Wednesday, August 17, 2011

rocks falling from the sky

My review of the book

Chemistry of the solar system
Katharina Lodders and Bruce Fegley, Jr.
RSC Publishing 2011
ISBN 978-0-85404-128-2

is out in Chemistry & Industry issue 15, p26

I'm afraid it's premium content but do let me know if you need a copy.

I've been rather critical of the book, I'm afraid, but here's a snippet from my review about the chapter on meteorites, which was the part of the book I liked best:

"Meteorites also cast an interesting light on the history of the scientific revolution. Many of the first scientists in the modern sense rejected the idea of rocks falling from the sky as a medieval superstition. Enlightened modernists at the end of the 18th century evicted meteorites from museum collection. Only in 1794 did a brave soul start building the case for their extraterrestrial origin, which gradually won the day."

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