Dava Sobel's book Longitude became an international best-seller, and has been translated into more than twenty foreign languages. In her latest book The Planets she uses her unique skill to turn complex scientific ideas into beautifully written, easy to understand and delightful prose. Download and read the extract and be light years ahead of your reading friends.

Synopsis

This groundbreaking new work traces the lives of each member of our solar family, from myth and history, astrology and science fiction, to the latest data from the modern era's robotic space probes.

Whether revealing what hides behind Venus's cocoon of acid clouds, describing Neptune's 'complex beauty in subtle stripes and spots of royal to navy blue, azure, turquoise, and aquamarine', or capturing first-hand the excitement at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory when the first pictures from Cassini at Saturn were recently beamed to earth, Dava Sobel's unique tour of the solar system is filled with fascination and beauty. In lyrical prose interspersed with poems by Tennyson, Blake and others, The Planets gives a breathtaking, intimate view of those heavenly bodies that have captured the imagination since humanity's first glimpse of the glittering night skies.

This extraordinary book of science, history, biography and storytelling will engage and delight. It is at once timely and timeless, and of infinite relevance to this age in which new planets are being discovered elsewhere in our galaxy, around stars other than the Sun.

Reviews

Praise for Longitude:

'Sobel is a stunning talent that continues to sparkle and interest us all as much as the subjects she writes about.' Guardian

'A true life thriller, jam packed with politcal intrigue, international warfare and personal feuds and financial skullduggery.' Daily Mail

'Rarely have I enjoyed a book as much as Dava Sobel's Longitude. She has an extraordinary gift of making difficult ideas clear.' Daily Telegraph

About the Author

Dava Sobel is the internationally renowned author of Longitude and Galileo’s Daughter. She is also an award-winning former science reporter for the ‘New York Times’ and writes frequently about science for several magazines, including the ‘New Yorker’, ‘Audubon’, ‘Discover’, ‘Life’ and ‘Omni’. Dava has won a number of awards for her outstanding contribution towards public understanding of science. She lives in East Hampton, New York. More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation