant outer planets from Voyager, Galileo, Cassini, and other spacecraft. Scientists have glimpsed volcanic activity on Io, found oceans of water on Titan, and captured photos of icy geysers bursting from Enceladus. It looks likely that microbial life beyond the Earth may be discovered on a moon rather than a planet. In this Very Short Introduction David Rothery introduces the reader to the moons of our Solar System, beginning with the early discoveries of Galileo and others, describing their variety of mostly mythological names, and the early use of Jupiter's moons to establish position at sea and to estimate the speed of light. Rothery discusses the structure, formation, and influence of our Moon, and those of the other planets, and ends with the recent discovery of moons orbiting asteroids, whilst looking forward to the possibility of finding moons of exoplanets in planetary systems far beyond our own. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Planets: A Very Short Introduction

Planets: A Very Short Introduction PDF Author: David A. Rothery
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191614432
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 152

Book Description
This Very Short Introduction looks deep into space and describes the worlds that make up our Solar System: terrestrial planets, giant planets, dwarf planets and various other objects such as satellites (moons), asteroids and Trans-Neptunian objects. It considers how our knowledge has advanced over the centuries, and how it has expanded at a growing rate in recent years. David A. Rothery gives an overview of the origin, nature, and evolution of our Solar System, including the controversial issues of what qualifies as a planet, and what conditions are required for a planetary body to be habitable by life. He looks at rocky planets and the Moon, giant planets and their satellites, and how the surfaces have been sculpted by geology, weather, and impacts. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Astrobiology: A Very Short Introduction

Astrobiology: A Very Short Introduction PDF Author: David C. Catling
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199586454
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 161

Book Description
Examines the origins of life on Earth and the search for extraterrestrial life, through an understanding of the factors that have allowed life to exist on this planet and the commonalities on others that may enable life elsewhere.

Hermeneutics: A Very Short Introduction

Hermeneutics: A Very Short Introduction PDF Author: Jens Zimmermann
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191508535
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 177

Book Description
Hermeneutics is the branch of knowledge that deals with interpretation, a behaviour that is intrinsic to our daily lives. As humans, we decipher the meaning of newspaper articles, books, legal matters, religious texts, political speeches, emails, and even dinner conversations every day . But how is knowledge mediated through these forms? What constitutes the process of interpretation? And how do we draw meaning from the world around us so that we might understand our position in it? In this Very Short Introduction Jens Zimmermann traces the history of hermeneutic theory, setting out its key elements, and demonstrating how they can be applied to a broad range of disciplines: theology; literature; law; and natural and social sciences. Demonstrating the longstanding and wide-ranging necessity of interpretation, Zimmermann reveals its significance in our current social and political landscape. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Tides

Tides PDF Author: David George Bowers
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 019882663X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 169

Book Description
The tide is the greatest synchronised movement of matter on our planet. Every drop of seawater takes part in tidal motion, driven by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun. At the coast, we see the tide as a twice-daily rise and fall of sea level that moves the edge of the sea up and down a beach or cliff-face. In some places, the tide is small but at others it can rise in a few hours by the height of a three storey building; it then has to be treated with great respect by those who live and work by the sea. In this Very Short Introduction David George Bowers and Emyr Martyn Roberts explore what we know about the tides. Blending clear explanations of well known tidal phenomena with recent insights in the deep ocean and coastal seas, Bowers and Roberts use examples from around the world, to tell the story of the tide, considering its nature and causes, its observation and prediction, and unusual tides and their relevance. They explore why tides have attracted the attention of some of the world's greatest scientists, from the initial challenge of explaining why there are two tides a day when the moon and sun pass overhead just once; a problem that was solved by Isaac Newton. In the 19th century, scientists unravelled the rhythms of the tide; good tidal predictions in the form of tide tables were then possible. The predictions were made on beautiful tide predicting machines constructed of brass and mahogany, some of which can still be seen in maritime museums. In the 20th century, the importance of tides as mixers of sea water became evident. As Bowers and Roberts explore, tidal mixing of the ocean is essential for maintaining its deep circulation, a key part of the climate-control system of our planet. In inshore waters, tidal mixing enhances biological productivity, influences sea temperature and turbidity and creates dramatic features such as maelstroms and tidal bores. In the 21st century, space probes are examining the effects of tidal processes on the moons of Jupiter and Saturn and the possibility of tidally-heated liquid oceans with their own ecosystems. Looking to the cutting edge of tidal research, Bowers and Roberts also consider how we can study the role of the tide in the geological and biological evolution of our own planet with innovative computer models. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Beyond the Moon

Beyond the Moon PDF Author: James Greig McCully
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9812774335
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 304

Book Description
Finally, someone has written a comprehensive, easily readable explanation of the tides on earth that is both simple enough for students and solid enough for their professors. Step by step, by analogy and illustration, Beyond the Moon describes how the cyclical motion of the near solar system is impressed upon the earth's oceans, and how the hydraulics over the continental shelf and the geography of the coastline orchestrate this rhythm into the bewildering variety of tide patterns seen around the globe. This volume demystifies the complexity of the tides by systematically examining its many constituents and demonstrates that: OC Nature is, at once, awesome in complexity and beautiful in simplicity.OCO"

African History: A Very Short Introduction

African History: A Very Short Introduction PDF Author: John Parker
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0192802488
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 185

Book Description
Intended for those interested in the African continent and the diversity of human history, this work looks at Africa's past and reflects on the changing ways it has been imagined and represented. It illustrates key themes in modern thinking about Africa's history with a range of historical examples.

The Very Short Introductions Blog Book

The Very Short Introductions Blog Book PDF Author: Oxford University Press
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191056243
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 204

Book Description
In this free Very Short Introductions Blog Book we’ve gathered 30 of our VSI authors’ very best blog posts on topics including history, politics, science, and more. We hope you enjoy this glimpse into the passion, insight, and great writing that characterizes these authors and the Very Short Introductions series.

An Introduction to the Study of the Moon

An Introduction to the Study of the Moon PDF Author: Zdenek Kopal
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9401175454
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 469

Book Description
After several decades spent in astronomical semi-obscurity, the Moon has of late suddenly emerged as an object of considerable interest to students of astronomy as well as of other branches of natural science and technology; and the reasons for this are indeed of historical significance. For the Moon has now been destined to be the first celestial body outside the confines of our own planet to be reconnoitered at a close range by means of spacecraft built and sent out by human hand for this purpose. At the time of writing, not less than ten such spacecraft of American as well as Rus sian origin landed already on different parts of the lunar surface; and some of these provided remarkable records of its detail structure to a spatial resolution increased thousandfold over that attained so far from our ground-based facilities. A renewed interest in our satellite, stemming from this source, on the part of the students of many branches of science and technology has also underlined the need for presenting the gist of our present knowledge in this field in the form that could serve as an introduction to the study of the Moon not only for astronomers, but also for serious students from other branches of science or technology.
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