Planetary Surface Processes (Cambridge Planetary Science, Series Number 13)

Great book and brand new.

this book is excellent for graduate students in geosciences

The availability of this textbook has transformed my teaching of Planetary Surfaces, a class that I have taught for 12 years. Previously, for an upper level undergraduate class, one had to assemble materials from various sources, mostly from the terrestrial geology literature, and try to adapt it to Mars, Europa, asteroids, the Moon and so on. What Prof. Melosh has done is to bring together the fundamental ideas of geology, developed in rigorous though not daunting detail, in the context of what we are learning about planets in the space age.This textbook embodies much of what the author taught in a famous course that he developed at the University of Arizona, aimed at training the annual motley crew of graduate students coming into planetary geology from diverse backgrounds, for instance chemistry and physics. For this textbook he modified the approach somewhat, to require math at a level more appropriate to geology or astronomy undergraduates. The resulting book is not a simple treatise by any means; it is challenging and evocative. Graduates of planetary science will find it immensely rewarding to read cover to cover, as 'stuff they should know'. I would encourage astrophysics students and researchers who are studying extrasolar planetary systems, to take it home as well, so that they know the fundamentals of the processes that shape the surfaces of distant worlds.There is a strong emphasis on the historical development of geological ideas, based on the valid premise that only by understanding how ideas came about, can students (all of us) appreciate their context -- and discriminate among them when considering the weird geologies of planets.I would also recommend this textbook for geology courses in general, not just courses with 'Planetary' in the title. As with his first seminal book, 'Impact Cratering: A Geologic Process', this textbook by Prof. Melosh is impeccably organized, making it a treat to teach from and to learn from, although it is not so much of a reference text as it is an exposition. Sections are divided into fundamental processes, and each chapter is as self contained as possible. I teach a ten week course, and move along at one chapter per week. Those teaching a semester course could supplement the book with other materials or a short research project.What is missing, are answers to the homework problems. But I do not regard this as a serious drawback, since sometimes it is good to leave exercises to the instructor to figure out, so that we don't get too lazy about things...

Earlier this year I was asked to develop and teach a 4-lecture (6-hour) module on Planetary Surfaces as part of York University's undergraduate PHYS 3070 Course. I have just completed that assignment and in putting together my lectures, I found this text to be absolutely invaluable. I particularly appreciated the organization of the material and I followed a similar structure. The diagrams included and the tables of comparaisons between different planets were especially illuminating and helped me get across concepts to my students.Even though the module was mainly a survey, by necessity, the text was particularly helpful as I could add depth and numerical rigor here and there to give the students a taste of what was possible. I recommended to those students who wanted to get a more thorough understanding on the subject that they could pick up a copy of the book. If I'm ever teaching such a course again I think this book will be at the top of my list.Note that since I began my preparation in the summer, most of my use of this book was from the Kindle Edition  Planetary Surface Processes (Cambridge Planetary Science)  the only version available at the time. I have since used the paper and ink version which is very similar with the exception that many of the equations, tables and some diagrams appear to be of a lower quality in the kindle version.

concise and detailed, perfect for requirements

Ce livre est à la géophysique et à la planétologie ce que le "cours Feynman" est à la physique générale. C'est très bien écrit, très facile à lire, et extrêmement passionnant. C'est aussi une présentation tout à fait moderne de la géophysique, élargie aux dimensions du système solaire. Tous les phénomènes sont passés en revue, et l'auteur recourt autant que possible à des lois quantitatives simples pour expliquer les choses. Mon seul regret est que l'auteur n'a pas récemment préparé une réédition qui prendrait en compte les dernières observations comme celles de Cérès, Vesta, la comète 67/P, Pluton et Charon et 2014MU69 (le premier KBO survolé).

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