銀星砂 :: 天文書籍 :: Neptune [2006-11-05] Neptune - The planet, rings and satellites
1. The Discovery of Neptune 海王星，太陽系的第八顆行星。以單一顆行星為題的書不能說少(當然以英文書籍計算)，但以海王星作骨幹的書，少之有少。不計Arizona University Press出版的學術書籍"Neptune and Triton"外，這本Praxis出版的"Neptune"是有史以來對海王星描寫最豐富的書籍。 當年，這書一出版後，立即急不及待去「入貨」，一來是因為這本書是Springer-Praxis的出品，Praxis的書向來都質素很高和用心選材，個人一向都很喜歡Praxis出版的天文書；二來是這本的書名 － "Neptune"，早年Praxis也出版了一本由Miner所著的"Uranus"，同樣是一本經典的書，因此，不用思索便買下了這本"Neptune". 當初未正式閱讀這本書時，看著書的大綱，看見這書在後半段才開始討論海王星的大氣、內部結構、環等，而用了一半章節討論航行者探測船，和到達海王星前的經歷，起初，的確覺得是否有點欺場？花這麼筆墨去講及不是海王星的內容。 但當真正讀起上來，發覺完全不是這回事。 作者Miner是當年負責航行者計劃的其中一名科學家，他身歷其景的經歷相信不能由外人取替。他所寫的內容很到題，沒有多餘的說話，寫的每一件事也是有關海王星或海王星的探索，航行者在木星、土星、天王星的發現也是點到即止，完全是為解釋航行者在海王星的發現而寫的，因此完全改變了我最初的第一個感覺。 而且，由海王星發現的故事到初初利用地面望遠鏡探測海王星的發現；航行者的誕生，預備海王星之旅的工作，實際操作航行者的詳情，航行者到達海王星的經過，海王星的科學等等，Miner都非常詳盡的作出討論。當中，單是看以第一身描述美國太空總署內部的日常運作、航行者的細緻內容，已經值回票價了。 但這本書對海衛一特箂頓的討論不夠多，由於特箂頓的重要性，個人認為該有一整章節寫特箂頓才是。 這本書適合喜歡太空探索、太陽系的朋友，內容不算深但也不算淺，適合對太陽系和行星探系已有基礎認識的朋友。 極力推薦！ 在這裏可以找到更多這本書的資料。 Neptune, the 8th planet in our Solar System. I won't say there are little books write on a single planet, however, books which write simply on Neptune, you can count. Apart from the technical masterpiece "Neptune and Triton" published by Arizona University Press, this Praxis publication is the best book on Neptune ever had. I remembered when this book was first published, I bought it immediately. Firstly, it is because this is one in the excellent Springer-Praxis book series, I always love the books published by Praxis. Secondly, "Neptune" is a special book, in early years; Miner also published a very good book "Uranus" for Praxis. Therefore, I didn't think buy bought a copy of "Neptune". When I not yet started my reading, and found that only the second half of book talk about Neptunian atmosphere, interior, ring etc, but used the first half to talk about the Voyagers and the pre-Neptune discoveries, I thought that that it was traveling out of scope. However, when I started my reading, it is not the case. Miner was one of scientists in-charging the Voyager mission to Neptune, his personally experience cannot be replaced by others. His writings are to point, no dummy words, everything he wrote are related to the Neptune findings. Even for those he mentioned for the Voyager findings on Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus, are all concise and it's important for the story of Neptune discoveries. It is totally different from my first impression. More, Miner described the history of Neptune, the telescopic understanding of Neptune before Voyager; the story of Voyager, its beginning, preparation for the Neptune encounter, the detail sequence of events during the encounter as well as the in-depth Neptune sciences. From his firsthand experience, you can see how NASA's daily operation, and the details of Voyager mission, these are already worthwhile for the book. The only weakness of this book is the coverage of Triton is too little. Since Triton is a very important moon in the solar system, persaonlly I think there should be a whole chapter dedicated for Triton. This book is a great reading for those who love space exploration and the Solar System. This book is not too difficult nor too easy, so I suggest this book to those who have basic knowledge of the Solar System and planetary exploration. I highly recommend this book! You can also find more book info or buy this book here. |
* Author: Ellis D. Miner, Randii R. WessenPAGE :: 1 SITE :: 1 stardust.net :: 1
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