From Dust to Life: The Origin and Evolution of Our Solar System

Given the subtitle, one might expect this book to restrict its subject matter to the sun, planets, and other local objects. However, after beginning with an overview of what we know about our solar system, how we came to know it, and what our scientific models explain about both the general characteristics and anomalies within the system, Chambers (planetary science, Carnegie Inst. for Science) and PhD astronomer Mitton (Titan Unveiled) provide more extensive background. The authors discuss the origin of the universe, stellar evolution, and galactic structure, while keeping everything within the context of how these phenomena help explain the formation and evolution of our own system. As they describe characteristics of different bodies (e.g., planets), they outline competing proposed scientific models in enough detail to show both strengths and weaknesses of each, along with what we do and don't know to date.