| ________________
CM . . .
. Volume X Number 9 . . . . January 2, 2004
excerpt:
Exploring Saturn gives a brief history of man's ideas of the universe from the time of the cave man to today's astronomers. Most of the book tells the story of Saturn's creation, outlines the theories about its mysterious rings and discusses its many moons. It also explains the purpose of the space mission to Saturn that was launched on October 15, 1997 and will arrive on July 1, 2004.
Some of the views of early astronomers sound very strange today. These include that of the Greek, Eudoxus of Cnidus, who believed that the sun, moon, planets, and stars moved around Earth. They also include the opinion of the better known Ptolemy who thought that the planets moved in increasingly larger circles around Earth. His ideas were considered the truth for 14 centuries. The quote by Galileo, the Italian scientist, who, in 1610, was the first to view Saturn through a telescope, is a typical example of man's enthusiasm for Saturn. Galileo wrote: "I have discovered a most extraordinary marvel. The planet Saturn is not one alone, but is composed of three, which almost touch one another. They are completely immobile and are situated in this manner: oOo.” The many photographs included in Exploring Saturn help to explain this enthusiasm. They are spread throughout the book and help to illustrate the book's themes. The first picture of Saturn taken by the Hubble Space Telescope is both beautiful and enigmatic and sets the tone for the book. The mystery surrounding Saturn is symbolic of mankind's fascination with space. Solving it is the driving force behind the exploration of space. Bortolotti is a freelance writer who also wrote Tiger Rescue and Panda Rescue for Firefly Books. His style is easy to understand. Exploring Saturn is clearly written and will be popular with adults, who are intrigued by Saturn, as well as by younger readers. It will make an excellent reference book in a science class. It contains a useful list of addresses and web sites. These include the NASA Solar System site and the European Space Agency. There is no index or glossary. Both would have been useful. One interesting feature of Exploring Saturn is a comparison of this mysterious planet with Earth. Readers will be intrigued to learn that the average temperature on Saturn is 185C, while that on earth is a comparatively balmy 15C. They may also be interested to learn that it takes Saturn 29.46 years to complete its orbit compared to Earth's 365 1/4 days. A fascinating section of the book concerns the Cassini Huygens Mission which was launched from Cape Canaveral on October 15, 1997. This mission, containing two separate parts, the Cassini orbiter and the Huygens probe, will take seven years to reach Saturn. When the spacecraft reaches the planet, Cassini will go into a four year orbit around Saturn, gathering useful data. Huygens will separate from Cassini and descend to the surface of Titan, Saturn's largest moon, where it is expected to gather information for only 2 1/2 hours. Charts of Cassini's scientific goals and the instruments it contains add to the value of this section. Highly Recommended. Thomas F. Chambers is a retired college teacher who lives in North Bay, ON.
To comment
on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.
Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association. Reproduction for personal
use is permitted only if this copyright notice is maintained. Any
other reproduction is prohibited without permission.
NEXT REVIEW |TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - January 2, 2004. AUTHORS | TITLES | MEDIA REVIEWS | PROFILES | BACK ISSUES | SEARCH | CMARCHIVE | HOME |
