Comet
This spectacular book by Carl Sagan, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Cosmos, and his longtime collaborator, Ann Druyan, is the book on comets. Written with the same authority and fascination that enthralled the millions of readers who made Cosmos the greatest science bestseller of all time, Comet is an indispensable book for anyone who has ever looked up at the heavens and wondered why?
What is a comet? Where does it come from? What is it made of, and how long does it last? Are comets the building blocks from which the planets were formed? Were the fates of the dinosaurs and the. origins of humans tied to the wanderings of a comet? Is there a dark unseen sister to the Sun that triggerscometary catastrophes on Earth? Will men and women someday inhabit the comets? These are just a few of the intriguing questions that Comet addresses.
Comet begins with a breathtaking journey through space astride a comet. It probes the myths and portents that comets have given rise to around the world and across the centuries. (To many, they have been a sign of impending doom; but to the !Kung people of Africa they have been a sign of good fortune.) It trace's the scientific enterprise that has been devoted to understanding them, and the rivalries and controversies they have inspired. And it describes how a spaceship flotilla is meeting Comet Halley in the skies above the Earth in
1985/86.
Informed by the authors' unique blend of science, poetrv and imagination, Comet is the definitive aesthetic, educational and commemorative artifact of this historic apparition of Comet Halley. Lavishly illustrated throughout with photographs and dozens of specially commissioned full-color paintings, and featuring a flip-movie re-creating the orbit of Comet Halley around the sun, Comet is an enthralling book, one which will continue to be read Iong after Comet Halley has left our skies.
Contents
Introduction
PART I: The Nature of Comets
01. Astride the Comet
02. Portent
03. Halley
04. The Time of the Return
05. Rogue Comets
06. Ice
07. The Anatomy of Comets: A Summary So Far
08. Poison Gas and Organic Matter
09. Tails
10. A Cometary Bestiary
PART II: Origins and Fates of the Comets
11. t the Heart of a Trillion Worlds
12. Mementos of Creation
13. The Ghosts of Comets Past
14. Scattered Fires and Shattered Worlds
15. The Wrath of Heaven: 1. The Great Dying
16. The Wrath of Heaven: 2. A Modern Myth?
17. The Enchanted Region
PART III: Comets and the Future
18. A Flotilla Rising
19. Stars of the Great Captains
20. A Mote of Dust
Appendices
Bibliography
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