Asteroids: A History

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Asteroids are many things to many people. For some observers, those "mountains in the sky" point to the cataclysmic origins of the universe. Others see untold wealth in the planetary fragments, which harbour great stores of precious metals. Still others see in asteroids the likelihood of global destruction--after all, one of them, slamming into the earth millions of years ago, may very well have condemned the dinosaurs to extinction, and deep space harbours untold numbers of potential threats to the earth.

In this engaging volume, Curtis Peebles surveys the science of asteroids, offering a highly readable account of the many ways in which they form out of the flotsam and jetsam of larger celestial bodies, the dust and debris of space. He adds to this scientific overview an anecdotal history of asteroid discovery and detection, which, he writes, was often the work of gifted astronomers working with less than ideal equipment, and all too often dismissed by their professional counterparts. Peebles discusses in detail the rules by which asteroids are catalogued and named--some, for instance, bear the monikers of eminent scientists, others of their patrons, and still others of more unlikely honourees, such as the group of asteroids named for the members of The Beatles. He also touches on efforts to protect the earth from asteroid impacts--the father of that planetary defence being none other than the poet Lord Byron--which he calls "the only natural disaster that human society can prevent".

Students of the history of space science will profit from Peebles's careful research, while astronomy buffs will enjoy his lucid narrative. --Gregory McNamee