Some thoughts on
Planetary systems: a very short introduction
Raymond T. Pierrehumbert
Oxford University Press 2021
The astrobiology book I co-authored with Kevin Plaxco grew out of its “brief introduction” subtitle with the third edition, but for all who want a much smaller book, there are several options in the very short introductions from OUP. I never got round to reading the one on astrobiology, but the one on planetary systems (which came out just two months after our third edition) is authored by my musical friend Ray so we did a book swap and I actually read it.
Ray’s background is in atmospheric physics (he was a PI on one of the IPCC reports on climate change, but then switched to the less depressing task of studying atmospheres of other planets). So he has a different angle on things compared to us mere biochemists and although there is a lot of overlap with our book, there were a few insightful remarks that made me perk up as we hadn’t thought of that.
For instance, the title is interesting, as it reflects how much the field has changed in only 25 years. Before the confirmed discovery of exoplanets, there would have been no sense in writing about planetary systems, as we only knew about one, our own. Now we know many, and in astonishing detail. And some of them are messing up our beautiful theories about how planetary systems originate, which were based on just one example.
With all the brevity required by the format, there is always a bit of space for a witty aside or cultural cross-reference. For instance, I enjoyed the remarks on the habitability of the planetoids imagined by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in Le petit prince.
Now that the James Watt Space Telescope is in operation and first results are being published, our knowledge of planetary systems and their atmospheres in particular will again expand dramatically, so you may want to read this little introduction now, before a much bigger one is needed.
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