The University of Arizona Press
May 15, 2024
The University of Arizona Press is thrilled to offer a new collection on our open access (OA) platform Open Arizona, featuring fourteen works from The University of Arizona Space Science Series.
The Space Science collection makes available again the work of leaders in their fields, including Richard P. Binzel, Tom Gehrels, Mildred Shapley Matthews, and many others. These works provide an important archive of a pivotal time in several emerging fields connected to astronomy and the space sciences. The books were originally published between 1976 and 2000.
Since 1974, the University of Arizona Press has published exceptional works in the field of space science. The volumes in The University of Arizona Space Science Series bring together the world’s top experts, who lay out their foundational research on current understandings, while also building frameworks for the highest-priority questions for the future. Since 2000, books in the Space Science Series have been produced in collaboration with the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, Texas.
About each title:
Asteroids
Originally published in 1979, this is a comprehensive source and textbook on asteroids by 70 authors covering exploration, composition, evolution, and the interrelations with other small solar system bodies. It also includes an extensive file of all known asteroid parameters including magnitudes, colors, proper elements and compositional types.
Asteroids II
This sourcebook brings together our knowledge about asteroids based on a gather during the week of March 8-11, 1988 with more than 160 scientists from 14 countries who gathered in Tucson for the Asteroids II conference. Asteroids II offered a fresh treatment intended to stand on its own as a complete description of the understanding of the field at the time. It was first published in December 1989. The work showcases a large international collaboration, a sign of an active and growing discipline.
Jupiter
When Jupiter was first published in August, 1976, editor T. Gehrels wrote, “we may never do a better book.” Summarizing the research and data following the first flyby of Jupiter in December 1973, this work brings together the knowledge of the best scientists in the fields at the time of it’s publication. The work covers the origin of Jupiter, origin and structure of its satellites, models of Jupiter, comparison of those models, and much more.
Meteorites and the Early Solar System
First published in November 1988, this work provided a coherent narrative about the known understandings of meteorites and the early solar system. From the original publication, “Although the Earth was formed, together with the other planets, at the birth of the solar system, geological activity has since erased all but a hint of the processes that accompanied its formation. If we wish to explore the processes that occurred in the earliest solar system, and the nature of the environment in which they took place, we must turn to the record contained in more primitive material. This book provides a synthesis of what has been learned so far about the earliest stages of solar system history through the study of meteorites, and what, given our current level of understanding, remains to be learned.”
Planetary Rings
At the time of its publication, the editors wrote, “it is our hope that this book will become out-of-date quickly, that new observations and theoretical connections will continue to revolutionize our knowledge of planetary rings.” Published in 1985, Planetary Rings brought together scientists from a variety of disciplines to the study of planetary rings to provide a textbook for graduate students and researchers in related fields. It introduced newcomers to the subject and addressed issues at the forefront of ring research at the time.
Planetary Satellites
Published in 1977, this source book on natural satellites brings together thirty-four distinguished contributors from various fields of satellite astronomy to offer a thorough examination of Orbits and Dynamical Evolution.
Protostars and Planets
Originally published in 1979, at the time of it’s publication this work was a unique source book on star formation and the origin of planetary systems from some 35 distinguished authors. Topics include the formation of stars from the cloudy to the stellar to the planetary state. Special emphasis on stars believed capable of producing planets. This foundational work sought to define a new discipline and set the course for the University of Arizona Space Science series.
Protostars and Planets II
Based on meetings held in Tucson, Arizona in 1984, this volume brought up-to-date recent advances and research on the cosmogony of stars and planets. This book presents the written thoughts of the principle speakers (and their colleagues) from the 1984 meeting. It continues work started in 1978 to investigate the problems of star formation and the formation of the solar system.
Protostars and Planets III
Previous Space Science Series volumes Protostars and Planets (1978) and Protostars and Planets II (1985) were among the most timely offerings of this illustrious collection of technical works. Protostars and Planets III continues to address fundamental questions concerning the formation of stars and planetary systems in general and of our solar system in particular. Drawing from advances in observational, experimental, and theoretical research, it summarizes our understanding of these processes and addresses major open questions and research issues. Among the more notable subjects covered in the more than three dozen chapters are the collapse of clouds and the formation and evolution of stars and disks; nucleosynthesis and star formation; the occurrence and properties of disks around young stars; T Tauri stars and their accretion disks; gaseous accretion and the formation of the giant planets; comets and the origin of the Solar-System; and the long-term dynamical evolution and stability of the solar system.
Protostars and Planets IV
This title, out of print in 2008, is now available open access. Both a textbook and a status report for every facet of research into the formation of stars and planets, Protostars and Planets IV brings together 167 authors who report on the most significant advances in the field since the publication of the previous volume in 1993. Protostars and Planets IV reflects improvements in observational techniques and the availability of new facilities such as the Infrared Space Observatory, the refurbished Hubble Space Telescope, and the 10-m Keck telescopes. It include chapters describing the discoveries of extrasolar planets, brown dwarfs, and Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt objects, and the first to include high-resolution optical and near-infrared images of protoplanetary disks.
Resources of Near-Earth Space
Originally published in 1993, this work is available again. From the original publication,”A base on the Moon, an expedition to Mars. . . . Some time in the near future, for scientific or cultural reasons, humanity will likely decide to pursue one of these fantastic ventures in space. How can we increase the scope and reduce the cost of these ambitious activities? The parts of the solar system that are most accessible from Earth—the Moon, the near-Earth asteroids, Mars and its moons—are rich in materials of great potential value to humanity. Resources of Near-Earth Space explores the possibilities both of utilizing these materials to produce propellants, structural metals, refractories, life-support fluids, and other materials on site to reduce the costs of space exploration, and of providing a source of materials and energy for our own planet that would not be environmentally destructive to Earth.”
Satellites of Jupiter
Originally published in 1982, here is the description from the original publication: “The findings of Voyager have brought Jupiter’s moons out from the shadows. Now as much of interest to geologists as to astronomers, these satellites are brought under closer scrutiny by more than 50 international authorities in this volume. Included is research on thermal evolution, surface composition, cratering time scales, and other subjects; but also key chapters focusing on the satellite Io’s volcanic eruptions, thermodynamics, phase composition and more. These 24 contributions constitute a reference that will stand as the decade’s definitive work on Jupiter’s satellites and a springboard to further hypotheses.”
Saturn
Originally published in 1984, here is the description from the original publication: “The Saturn system is the most complex in the solar system, and this book is to summarize it all: the planet, rings, satellites, the magnetospheres, and the interaction with the interplanetary medium. The effective date of the material is approximately November 1983.”
The Galaxy and the Solar System
Originally published in 1986, this work came out of a conference held in Tucson, Arizona in January 1985 which explored the influence of the Galaxy on the solar system. The meeting was the first get-together of the galactic and solar system scientific communities. At the time, the conversations covered new and sometimes controversial topics. This work presented the latest research and stimulated new research and ideas.
