Good current books on the solar system

[tertius]

I'm currently re-reading a rather old book by Carl Sagan - Broca's Brain - in which he discusses potential future space exploration within the solar system and speculates what they might discover. It struck me that some of these potential missions have probably happened in some form and so I was wondering are there any good books about our current understanding of the solar system (or parts thereof) aimed at the interested lay person?

Looking for something factual and fairly detailed but not excessively academic. Certainly not looking for physics papers!

[Eric Mc]

I think this might be up your street -



Quite recent (2020) and linked to the TV series which is available on iPlayer but new knowledge on the Solar System comes out almost every day so these books start dating very quickly.

I have his previous book "Wonders of the Solar System" which was good in its time (2010) but is really out of date now.

[tertius]

Thank you - that looks good and only £6 on Abebooks.

[Eric Mc]

Which book is £6? I wouldn't buy "Wonders" if you want up to date information. It's a lovely book but a lot has happened in solar system exploration since 2010.

[tertius]

Eric Mc said:

Which book is £6? I wouldn't buy "Wonders" if you want up to date information. It's a lovely book but a lot has happened in solar system exploration since 2010.

The first one - The Planets - £6.37 to be precise.

[Eric Mc]

Good choice.

The TV series of The Planets is still available to watch on BBC iPlayer.