This authoritative and comprehensive work contains over 500 entries covering important features of all the planets, their environments, and the processes that have shaped them. |Techniques and methods such as spectroscopy, photometry and radiometry are covered in detail, and the history of planetary science is represented by entries on key individuals, as well as broader topics such as the major planetary missions, remote sensing and so on.
James H. Shirley has written many scientific publications in the fields of lunar and terrestrial seismology, solar physics, and atmospheric sciences. He is a member of the Near-Infrared Mapping Spectrometer Science team of the Galileo Mission to Jupiter, based at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Professor Rhodes W. Fairbridge is emeritus Professor of Geology at Columbia University and is now visiting scientist at the Goddard Institute of Space Studies (NASA, NY). He has edited more that two dozen encyclopedias and authored more than three-hundred scientific publications.
Encyclopedia of Planetary Sciences Wins GIS/Mary B. Ansari Best Reference Work Award DAVIS, CA. -The Encyclopedia of Planetary Sciences has been selected to receive the 1999 GIS/Mary B. Ansari Best Reference Work Award. James H. Shirley and Rhodes W. Fairbridge are the editors of this reference work published by Chapman & Hall in 1997. The selection committee members were impressed with the Encyclopedia's comprehensiveness and its good balance between short biographical entries and longer authoritative articles on major aspects of planetary sciences. It has excellent indexes, cross-references, extensive bibliographies, and a CD of NASA images. The Geoscience Information Society has presented the GIS-Mary B. Ansari Best Reference Work Award annually since 1988. The award honors an outstanding reference work published in the field of geoscience information during the previous three years. The Geoscience Information Society is an international professional organization created to improve the exchange of information in the earth sciences. To achieve this goal, GIS encourages interaction and cooperation among scientists, librarians, editors, cartographers, educators, and information professionals. More information about the Society may be found at the GIS website at www.geoinfo.org. '... informative, authoritative and up to date ... comprehensive and concise coverage of planetary science ... of great use to professionals and students ... the book of the decade.' New Scientist 'This is an impressive volume of information ...' Australian Mineral Foundation 'This is a splendid volume ... beautifully illustrated ... It is a must for any library covering geological and planetological interests.' Joe McCall in the Geoscientist, 8:5 '...this is an outstanding book, and at 62 GBP for the paperback edition, extremely good value. I would highly recommend it both for personal and library purchase.' Chris Kitchin in Astronomy Now (December 2001) 'This hefty book is meticulously edited. High-quality, legible figures comprise 450 line-drawings, 180 black and white photographs and 63 color illustrations. [...] It will be attractive for professionals, students and interested laypeople. Particularly, it will satify expectations of planetary scientsits, astronomers and researchers in related disciplines of geology, geophysics and atmospheric sciences. Included PC and Mac compatible CD-ROM, specially compiled for this book by the US National Space Science Data Center will be a helpful took for teachers in natural sciences, as it contains over 200 planetary and related images available from NASA.' Pure and Applied Geophysics, 161 (2004)