Exploring Planetary Climate
A History of Scientific Discovery on Earth, Mars, Venus and Titan

An accessible and engaging account of the history of climate science and exploration on Earth and other planetary bodies.

Ralph D. Lorenz (Author)

9781108471541, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 3 January 2019

332 pages, 136 b/w illus.
25.3 x 17.8 x 2 cm, 0.8 kg

'… a sophisticated, but engaging account of what we know about the climates of planets and some moons in the solar system, along with useful discussion of how we know it.' Roger D. Launius, Quest: The History of Spaceflight Quarterly

This book chronicles the history of climate science and planetary exploration, focusing on our ever-expanding knowledge of Earth's climate, and the parallel research underway on some of our nearest neighbours: Mars, Venus and Titan. From early telescopic observation of clouds and ice caps on planetary bodies in the seventeenth century, to the dawn of the space age and the first robotic planetary explorers, the book presents a comprehensive chronological overview of planetary climate research, right up to the dramatic recent developments in detecting and characterising exoplanets. Meanwhile, the book also documents the discoveries about our own climate on Earth, not only about how it works today, but also how profoundly different it has been in the past. Highly topical and written in an accessible and engaging narrative style, this book provides invaluable historical context for students, researchers, professional scientists, and those with a general interest in planetary climate research.

Foreword by Ellen Stofan
Preface
1. The age of wonder: learning the Earth, oceans and sky
2. Planets and greenhouses
3. Age of calculation
4. Feeling the heat
5. First contact
6. The ice returns
7. Mars attracts
8. A new millennium
9. Dune worlds
10. Looking ahead
11. Worlds beyond
12. Conclusions
Glossary
Further reading
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: The Earth: natural history general [WNW], Meteorology & climatology [RBP], Solar system: the Sun & planets [PGS], Astronomy, space & time [PG]