Meteorites and their parent planets
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Meteorites and Their Parent Planets provides an engrossing overview of a highly interdisciplinary field - the study of extraterrestrial materials. The second edition of this successful book has been thoroughly revised, and describes the nature of meteorites, where they come from, and how they get to Earth. Meteorites offer important insights into processes in stars and in interstellar regions, the birth of our solar system, the formation and evolution of planets and smaller bodies, and the origin of life.

Harry McSween's writing is accessible to scientists and nonscientists alike. He gives equal emphasis to the meteorites themselves and to what has been learned about the asteroids, comets, and planets from which they were derived.