Review by Choice Review
The analysis of extraterrestrial materials is perhaps unique because of the wide range of materials encountered, the wide variety of analytical techniques employed, and the unusual environments in which measurements must be made. Extraterrestrial materials examined in earthbound laboratories include metereorites and lunar materials returned by the Apollo astronauts. However, in situ analyses have been made on the surfaces of Mars and Venus, and remote analyses have been made of the Sun and the atmospheres and surfaces of Venus, Moon, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus, and some of their respective satellites, as well as within Halley's Comet. Adler's book offers both a review of analytical approaches as well as a summary of scientific results. The review of analytical methods and instrumentation is reasonably comprehensive, but the summary of results appears rather selective: virtually all of the emphasis is on meteorites-Venus, Moon, and Mars-with investigations of the Jovian planets and satellites receiving bare mention. For research university libraries; the principal users will be faculty and graduate students in earth and planetary sciences.-H.N. Pollack, University of Michigan
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
