What do you think?
Rate this book
The Planets
Consists of essays by astronomers, speculations by science fiction authors, and illustrations by space artists.
336 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1985
1 person is currently reading
47 people want to read
About the author
Byron Preiss
103 books37 followersByron Preiss was the president of Byron Preiss Visual Publications and Ibooks, and was recognized as a pioneer in digital publishing. He was among the first publishers to release CD-ROM's and electronic books.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Preiss graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1972 and earned a master's degree in communications from Stanford University. He produced The Words of Gandhi, an audio book that won a Grammy Award in 1985. He was also the co-author of Dragonworld, a novel he co-wrote with J. Michael Reaves that was published by Bantam Books in 1979.
A proponent of illustrated books, as well as comics and graphic novels, Preiss also published works by celebrity authors including Jane Goodall, Billy Crystal, Jerry Seinfeld, LeAnn Rimes and Jay Leno.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Preiss graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1972 and earned a master's degree in communications from Stanford University. He produced The Words of Gandhi, an audio book that won a Grammy Award in 1985. He was also the co-author of Dragonworld, a novel he co-wrote with J. Michael Reaves that was published by Bantam Books in 1979.
A proponent of illustrated books, as well as comics and graphic novels, Preiss also published works by celebrity authors including Jane Goodall, Billy Crystal, Jerry Seinfeld, LeAnn Rimes and Jay Leno.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 8, 2020
So, it's from 1985 and the scientific information about the planets has been refined since then. But the science writing by top scientists and science writers is still worth reading. The stories will never get old - how about Jack Williamson's story about "mutant viruses forever infesting the crowded earth". I liked that Marta Randall was included, and I liked that the sequence began with Earth, went out to Pluto, and back around to Mercury. There are even some of Alan Bean's illustrations. Never get rid of this book!
August 18, 2010
This book has one chapter of non-fiction and one chapter of fiction regarding each planet in the solar system plus the moon and asteroids. The science in the non-fiction articles are stale having predated Galileo, Cassini, everything after 1985. Several of the short stories are slap-dash and not very high quality but there are a couple of real gems and a previously uncollected Martian Chronicle by Ray Bradbury that may make owning the book worthwhile.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews