Supplemental Reading

Ge151: Spring 2011

Good general planetary science textbooks are the University of Arizona Press books. Volumes exist for every planet except the Moon, and for non-planet topics as well (solar nebula, origin and evolution, small bodies, etc.). However, these do not have the most recent mission data included such as Pathfinder and MGS for Mars. Clementine and Lunar Prospector need to be searched separately for the Moon. Nevertheless, the U of A series are often the best books to consult to get journal article-caliber information about the history, surface, atmosphere, orbit, magnetosphere, etc. of most everything in the solar system. They are thick and have simple titles like Mars and Mercury. Many profs. own several volumes.
An invaluable lunar reference in the reference section of the GPS library is Heiken, G., Vaniman, D., and B.M. French 1991. Lunar Sourcebook, Cambridge University Press, New York.
'The Geologic History of the Moon', USGS Professional Paper, 1348. Lavishly illustrated with beautiful images. However as before results from recent missions such as Lunar Prospector and Clementine are not included.
A very good and recent planetary physics and chemistry book is Lewis, John S. 1995. The Physics and Chemistry of the Solar System, Academic Press, San Diego.
Another in-depth text written by experts that covers a range of solar system topics is The New Solar System 4th edition, Beatty and Chaikin eds, Cambridge University Press, 1990.
'Moons and Planets' by W.K. Hartmann has been a standard reference for many years. It concentrates on theory of planetary physics rather on missions and their results.
'Impact Cratering: A Geologic Process' by H.J. Melosh has everything you every wanted to know and more about craters and how they are formed.
This has brief but well written entries and is in the reference section in the GPS library. It also has a few references in each article: Encyclopedia of Planetary Sciences, James H. Shirley and Rhodes W. Fairbridge, eds. Chapman and Hall, London, 1997.
Special issues of journals are also very valuable. The Journal of Geophysical Research has had several thick issues devoted to Viking and Voyager, for example, and Science publishes short special issues after almost every spacecraft mission.
The Caltech Libraries have online search engines and an interlibrary loan service that can guide you towards other references and current articles on any topic. GeoRef is a particularly recommended search engine.
Additional references for topics you wish to study may be available from Prof. Murray / Aharonson.

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