Product Description

Leading specialists in various disciplines were first invited to a multidisciplinary workshop funded by ICSU on the topic to gain a better appreciation and perspective on the subject of comet/asteroid impacts as viewed by different disciplines. This volume provides a necessary link between various disciplines and comet/asteroid impacts.

Customer Reviews (1)

Must Have Book to Understand Asteroid Impact Consequences
The Bobrowsky edited book is an excellent must-read book for anyone conducting serious intellectual inquiry into a potential asteroid impact with the Earth. The articles are a wonderful collection on a very serious topic. The reader gains multiple insights on the varied interdisciplinary issues related to asteroids. This is a fine contribution to the current state of knowledge. The book would make for an excellent university text in either astronomy or public policy agenda-setting and formulation. I highly recommend the investment in this book if you have serious interest in the history of asteroid/comet impacts as well as what humans may do to mitigate such a disaster in the future. I believe this book to be the best I have read on the topic of asteroids impacts. I am pleased to have added it to my personal library. ... Read more

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Could the break-up of a giant comet have given rise to recurring legends about fire from the skies - could it also have destroyed civilizations and plunged Europe into the Dark Ages? The theory is being taken increasingly seriously by scientists and it is now known that the impact of a comet 65 million years ago in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico triggered the catastrophe that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. But what exactly are comets, and where do they come from? This book reveals that these cosmic missiles have been a continuing problem throughout geological time. It examines the controversial claims that there are "periodic extinctions" of life on earth linked to a recurring cycle of cometary impacts and the authors come to a frightening conclusion about the future of humankind on earth. The next appalling series of cosmic hits will almost certainly lead to the extinction of humankind - unless knowledge has advanced enough by then to both find and neutralize a comet heading our way. ... Read more

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Written in clear, accessible language and illustrated with photographs and tables, this book provides students, researchers and general readers with up-to-date information on asteroids, comets and meteorites. Topics covered include the formation of the earth and planetary impacts. ... Read more

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In Impact, Gerrit L. Verschuur offers an eye-opening look at the catastrophic collisions of comets and asteroids with our planet. Perhaps more important, he paints an unsettling portrait of the possibility of new collisions with earth, exploring potential threats to our planet and describing what scientists are doing right now to prepare for this frightening possibility.

Every day something from space hits our planet, Verschuur reveals. In fact, about 10,000 tons of space debris fall to earth every year, mostly in meteoric form. But meteors are not the greatest threat to life on earth, the author points out. The major threats are asteroids and comets. The reader discovers that astronomers have located some 350 NEAs ("Near Earth Asteroids"), objects whose orbits cross the orbit of the earth. Comets, of course, are even more deadly. He discusses Comet Swift-Tuttle--"the most dangerous object in the solar system"--a comet far larger than the one that many scientists believe killed off the dinosaurs, due to pass through earth's orbit in the year 2126. In addition, the author describes the efforts of Spacewatch and other groups to locate NEAs, and evaluates the idea that comet and asteroid impacts have been an underrated factor in the evolution of life on earth.

Whether discussing monumental tsunamis or the innumerable comets in the solar system, Impact will enthrall anyone curious about outer space, remarkable natural phenomenon, or the future of the planet earth.Amazon.com Review
Scientists have not yet discovered a smoking gun in theunsolved mystery of dinosaur extinction, but they have one heck of acandidate in something called the Chicxulub Crater. Roughly 65 millionyears ago, a 10-kilometer-wide object slammed into the Yucatan. Thanksto erosion, the evidence of this cataclysmic event has remainedinvisible until now. Gerrit Verschuur thinks this ancient crashlanding led to mass death, and he's worried about it happeningagain. His intriguing book provides a history of terrestrial impacts,tells of current efforts to identify near-earth objects, and reveals anew and growing area of scientific endeavor. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Fascinating
I picked up this book on a whim, and found myself fascinated by the science. Its about the threat of comets and asteroids and the potential of collision with earth. If you are concerned, you should be, especially if the projectile is large and lands in the sea- deadly Tsunamis and tidal waves could be the result....look what happened to the dinosaurs! LOL, actually, the threat of being hit by a much smaller rock is far greater, Earth is hit every year by many small objects which most people never see or are noticed, (except by science-types).

This book covers historical, ancient, and modern perspective towards the stellar apparitions. While parts are a little dry, it's a good read for science geeks, or those interested in learning about asteroids and meteors. I found the author's occasional witty commentary funny, and the historical notes fascinating.An excellent, read all-around. 4 stars.

The definitive book on impact hazards
The chance of Earth being struck by a large asteroid or comet is neither more nor less now than it has ever been.If nothing else, this book will bring out that fact.So for all the folks who want to believe in the magical or the preposterous, such as Nostradamus, Velikovsky, and other fantasy spinners, go elsewhere

If, however, you are a person who accepts things scientific, this is your book.Professsor Verschuur is an excellent, lucid, organized writer who does not waste the reader's time with forays into the specculative or ludicrous.Instead he forthrightly presents the overview of, and the detail behind, the genuine, if remote, danger that human society will receive heavy damage, if not outright destruction, from a large impact event.He accurately points out that the remoteness of this eventuality is offset by the magnitude of destruction that will occur if a large impact happens.

I have studied impact phenomena for some years, and this book is the most-fact-filled, well organized book of its genre.It is not only an excellent starting volume for a study of this branch of science, but is a good wake-up call for organizing attempts to meet the danger.The Professor does not patronize his reader, but neither does he presume a level of knowledge beyond the ken of the average well-informed adult.

I recommend the book very highly and would urge anyone interested in this topic to make it a priority purchase.It is the book by which all similar texts should be measured.

A thoughtful, useful compilation of known facts
This book really helps make a lot of things clear about comets and asteroids.I think some people might be turned off, or made suspicious, by the somewhat lurid cover, but please don't be among those people.The book is highly lucid, extremely intelligent, and absolutely terrifying.

Dr. Verschuur is a well-respected astronomer, and clearly one of the reasons that he is so highly respected, is his facility for communicating complex information in an understandable way.In this book, he carefully walks the reader through logically presented discussions of the dinosaur-killing asteroid; the tsunamis (huge ocean waves) that would result from an asteroid landing in the sea; the history of the way scientists have thought about the threat of asteroids; and the statistical likelihood that you or I will be slain by an errant asteroid (about 1 in 20,000, which is approximately the same as the chance of dying in a plane crash).While, admittedly, current efforts to prevent plane crashes are stepped up from the norm, doesn't it seem as though we should be taking vastly greater precautions to detect near-Earth asteroids which could destroy civilization???

Dr. Vershuur's account of this threat is very level-headed, and perceptively written.He asks why so many of us have trouble psychologically, conceptualizing the reality of this threat.He also deals, cautiously, with the possibility that ancient legends from around the world may actually tell of asteroid strikes in pre-historic times.This is brave of him to even mention this kind of thing, because it verges on speculation.Scientists are not in the business of irresponsible speculation, after all -- their business is science!They risk grave professional consequences, if they even attempt to discuss such issues.But Dr. Verschuur is very good about alerting the reader to the controversial nature of efforts to extract scientific meaning from the ore of myth.Anyway, he touches on the topic, and it is sometimes interestingly plausible, to my mind at least.

Probably the best thing about this book, is that it helps to alleviate the almost religious terror that the prospect of such collisions produce in most of us.Think of the movie "Armageddon."What a calm, objective, dispassionately conceived title for a movie --NOT!That movie makes us think about asteroid strikes as a highly infrequent, totally overwhelming event that only Bruce Willis would be able to handle (ha ha).Dr. Verschuur's book, on the other hand, helps us to see that the Earth gets hit CONSTANTLY by asteroids, and it's just a question of understanding the frequency with which we get nailed by the bigger ones.

We learn here that, for example, the Earth gets hit by an asteroid large enough to disrupt a global civilization approximately once every 5,000 years.That's APPROXIMATELY.It can vary by thousands of years.This is just the statistical likelihood, averaged out over millions of years by analyzing the age of craters on Earth, nearby planets, and the moon.We learn that an asteroid with a diameter of 500 meters would probably destroy civilization, and that one that was over 1,000 meters would result in the death of virtually the entire world population of humans.For perspective, the one that finally killed the dinosaurs was about 10,000 meters across.Asteroids that big are rare -- but some are even bigger.

Most asteroids are not quite this threatening, but none are benign.Dr. Vershuur's book really helps us to understand things that more people should be thinking about.My only problem with this book is that I wish it included an appendix of ideas that people should try to implement, as precautionary measures.One example that IS included is the importance of giving money to the (very few) institutions that watch the skies.However, I would like to see a book like this also mention promoting educational initiatives that encourage highly localized electrical power generation options, such as wind energy, in case our global economy is suddenly obliterated.Most importantly, I wish there were a section stressing the importance of learning to grow FOOD in hydroponic, protected, indoor environments, so people would have renewable food supplies if a sudden winter, lasting for years, were brought on by all the dust an asteroid strike would throw up into the sky.No country on Earth has more than a few months of food stored up at any given time.If a major asteroid strike provoked a "nuclear winter" type of scenario, virtually everyone who survived would starve, without precautionary measures.

Still, basically this book is simply fantastic.Definitely two thumbs up.

Excellent review of the very real threat of impact
No writer out there does a better job of explaining science to the interested non-scientist than Verschuur. Impact! is a well-researched and beautifully-written book. It came out before all the Hollywood hype so it never made it to the best-seller list, but if you're interested in this subject, don't miss this one! Learn the truth behind the "Armageddon" and "Deep Impact" movies from a world-renowned expert. Astronomy has recently lost two of its most eloquent ambassadors to the non-scientific world - Carl Sagan and Gene Shoemaker. Verschuur could easily fill their shoes. If you like Impact!, try Verschuur's other books - "Hidden Attraction" and "The Invisible Universe Revealed." They're great!

Stolen works of Immanuel Velikovsky and then trashes him
This author has stolen the foundational idea of this book from the great scientist Dr. Immanuel Velikovsky who wrote the best seller "Worlds in Collision" in 1950. Then this author, Verschuur, trashes Velikovsky. Verschuur states hackneyed cliches about Velikovsky that were part of the most disgusting scientific blackballing in history. Verschuur does not address all of the overwhelming evidence that NASA has devoped over the last 40 years which were all anticipated by Velikovsky. What about the 900 degree surface temperature of Venus, or radio signals from Jupiter, or thick dust on the moon (remember the footprints of our astronauts?), or the scores of other discoveries all of which Velikovsky clearly anticipated and Verschuur ignores while promoting his own daffy theory.As an objective writer, Verschuur is a failure, and as an observer of alternative science he is lame. ... Read more

Product Description
This book describes the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous mission,its instruments, investigation plans and data center. It contains acomplete description of the first launch of NASA's Discovery missions,a series of low-cost planetary missions. The NEAR spacecraft flew bythe asteroid 253 Mathilde in June, 1997 on its way to rendezvous withthe asteroid 433 Eros in January, 1999. The instruments describedinclude the multispectral imager by S. E. Hawkins and colleagues, thenear-infrared spectrometer by J. W. Hawkins and colleagues, the X-rayand gamma-ray spectrometer by J. O. Goldsten and colleagues, the laseraltimeter by T. D. Cole and colleagues, and the magnetometer by D. A.Lohr and colleagues. K. Heeres concludes the book with a discussion ofthe NEAR Science Data Center. This book is of interest to allpotential users of the observations by the NEAR mission and to thoseinterested in the scientific return from the mission, and in theplanning of future such low-cost missions. ... Read more

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On 19 May 1996, Asteroid JA1 came within hours of devastating our planet with a release of energy five times more powerful than the world's entire nuclear arsenal. Superpowers watched helplessly as it approached. This text reveals the true risks involved and evidence of an international cover-up.Amazon.com Review
Over the past decade, the United States' nuclear-detectionsystem and spy satellites have registered 250 atomic-bomb-sizeddetonations on and about our planet. Why were we not told? Well, wewere, now and again, when someone felt like mentioning it, and whenthe world's media, starved of other news, could be bothered to run thestory. Why were these explosions not newsworthy? Because they come notfrom the arsenals of hostile states, but from comets and asteroidsimpacting with the Earth's atmosphere.

We assume these events arerare. They are not. Their time-averaged death toll equals that ofearthquakes and major floods. We assume these impacts rarely affectour lives. Author Austen Atkinson convincingly demonstrates thatmeteor and asteroid strikes have, and will again, skew human historyin spectacular and terrible ways.

Impacts from objects no biggerthan a baseball can, under the right conditions, wipe outcities. There is nothing we can do about them, as such objects are toosmall to be detected. On the other hand, bigger objects--the planetkillers of films like Deep Impact and Armageddon--can bedetected, and diverted, with existing technology but only if there isthe global will to act accordingly. Impact Earth is a call topolitical arms as well as a work of popular science. It isdeliberately sensationalist, and entirely serious. Atkinson, like manyof the distinguished observers and scientists he quotes, is attemptingto put cosmic debris strikes on the world political agenda. He isentitled to be loud. --Simon Ings, Amazon.co.uk ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Idiosyncratic but fascinating work
I can understand why Impact Earth triggers a powerful response - it's the sort of topic that polarises people's opinions. Either you are open minded or you reject the idea of asteroid and comet impact. I was a sceptic about the so called impact threat, but recent news articles pushed me to learn more. Austin Atkinson's book sets out to remind us that life is precious. A worthy goal. More than that it succeeds in offering a number of leading scientists a chance to voice their concerns and feelings about how the impact threat may be averted. That done, the author proceeds to paint a picture of how destructive an impact might be and uses the computer modelling carried out by the shock physics laboratory at Sandia National Laboratory (they who model the effects of nuclear war for the US government) to reinforce his point.

In the second half of the book Atkinson uses the facts he's outlined to create a fictional scenario - to allow readers to understand how it would feel to live through such an impact. It's very effective. I started out a sceptic, but Impact Earth changed my mind.

Cryptoscience at best.
There is something more than vaguely disconcerting about those who marshall armies of fact, then, having done so, proceed to put a highly speculative, "must be a conspiracy somewhere, somehow" twist on it all. This book would have been a lot better without Nostradamus, Genesis, and all that conspiracy glop.As it is, I wasted my money.Stick to the facts, and maybe, just maybe, someone will believe you.

Terrifyingly authentic popular science makes great impact
Author Austen Atkinson has revolutionised popular science with this book. He has taken the improbable-sounding possibility of a major meteoriteimpact and animated it in such a way as to make the reader seriouslyconsider the prospect and seriously ponder about how best to lobbygovernment to protect us. It is a book blessed with great wit, intelligenceand authority.

A chilling and captivating book
Impact Earth, Asteroids, Comets,and Meteoroids, The Growing Threat

Besides being a captivating subject I wasimpressed by the way Austen Atkinson researched the subject so thoroughly and gave a chillinglydetailed and logical treatment of the risk of Earth impacting with comets,asteroids and other bodies in space.

This book is a call to action on apar with Rachel Carlson's Silent Spring, in my opinion.Itshould berequired reading for every legislator, teacher and anyone under the age of30 with hopes of seeing middle and later life.Austen Atkinson didsomething very unique in Impact Earth. He added a second book to the end, afictional account of what it might be like toexperience a major impact.If the first book does not get attention, the second surely will. It adds ahuman element that is missing from other more technical books on thissubject. Both parts of Impact Earth are expertly done and written for thelay person in a manner that makes the impact risk clear and obvious toanyone able to read. Austen is a great writer.His style is easy readingand his development is extremely logical and captivating.This is onefor every middle school library and a great gift item for the skeptic onyour list.

Larry Robinson Sunflower Observatory Kansas ... Read more

Product Description
This volume of proceedings contains research and review papersconcerning the dynamics of asteroids and comets and especially theirinteractions with the Earth as signified by geological and historicalrecords. Remembering what may have happened to the dinosaurs, butbeing careful to avoid creating irrational scares, the papers attemptto improve our knowledge of dynamics of the small objects of the SolarSystem and to assess in particular their effects on the Earthenvironment and the evolution of life.
This book will be an up-to-date source of information to astronomersand dynamicists interested in the dynamics of small bodies of theSolar system, as well as to geologists and paleobiologists interestedin the effects on the Earth of extraterrestrial bombardment byasteroids and comets. ... Read more

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Suitable for the Earth and Beyond QCA unit at Key Stage 2, this work answers questions about the Universe, focusing on specific planets or astral bodies. It includes 'Fact Files' which sum up the main properties of each of the astral bodies covering external, surface and internal features. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Fun Science for Everyone
Killer asteroids, deadly comets and other celestial rocks and debris are the subject of this children's book. I have a fascination with all things asteroidal and read this book with glee. The author explains about the extinction of the dinosaurs, past asteroid (rock), comet (ice gas) impacts on earth and the moon and about the potential disaster such objects can cause.

The author goes into enough depth to cover the science involved, and how catastrophes might be avoided by the use of technology, weaponry (such as bombs, nuclear warheads etc), without being bogged down with too much scientific jargon. The author even discusses other celestial phenomenon such as the asteroid belt between Saturn and Jupiter.

This is an interesting accessible book for scientists of all ages. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

WAIT...ITS ALL COLORED!!!
The game plays smooth on the 7800.The graphics look nice but every thing is colored.A far cry from the arcade. The pixel density is great and everything seems more real then the VCS(2600) version.The font looks great to.I can clearly see my score and I am very happy with for the 7800!!! ... Read more

Product Description
This book presents the most recent research on the development of a reliable defense against objects that can potentially collide with the Earth. Large asteroids and comets can collide with the Earth causing severe consequences, and collisions are a random process that can occur at any time. To reduce the threat, it is necessary to understand these potentially hazardous objects. ... Read more

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Looks at our solar system and the universe, covering the space explorations and the understanding of the stars and planets. ... Read more

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Did you know that asteroids are leftovers from when the plents formed? Or that comets grow new tails every time they get near the Sun? Explore asteroids, comets, and meteorites, and their place in the solar system. ... Read more

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In 1993, the U.S. Department of Defense declassified information dealing with frequent explosions in the upper atmosphere caused by meteoric impact.It is estimated that impacts have occurred of a magnitude equivalent to the atomic bomb detonated at Hiroshima.Not all such space voyagers meet their end in the atmosphere, however; huge craters attest to the bombardment of earth over millions of years, and a major impact may have resulted in the extinction of dinosaurs.An impact in Siberia near the beginning of this century proves that such events are not confined to geologic time.Hazards Due to Comets and Asteroids marks a significant step in the attempt to come to grips with the threats posed by such phenomena.It brings together more than one hundred scientists from around the world, who draw on observational and theoretical research to focus on the technical problems related to all aspects of dealing with these hazards: searching for and identifying hazardous comets and asteroids; describing their statistics and characteristics; intercepting and altering the orbits of dangerous objects; and applying existent technologies—rocket boosters, rendezvous and soft-landing techniques, instrumentation—to such missions.The book considers defensive options for diverting or disrupting an approaching body, including solar sails, kinetic-energy impacts, nuclear explosives, robotic mass drivers, and various propulsion systems.A cataclysmic impact posing a threat to life on Earth is a possibility that tomorrow's technology is capable of averting.This book examines in depth the reality of the threat and proposes practical measures that can be initiated now should we ever need to deal with it. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Professional look into the tread from cosmos
Professional look into the treat from cosmos

This is a scientific book addressed to professionals, although the main ideas will be of interest to the general audience. The potential threat of a global catastrophe causedby a large asteroid or comet impact has been the centre of public attentionfor quite some time. It generated many discussions mainly in the popularliterature and in various sites on the Internet. While very illuminating,these discussions are not sufficient for somebody who, like myself, wouldbe interested in undertaking research in this area. The reviewed book fillsthis gap by providing the up-to-date and in-depth account of the problemand possible methods of solution. I believe the book establishes thefoundation of a new branch of science associated with the problem of cosmicdefence.

Being an expert in the area of Fracture Mechanics, I amnaturally interested in developing mechanically sound methods of deflectionand destruction of the Near Earth Objects (NEO) on the collision coursewith Earth. The reviewed book thus proves to be an invaluable source ofinformation in this respect. It covers the whole range of aspects relatedto the problem from the types and probabilities of threat to possibledefence methods. From my prospective, the most important are two aspects:(a) the identification of different types of cosmic threat (from largesolid bodies to the not least dangerous clouds of small objects) and; (b)the possible types of internal structure and composition of the NEOs. Allthese as well as other aspects (the NEO detection, methods of the NEOdefence, the environmental consequences) are covered in great depth.

Iwould strongly recommend this book everyone starting a research in thearea. ... Read more

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This festschrift volume is dedicated to William Liller, a noted observational astronomer who is now retired from a Harvard University named professorship. Nineteen of Liller's colleagues and former students (as well as Liller himself) give insightful reviews of the current state of a broad range of frontier astrophysical areas from the solar system to the limits of the observable universe. The reviews are of special interest to professional astronomers and students of astronomy, and are also accessible to the interested nonspecialist reader. The articles are well suited for providing graduate students in astronomy with an introduction to these topics. The authors describe their personal involvement in important research advances and convey a sense of the excitement of scientific discovery. The reader is given an overview of the advanced techniques used by today's observational astronomers for probing the mysteries of the cosmos, and of the theoretical interpretation of the observational findings. ... Read more

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Examines the origins of asteroids, their effects on hitting the Earth in the past and the present, and many of the asteroids in the solar system. ... Read more

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Go beyond the hype--the real story of the science behind the "rocks" from space. Based on the latest scientific research, Cosmic Pinball details what is happening right here in our planetary neighborhood. It pieces together the story of "rogue rocks"--from the benevolent Lenoid meteor showers, to Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9's powerful impact on Jupiter, to the KT Event asteroid that is currently credited with wiping out the dinosaurs. Going beyond millennial hype, Cosmic Pinball provides a unique framework tying together both history and today's research--to present a sound overview of the science of comets, meteors, and asteroids. Sumners and Allen have brought together three leading astronomers who are at the forefront of this cutting-edge field: Guy Consolmagno, Ph.D., Vatican Observatory; Daniel David Durda, Ph.D., University of Colorado at Boulder, David Kring, Ph.D., University of Arizona at Tucson. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Good science writing
It is hard to find balanced & readable books on science topics that are not too dumbed down, nor too tediously academic. Also, this subject matter could so easily have been sensationalised.

This book has none of those failings. It is a straight talking, plain English, yet detailed tour of the science of potential impactor objects. It conveys the enthusiasm and deep knowledge that these scientists have for their subject, and their commitment to avoid trivialising it with hype.

It covers the main classes of object, their different characteristics and origins, cratering, statistical impact rates, and damage simulations. The conclusions are presented dispassionately.

Evidence of past impacts on the planets, Moon, & Earth are abundant. The existence of the objects and their orbits is well understood. Although there may have been greater impact rates in the past, impacts do continue. It is only a matter of time before Earth is struck again. It is up to our governments how to prepare for that.

A really good book on the subject
The book does a good job a teaching what these objects are, by using a precise and yet simple vocabulary. The text covers a lot of related subjects, including impact with earth, but never goes into catastrophism and sensationalism. ... Read more