Water Flow In Soils, Second Edition (Books in Soils, Plants, and the Environment)

Book Description

The new edition of a bestseller, Water Flows in Soils bridges the fields of soil physics-where descriptions of water flow tend to be microscopic- and hydrology - where they tend to be macroscopic. This work conveys the fundamental concepts of water flow in soils with clear and essentially nonmathematical explanations. The author elegantly elucidates the basic and advanced principles of water movement in soils. More than 750 figures, tables, and equations provide a concrete image of the water flow phenomena in soils. Tightly focused and packed with examples, the book is a practical resource for graduate students of agriculture and environmental engineering, and researchers in soil physics.

Book Description

This comprehensive volume summarizes current knowledge of the Jovian system, in view of recent scientific developments regarding the Galileo spacecraft, the Galileo probe, the Cassini spacecraft, the Hubble Space Telescope, and numerous ground-based and theoretical studies. Chapters by recognized authorities cover all aspects of Jupiter, its satellites and magnetosphere.

Customer Reviews:

A comprehensive resource on Jupiter.......2005-11-22

Oh, yes, there are several excellent books about Jupiter for the layman. But if you have a technical background and want to learn about Jupiter, why not get the real thing? And this book is indeed the one to get. It has an introduction, twenty-six excellent papers by noted experts in their fields, and a CD with some additional color images. It contains information discovered by the Voyager, Galileo, and even the Cassini missions, as well as from a variety of telescopes, including the Hubble Space Telescope.

The book starts out by addressing questions of Jupiter's origin and interior. A major question is the ratio of helium to hydrogen. That value has to be above the minimum set by cosmology (Big Bang nucleosynthesis), given that the high metallicity of both Jupiter and the Sun suggest that we're not dealing with primordial matter. And one would expect it to be less than the ratio for our Sun, given that the Sun has produced some helium by burning hydrogen. But measurements of this ratio seem a little low, and we're treated to some possible explanations.

Next, we learn about the Jovian atmosphere. An interesting question here has been the amount of water and its significance. And we learn about some of the photochemistry of the stratosphere. As the editors say, "if you like your hydrocarbons fricasseed and you like to dance under a strobe of X-rays, then Jupiter's middle and upper atmosphere is the place to be."

After this, we move a little higher up, to discuss Jovian dust, including Jupiter's rings. How thick are they? How dense? And are the gossamer rings really composed of micron-sized particles and smaller? We then are introduced to the outer satellites and the Trojan asteroids.

There are papers discussing the major satellites in some detail. We learn about Io, its tidal heating, and its volcanoes. And about Europa, including its tides and tectonics. There's material about Europa's Laplace mean motion resonance with Io and Ganymede. And a discussion of astrobiological issues: if Europa has liquid water under its crust, and if there are hydrothermal vents, it is possible that life exists there. There is a paper about the atmospheres of the satellites, and another about radiation effects on satellite surfaces.

Jupiter's large size and 10-hour rotation period are responsible for an immense Jovian magnetosphere, and the final papers in this book discuss various aspects of it. We learn about magnetospheric interactions with satellites. And about the Io plasma torus. And there is a paper on the dynamics of the magnetosphere. One fundamental question here which still has not been totally resolved is the process by which this magnetosphere manages to accelerate the Io plasma from basically a few electron volts to well over 100 thousand electron volts. And there is a fascinating paper about Jupiter's aurora.

The final paper is on the Jovian radiation belts. Issues include the basic electron energy spectrum in the inner radiation belts and the wave modes that may be present there. And there is a practical issue as well: if we don't know what radiation fluxes we're facing, it will be tougher to design the next deep space probe to Jupiter.

If you are interested in studying any aspect of the Jovian system, this book is a good place to start. I highly recommend it.

Lifting Titan's Veil: Exploring the Giant Moon of Saturn

Average customer rating:

A Pale Orange Dot
interesting scientific work
Very good book on what we know now.
Titan And The Pursuit Of Science
Excellent!

Lifting Titan's Veil: Exploring the Giant Moon of Saturn
Ralph Lorenz , and Jacqueline Mitton
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0521793483

Book Description

Lifting Titan's Veil is a revealing account of the second largest moon in our solar system. This world in orbit around Saturn is the only body in the solar system with an atmosphere strikingly similar to Earth's. Titan is like a giant frozen laboratory that may help scientists understand the first chemical steps towards the origin of life. Beginning with its discovery in 1655, the authors describe our current knowledge of Titan, including observations made before the space age, results from the Voyager missions of the 1980s, and recent revelations from the world's most advanced telescopes. In Lifting Titan's Veil, Ralph Lorenz includes his personal experiences in preparing for the Cassini mission, which will reach Saturn in 2004 and release the Huygens probe into Titan's atmosphere in 2005. A splendid introduction to Titan, this book will appeal to anyone interested in astronomical discovery and space exploration. Ralph Lorenz trained as an engineer and worked for the European Space Agency at the very beginning of the Huygens project. Since obtaining a PhD at the University of Kent, England, he has worked as a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona, Tucson. His research interests focus on Titan, but also include climatology, radar, impact dynamics and spacecraft and instrumentation design. He has been involved in NASA's largest planetary mission (Cassini) and its smallest (the DS-2 Mars Microprobes). Jacqueline Mitton obtained a Ph.D in astrophysics from the University of Cambridge, and is now a full-time writer and media consultant specializing in astronomy. She has served as Press Officer for the Royal Astonomical Society since 1989, and was Editor of the Journal of the British Astronomical Association 1989-1993. She has written or co-authored sixteen published astronomy books, the most recent, The Cambridge Dictionary of Astronomy (2001).

Customer Reviews:

A Pale Orange Dot.......2004-06-06

Rare is the work that meets the high publication standards within a given scientific discipline while being simultaneously accessible to the public at large. In particular, and notwithstanding its cachet and increasing multidisciplinary approach, the field of planetary sciences often offers up works that are either overspecialized to the point of alienating all but a very select readership or those works appealing to a broad audience but derisively dismissed by experts as popularizing and superficial. Bridging the wide chasm separating these two extremes requires talented writing. LIFTING TITAN'S VEIL: EXPLORING THE GIANT MOON OF SATURN, by Ralph Lorenz and Jacqueline Mitton, is a book that accomplishes this with a professionally credible, yet highly readable, account of mankind's attempts to unravel the mysteries of Saturn's largest moon. Lorenz and Mitton succeed in this collaboration due in no small part to their highly impressive credentials. The former is one of today's most prolific planetary scientists, especially regarding the study of Titan, and also a participant in the current Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn and Titan. The latter, with a Ph.D. in astrophysics, is a renowned science writer credited with authorship or co-authorship of sixteen astronomy-related works.

Answering, in the most basic way, the "why" question that often accompanies any discussion of planetary exploration, the authors write, "More than anything else, planetary exploration gives us a sense of perspective, a notion of who we are, where we came from and what our destiny might be. We can learn from all worlds. Each planet and moon in the solar system has its own unique history. Each is an experiment with a different set of conditions..." More specifically, they note that Titan, with its orange-tinted, nitrogen-rich 1.5 bar atmosphere containing traces of hydrocarbons and other organics, might represent an analogue, albeit a cyrogenic one, of the prebiotic atmosphere surrounding early Earth. Considering that mankind has yet to demonstrate time travel, studying Titan may be the only way (outside of modelling and laboratory experiments, both of which have obvious limitations) to explore this critical phase in Earth's history. It goes without saying that studying Titan, especially in situ, is exploration at the cutting edge.

Coming at an especially propitious moment, the book provides a comprehensive synthesis of the body of Titan-related science, which is placed into historical context. Starting with the moon's discovery in 1655 by Christiaan Huygens, the Dutch astronomer, LIFTING TITAN'S VEIL spans a time frame of three and a half centuries of astronomical observations leading up to the modern era of spacecraft reconnaissance and exploration. The book is organized topically, with a distinct narrative style (e.g., the unique "Ralph's Log" feature), and runs the gamut from astronomy to meterology to geology to speculation about future Titan exploration. I highly recommend LIFTING TITAN'S VEIL to all readers. Anyone interested in Titan, this "pale orange dot," will, I think, find something of worth in this work. Indeed, I personally feel that Chapter 3, "Titan's puzzling atmosphere," is alone worth the price of the book.

interesting scientific work.......2003-11-01

This book is fun for whoever loves science.Its an example of applying science to data gathered from earth telescopes and space probes,mainly through the eyes of Hubble and Voyager. Attempts at explaining theoretical models behind possible chemical and physical processes at work on this moon are made.It would be interesting to compare the current thinking with what Cassini will actually reveal in a years time!

Very good book on what we know now........2003-02-04

The authors do a good job in this book and it is a good read. What is interesting is how much we do not know about this amazing satellite. We have no idea about what the surface is like. In less than 5 years the Cassini mission w/ the Huygens lander will make this book obsolete. You have to wonder why this book was written so close to Cassini's arrival. Until then this book should be standard text in any amatuer astronomers library. The authors give too much credit to Carl Sagan and not enough to the real scientists who have contributed to our limited knowledge on the subject. Besides that this book almost gets my highest rating.

Titan And The Pursuit Of Science.......2002-12-31

This is an exciting time for planetary exploration, when after the solar system has been reconnoitered by spacecraft (except Pluto) and now spacecraft are being sent to specific planets and moons, etc., for closer examination. LIFTING TITAN'S VEIL covers the Cassini mission to Saturn and it's large moon Titan, known to possess a thick atmosphere and perhaps a hydrocarbon ocean, due to insert itself into Saturnian orbit in July, 2004, the attached Huygens probe should enter Titan's atmosphere January, 2005.

The authors include a lot of science in this volume, including background information concerning moons and planets across the solar system. Most of this book covers Titan of course, what we know about it and how we came about that knowledge, from early times to the present. Titan's atmosphere and surface and sub-surface conditions recieve the most attention, with the chemistry of the atmosphere discussed at length. Also, the authors debate the possibility of an ethane/methane ocean existing on Titan as the surface temperature, according to available evidence, is close to the triple point of methane. All of this science can of course, as the authors point out, shed light on the formation and evolution of the solar system and in turn give us clues to our own origins in the misty past. As a chemist I especially enjoyed the information on the chemistry of Titan, and the space-buff in me enjoyed all of it. In addition, the Cassini spacecraft is detailed, and there are lots of illustrations, many in color.

On a personal note, I remember being at the space center as a visitor just a few days before the launch of Cassini, in October, 1997, and thinking that here is this spacecraft sitting out there on the pad just a few hundred yards from the Atlantic beach, I wondered then, will Huygens, at the end of it's journey, find another beach? Space travel is cool!

Excellent!.......2002-06-28

In "Lifting Titan's Veil", Ralph Lorenz and Jacqueline Mitton have written a lucid account of what we know about Titan, and how the Huygens probe which will parachute down to its surface in 2005 is designed to tell us more. As a research scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory whose doctoral thesis was on the topic, Ralph is well placed to sift through the various competing theories. In fact, he designed the probe's spear-like penetrometer which - if all goes to plan - will be the first human artefact to come into contact with this intriguing moon's surface. As an avid reader on the topic, I thoroughly recommend this book.

Introduction to Planetary Science: The Geological Perspective

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Introduction to Planetary Science: The Geological Perspective
Gunter Faure , and Teresa, M. Mensing
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1402052332

Book Description

This textbook is intended to be used in a lecture course for college students majoring in Earth Sciences. Planetary science provides an opportunity for these students to apply a wide range of subject matter pertaining to the Earth to the study of other planets and their principal satellites. In this way, planetary science tends to unify subjects in the Earth Sciences that are traditionally taught separately. Therefore, planetary science is well-suited to be taught as a capstone course for senior undergraduates in geology departments and as an introduction to the solar system in astronomy departments. Both groups of students will benefit because planetary science bridges the gap between geology and astronomy and it prepares geologists and astronomers to participate actively in the on-going exploration of the solar system.

The subject matter is presented in 24 chapters that lead the reader through the solar system starting with historical perspectives on space exploration and the development of the scientific method. The presentations concerning the planets and their satellites emphasize that their origin and subsequent evolution can be explained by applications of certain basic principles of physics, chemistry, and celestial mechanics and that the surface features of the solid bodies in the solar system can be interpreted by means of the principles of geology.

Pluto and Charon (University of Arizona Space Science Series)

Average customer rating:

An.McCracken is a fake. REPORT THIS
Very pedantic tomb about two worthless pieces of ice
You want to become a Plutophile?
A good introduction to the ninth planet
A Brand New Perspective On Our Solar System

Pluto and Charon (University of Arizona Space Science Series)

Manufacturer: University of Arizona Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0816518408

Book Description

Which planet is furthest from the sun? It's a question whose answer has just changed. For the last 20 years, the answer was Neptune, giving scientists the opportunity to study the closer Pluto. As of February 1999, Pluto has again looped out beyond Neptune's orbit, and will remain there until 2,232.--ABCNews.com For the first time in nearly two decades, here is the story of this distant planet of the solar system and its moon Despite our growing understanding of Pluto and its moon Charon, there have not been any books written on them since 1981, when Clyde Tombaugh's book was published in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of Pluto's discovery. Now well-known astronomer Alan Stern presents the first popular account of what we have learned about Pluto and Charon since 1980. It starts with the discovery of Pluto in 1930 and culminates with observations obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope in 1996. S. Alan Stern (Louisville, CO) works at Southwest Research Institute. Jacqueline Mitton (Cambridge, England) is a Public Relations Officer at the Royal Astronomical Society.

Customer Reviews:

An.McCracken is a fake. REPORT THIS.......2006-08-12

The reviewer below - An.McCracken - is a fake. He reviews countless books each day but he does not read the books, just paraphrases other people's reviews. REPORT THIS TO AMAZON. Click on (Report this) link under the review, next to the voting buttons.

Very pedantic tomb about two worthless pieces of ice.......2006-01-14

The author and New Horizons Principal Investigator, Alan Stern, is obviously excited (i.e. worse than a creationist zealot) about Pluto and Charon. But he doesn't fairly tackle the other side of the debate: who really cares? Yes, scientists can make up reasons why the American government should waste millions of dollars to send a spacecraft to Pluto, Charon, and the Kuiper Belt, but what startling science will be advanced by two pieces of ice that we already have a pretty good understanding of after Voyager 2's trip past Neptune's moon Triton in 1989? Even if we lack a fundamental understanding of so-called ice dwarf class planets, is the extraordinary cost really worth the benefit? Any scientist will admit that it is extremely unlikely that we will find life on Pluto or Charon. Can we finally solve the debate about whether Pluto is a planet or a KBO? Wow. What a great use of over $700 million. I think that Stern and other Planetary Society members need to focus on more important, and less selfish, world problems, such as genocide and starvation in Somalia or Al Qaeda. Or at the very least, spend the money on a worthy objective, such as sending another craft to Jupiter's moon Europa, a place where we might actually find life.

You want to become a Plutophile?.......2001-10-30

If you don't know much about the "King of the Kuiper Belt", read this book, and you will have a very clear scientific description of this "massive comet"...

This book is complete, starting from the historic discovery (blind luck, really) of Pluto, the subsequent observations that kept on shrinking the planet, then the suprising discovery of Charon, the fortuitious Pluto/Charon occultation, and the latest HST results.

Easy to read, and yet technical enough, this book will probably make you love this planet, even though it's only a big comet saved from destruction by its orbital resonance with Neptune... and will make you hate NASA (or the US Congress) for not going forward with their Pluto Express probe.

A good introduction to the ninth planet.......2001-09-06

This book is a well-written and enjoyable summary of what we know about Pluto and its relatively huge moon Charon. However, the fact of the matter is we don't know much because we have yet to send a spacecraft to this fascinating double planet! Stern and Mitton do a great job presenting the timeline of our discoveries about Pluto as well as the latest theories on the compositions and origin of these bodies.

I was especially impressed with the discussion of Pluto's atmosphere changing as a result of the planet's greatly elliptical orbit around the Sun. In addition, the authors give a great detailed breakdown of the discoveries gleaned from the mutual occultations in the late 80s. Also, this book was written several years ago but we have since indeed found many more Kuiper Belt objects that lend great credibility to the theory of Pluto simply being one of the largest of that family.

Too much time was spent on describing the birth and continuing struggles of the Pluto Express project. This discussion would have been more appropriate if the spacecraft had even launched, let alone successfully completed its mission. But the fact is that NASA's funding issues have kept the project grounded for now. Hopefully it'll fly in the next couple years. If it doesn't, much of the mission may be compromised because Pluto is getting farther from the Sun each day and as a result its atmospheric activity is dying.

Overall a great effort and worth your time. Don't expect incredible revelations and photographs though, because we still have yet to visit the place!

A Brand New Perspective On Our Solar System.......1999-11-28

A well written historic perspective on our outer-most-planet that by books' end will change your view of our solar system.

A thoroughly enjoyable easy-to-read book. More hard science/discovery books should be written this way.

Book Description

Extensively revised and updated, this new edition of David A. Rothery's acclaimed geological guide to the outer solar system includes results and close-up color and black and white images from both the 1995-1999 Galileo mission to Jupiter and the Voyager space probe. Rothery, a noted planetary scientist, explains the geological aspects of the major satellites of the outer planets, from Jupiter to Neptune and the Pluto-Charon system. In particular he shows how tectonic and volcanic processes, driven by heat from within, have shaped the rigid outer layers of these worlds. Rothery also discusses the similarities and differences among them and the ways in which they resemble Earth-like planets. This fascinating book is written in an introductory style ideal for first- or second-year college courses. Amateur geologists and astronomers will also find its insights rewarding.

Customer Reviews:

Not for the casual reader!.......2005-04-17

This book is not really for the casual reader. On the contrary; this book is rather technical. The first four chapters deal with geological subjects like planet formation, satellite formation, accretional heating, radiogenic heating, tidal heating, partial melting, icy volcanism etc. etc. etc., and describes the Voyager and Galileo space probes. Then follows a description of (only) the bigger satellites.

In describing the "world in their own right", the writer puts them into the following categories:

DEAD WORLD:
Callisto (11 pages), Rhea, Iapetus, Mimas, Oberon and Umbriël (all 2-3 pages each).

RECENTLY ACTIVE WORLDS:
Ganymede (13½ pages), Miranda (8½ pages), Ariël (8½ pages), Dione (6 pages), Tethys (4½ pages), Titania 1½ pages).

ACTIVE WORLDS :
Io (18½ pages), Europa (17½ pages), Triton (12 pages) and Enceladus (6 pages).

UNSEEN WORLDS :
Titan en Pluto/Charon (3½ pages each).

Each moon is visualised with photograps (circa 95 photographs in total, of which nine in color), "shaded relief maps" (a total of 16) and plenty diagrams/drawings etc.

If the emphasis on geology in this book does not appeal to you, I advise you to leave the book alone. If, for instance, you only want really impressive photographs then buy a book like "Beyond: Visions Of The Interplanetary Probes". That book has much nicer photographs.

If on the other hand you really want to dig into the subject of how these "world in their own right" came to be and if you want to understand what you see on photographs of these moons, then this is your book!
The writing style is clear and understandable. You don't have to be a geologist already. This book will offer you many hours of enjoyable reading!

Geological Processes that Shaped the Outer Planet's Moons.......2001-04-03

Though the number of pages in this book may seem a bit small to provide a good explanation the geological processes that shaped and are still shaping the moons of the outer planets, the author does an excellent job of doing just that. Excluding the Moon and the two small satellites of Mars, this book covers all the planetary satellites (moons) of our solar system. The book does include the latest findings (as of 1999) from the Galileo space probe.

The first quarter of the book describes in quite some detail, at least for the non-geologist, the different theories that have been used to classify these planetary bodies. The remainder of the book, excluding the conclusion section, is divided into three parts: dead worlds, recently active worlds and active worlds. Each of the moons falls into one of these categories and a detailed description of each moon is provided in its corresponding section. Each section also includes high resolution Voyager and Galileo photographs and shade relief maps.

After finishing this book, I came away with the idea the solar system is a very geologically diverse place and there is a lot we don't know. Even the author, in several places was willing to admit to that.

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Atmospheres in the Solar System: Comparative Aeronomy (Geophysical Monograph)

Manufacturer: American Geophysical Union
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0875909892

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Blow-Up ! Junior Science - The Solar System

Manufacturer: McRae Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000FI7DFW

Product Description

Planets, satellites, and their ring systems are described and illustrated through a series of fold-out page illustrations. Photos, computer-generated images and stunning artwork make learning about the solar system accessible and fun!

Exploring the Trans-Neptune Solar System (Compass Series)

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Exploring the Trans-Neptune Solar System (Compass Series)
National Research Council (U. S.)
Manufacturer: National Academies Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0309060419

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