A few book reviews

[iamjulian]

Apologies if this doesn't belong in the "equipment reviews" section.

I recently hunted down a couple of books that I wanted to read. Amazon's new and used section is so good. I got the first one for 1p plus postage and the second one of 38p plus postage. Anyway, I thought I would share my opinions...

Nemesis: The Death Star by Richard A Muller.

I heard about this old theory in the recent book "Hunt for Planet X". Although they seemed to think the theory was dead and buried, I couldn't help thinking that it sounded like quite an elegant theory to explain periodicity in comet/asteroid bombardment events. The book is nicely written for the non scientist and deals more with how the theory came about that the maths behind it all. In a nut shell, it argues that the main extinction events have happened with noticeable regularity and were caused by a companion star to the sun. I read it in two sittings, which is rare for me. It was published back in 1988 and concluded that it was currently too difficult to prove one way or the other as this other star was not bright enough and too far away to be found. Out of interest I sent an email to Professor Muller asking if he still believed his theory. He said that he does and that the Pan-STARRS project will prove the theory either true or false in the next few years.

New light on the Black Death by Mike Baillie.

This one looks at tree ring chronologies dating back thousands of years and notes that significant changes to growth patterns occur at the same time as the main outbreaks of plague. The author also shows how ice core samples match the tree rings, and also lists lots of written text from the same times and how they talk of comet events. The overall argument is that plagues were mainly caused, or at least exacerbated by, comet impacts. A lot of the points are laboured a bit too much, but overall it is well written and presents some compelling evidence. Some of it tenuous, but the way it all seems to come together does make you think there could be something in it. Left me wanting to know more.

Hunt for Planet X by Govert Schilling.

I saw this one advertised in one of the astronomy magazines, and because I am interested in asteroids and minor planets, it sounded like something I would enjoy. I was right. Fantastic book, really well written. It starts with the stories of early planetary discoveries in the late 1700s and early 1800s and moves through to the more recent work on minor planets and the kuiper belt objects. Discussing how the advancement of CCD technology has made the discovery of these objects mushroom. There isn't a conclusion as such, but they end with the Pan-STAARS and how a new generation of big telescopes will reveal a lot more to us in the near future.

[kniclander]

good reviews - the planet x looks interesting. 1p plus postage?

ps I'm still lying low...