rdf-syntax-grammar
mods:
  schema location: http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3 http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-2.xsd
  title info:
    title: Rock Legends
    sub title: The Asteroids and Their Discoverers
  name:
    name part: Murdin, Paul.
    role:
      role term: creator
    role:
      role term: author.
  name:
    name part: SpringerLink (Online service)
  type of resource: text
  origin info:
    place:
      place term: gw
    date issued: 2016
    issuance: monographic
  language:
    language term: eng
  physical description:
    form: electronic
    form: electronic resource
    reformatting quality: access
    form: remote
    extent: IX, 207 p. 38 illus., 19 illus. in color. online resource.
  abstract: This book relates the history of asteroid discoveries and christenings, from those of the early pioneering giants of Hersehel and Piazzi to modern-day amateurs. Moving from history and anecdotal information to science, the book's structure is provided by the names of the asteroids, including one named after the author. Free from a need to conform to scientific naming conventions, the names evidence hero-worship, sycophancy, avarice, vanity, whimsy, erudition and wit, revealing the human side of astronomers, especially where controversy has followed the christening. Murdin draws from extensive historical records to explore the debate over these names. Each age reveals its own biases and preferences in the naming process. < Originally regarded as “vermin of the skies,” asteroids are minor planets, rocky scraps left over from the formation of the larger planets, or broken fragments of worlds that have collided. Their scientific classification as “minor” planets makes them seem unimportant, but over the past decades asteroids have been acknowledged to be key players in the Solar System. This view of their starring role even alters the trajectories of spacecraft: NASA’s policy for new space missions en route to the outer planets is that they must divert to study passing asteroids whenever possible. This book provides for readers a complete tour of the fascinating world of asteroids.
  table of contents: Introduction -- Chapter 1: When the Stars Fell Down -- Chapter 2: From Eyesight to Space Satellites.-Chapter 3: Find Minor Planets by Technology -- Chapter 4: Naming and Possessing -- Chapter 5: At the Edge of the Solar System -- Chapter 6: Filling the Gap -- Chapter 7: Controlled by Jupiter -- Chapter 8: The Chaotic Solar System -- Chapter 9: The Fate of Asteroids -- References.
  note: by Paul Murdin.
  subject:
    topic: Popular works
  subject:
    topic: Planetology
  subject:
    topic: Space sciences
  subject:
    topic: Astronomy
  subject:
    topic: Popular Science
  subject:
    topic: Popular Science in Astronomy
  subject:
    topic: Extraterrestrial Physics, Space Sciences
  subject:
    topic: Planetology
  classification: QB1-991
  classification: 520
  related item:
    title info:
      title: Springer eBooks
  related item:
    title info:
      title: Springer Praxis Books
  identifier: 9783319318363
  identifier: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31836-3
  record info:
    record creation date: 160713
    record change date: 20160714031423.0
    record identifier: 978-3-319-31836-3