This Hardcover Book item from Princeton University Press was reviewed on 6-Nov-2008.
Search ISBN:0691125872 offer from Abebooks or used books from Alibris. Titan Unveiled: Saturn's Mysterious Moon Explored Reference Book. Classifications : Astronomy Astronomy Professional Science Professional & Technical Subjects Books Astrophysics & Space Science Astronomy Professional Science Professional & Technical Subjects Books Astronomy Astronomy . Click the following link to view the cover of Titan Unveiled: Saturn's Mysterious Moon Explored. Related topics: Astronomy. Astronomy. Subjects. Books. Astronomy. Subjects. Books. Astronomy. Astronomy. Science. requestid: 0076cb35-be19-4313-9a47-cdda3a28299c
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1) Hardcover Book Titan Unveiled: Saturn's Mysterious Moon Explored by Princeton University Press. I first came across this book in a review in American Scientist magazine. As the review stated, and as I found to be true when I read the book, it is easy to read because it´s well written. Although the first author, Ralph Lorenz, has written technical books on his own, he teamed up with a science writer for this one, and the result is a smooth read. From this book, you will learn about two related topics: what Saturn´s moon Titan is like, and what it was like to be part of the team that found that out. I recommend this book for anyone interested in astronomy and space. (Standard disclaimer: my opinions are my own, not necessarily those of my employer.)¤ 2) Hardcover Book Titan Unveiled: Saturn's Mysterious Moon Explored by Princeton University Press. The human exploration of distant worlds is a very thrilling subject. Remote/robotic exploration is almost as exciting and can certainly stir human emotions and imagination. This book is about such an event - the exploration of Titan, Saturn´s largest moon, through the Cassini mission. By any standard, this is certainly a most amazing accomplishment. The book´s first author was, and apparently continues to be, an active scientific participant in this project. Unfortunately, I found that the book falls a bit short of generating in the reader the expected thrills of such an achievement and of the resulting discoveries. The writing style is certainly quite authoritative, generally clear, mostly accessible, occasionally engaging but often a bit dry. There are several detailed descriptions of some of the technical issues that needed to be resolved, as well as of what was being observed on Titan and how these observations were/are being interpreted. I felt that these often dry, frequently lengthy and detailed accounts were at the cost of recounting a continuous gripping story filled with the excitement of discovery and the potentially unpredictable human elements. But on a technical/scientific basis, this book is indeed quite excellent. Consequently, this is a book that would likely be thoroughly enjoyed by serious planetary science buffs. It could also be used as useful reading material in a planetary science course. However, general readers who are looking for an exciting story may be a bit disappointed.¤ 3) Hardcover Book Titan Unveiled: Saturn's Mysterious Moon Explored by Princeton University Press.
Christiaan Huygens (1629-95) discovered Titan on March 25, 1655, the first planetary satellite to be discovered since 1610, when Galileo had found four moons of Jupiter, Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. For 200 years, Titan was called "Luna Saturni." By 1848 so many moons had been found that Sir John Herschel proposed giving moons individual names based on Greek mythology, including "Titan" for "Luna Saturni".
Titan dwarfs the rest of Saturn´s satellites, and is similar to Jupiter´s four largest moons. It is 5,150 km across, nearly 50 percent bigger than our own Moon and 6 percent larger than Mercury. Titan has a significant atmosphere, discovered in 1944 by Gerard Kuiper who found methane in Titan´s spectra. In 1980, Voyager 1 passed Titan at a distance of 4,394 km. but was unable to penetrate the thick cloud cover with its instruments.
On July 1, 2004, Cassini arrived at Saturn after a seven year journey. (The orbiter was named for Giovanni Domenico Cassini, the French-Italian astronomer who discovered four of Saturn´s moons and the gap separating the two main rings.) It was designed to return images and data from Saturn, its rings and its moons, especially Titan. It carried a detachable package of instruments (the "Huygens Probe") that parachuted through Titan´s atmosphere to observe its surface.
"This book tells the story of how Cassini and Huygens have finally begun to lift the veil of mystery surrounding Titan, beginning with advancements in our understanding of Titan that took place in the decade preceding Cassini´s arrival. Some predictions have proved gratifyingly accurate; others have turned out to be misconceived, however plausible they may have seemed initially. Though many questions can now be answered --- even some that no one thought to ask --- they have quickly been replaced by a torrent of new and deeper puzzles." (Taken from the Princeton Press reprint of the first chapter of this book; see press.princeton.edu/chapters .)
The photographs are superb, and the authors have produced a wonderful description of this fascinating moon. Anyone with the least interest in science, astronomy or the history of our own earth will find this book well worth reading and enjoying.
Robert C. Ross 2008¤ 4) Hardcover Book Titan Unveiled: Saturn's Mysterious Moon Explored by Princeton University Press. Do you want to know what it´s like to be on the front lines of a planetary mission? If you do, then this book is for you! Authors Ralph Lorenz and Jacqueline Mitton, have written an outstanding book that describes the most recent episodes in the unfolding story of the exploration of Saturn´s largest moon, Titan.
Lorenz and Mitton, begin by describing the dropping in of the Huygens probe on the surface of Titan. Then, they examine the state of knowledge about Titan at the time when Cassini and Huygens arrived in the Saturn system. Next, the authors discuss the arrival of Cassini in the Saturn system on July 1, 2004 after a very long trek from earth. They continue by focusing on the last speculations the science teams had about Titan, getting to work on the first results from Cassini´s initial approach and the Titan flyby. In addition, the authors also discuss the probe´s decent onto Titan on January 14, 2005.
They also describe the Cassini flyby events in chronological order. Finally, the authors discuss the 16th flyby of Titan that took place on July 22, 2006; as well as, present and future mission objectives.
The authors of this most excellent book give prominence to two investigations: First, the surface of Titan and its interaction with the atmosphere have been the most mysterious; and second, the Huygens probe and the RADAR instrument on the Cassini orbiter. More importantly, the authors believe that the atmosphere and the surface of Titan in particular, will interest general readers the most.¤ 5) Hardcover Book Titan Unveiled: Saturn's Mysterious Moon Explored by Princeton University Press. In the early 1980s, when the two Voyager spacecraft skimmed past Titan, Saturn´s largest moon, they transmitted back enticing images of a mysterious world concealed in a seemingly impenetrable orange haze. Titan Unveiled is one of the first general interest books to reveal the startling new discoveries that have been made since the arrival of the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn and Titan. Ralph Lorenz and Jacqueline Mitton take readers behind the scenes of this mission. Launched in 1997, Cassini entered orbit around Saturn in summer 2004. Its formidable payload included the Huygens probe, which successfully parachuted down through Titan´s atmosphere in early 2005, all the while transmitting images and data--and scientists were startled by what they saw. One of those researchers was Lorenz, who gives an insider´s account of the scientific community´s first close encounter with an alien landscape of liquid methane seas and turbulent orange skies. Amid the challenges and frayed nerves, new discoveries are made, including methane monsoons, equatorial sand seas, and Titan´s polar hood. Lorenz and Mitton describe Titan as a world strikingly like Earth and tell how Titan may hold clues to the origins of life on our own planet and possibly to its presence on others. Generously illustrated with many stunning images, Titan Unveiled is essential reading for anyone interested in space exploration, planetary science, or astronomy. ¤Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 4-Dec-2008, 06911258729780691125879, 9X0-680-690-720-950-320-550-8 
Titan Unveiled: Saturn's Mysterious Moon Explored, Book, Image © Princeton University Press
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