Homer's Travels: Book: Michael Summers And James Trefil's "Exoplanets"

Friday, June 02, 2017

Book: Michael Summers And James Trefil's "Exoplanets"

My fourth book of 2017 is on a subject that always has interested me.  I've mentioned it before how I have always been interested in space exploration.  Since I left college, though, I haven't kept up as much as I'd like.  I've tried to rectify this and have followed the exploits of probes to Ceres and Pluto but I have fallen a little behind on the search for planets outside our solar system.

Michael Summers and James Trefil's "Exoplanets" is a nice overview of what work has been done, what planets have been discovered, and what the chances are of finding life (intelligent or otherwise) on other planets.  I was concerned it may be a little too simple.  These types of books are usually dumbed down for the non-science crowd.  The book is a bit simplified but not too much.  It didn't make me feel dumb and it didn't talk down to me.

The lesson I learned from this book is the science of exoplanets has progressed a lot since the late 90s.  The examples of the types of planets that are being discovered really sparked my imagination.  Can't wait to see what will be discovered next.

I enjoyed this book.  My only complaint is it's a bit short.  I gave it four stars on Goodreads because I now feel a little bit smarter which is a good thing.

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