Planetary Science

Abstract

In one way or another, more people study planetary atmospheres than any other aspect of planets. Accessibility of information could be part of the reason, but the richness of phenomena is a better explanation since it acknowledges the large number of disciplinary niches that scientists occupy in this area. There is one aspect of atmospheres, however, that commands the attention of all scientists who like to know how things came to be (and shouldn't that be all of us?). This aspect, origin and evolution, is amply covered in this new contribution to the University of Arizona's Space Science Series, a collection of books that threatens to overwhelm the bookshelves of planetary scientists everywhere.