Fruitful encounters : the origin of the solar system and of the moon from Chamberlin to Apollo / Stephen G. Brush.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Brush, Stephen G.

Series:

Brush, Stephen G. History of modern planetary physics ; v. 3.

History of modern planetary physics ; v. 3

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Solar system--Origin.

Solar system.

Nebular hypothesis.

Moon--Origin.

Moon.

Moon--Exploration.

Planetary science.

Physical Description:

xii, 354 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1996.

Summary:

The early 20th century saw the replacement of the nebular hypothesis with the Chamberlin-Moulton theory that the Solar System resulted from the encounter of the Sun with a passing star. Fruitful Encounters follows the eventual refutation of the encounter theory in the 1930s and the subsequent revival of a modernized nebular hypothesis, which was reconstructed with the help of nuclear physics. The "giant-impact" theory of the Moon's origin imagines an actual collision between the young Earth and a Mars-size planet, with the Moon being formed from a mixture of material from the impacting planet and the Earth's mantle. Professor Brush discusses the role of findings from the Apollo space program, especially the analysis of lunar samples, culminating in the establishment of this theory in the 1980s.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 265-344) and indexes.

ISBN:

0521552141

OCLC:

32854812