The Planets

By: Professor Brian Cox, Andrew Cohen

Narrated by: Samuel West

‘So staggering you go “whoa!” every few seconds’ Guardian

‘Really impressive’ Eamonn Holmes, ITV This Morning

A companion book to the critically acclaimed BBC series.

The bestselling authors of Wonders of the Universe are back with another blockbuster, a groundbreaking exploration of our Solar System as it has never been seen before.

Mercury, a lifeless victim of the Sun’s expanding power. Venus, once thought to be lush and fertile, now known to be trapped within a toxic and boiling atmosphere. Mars, the red planet, doomed by the loss of its atmosphere. Jupiter, twice the size of all the other planets combined, but insubstantial. Saturn, a stunning celestial beauty, the jewel of our Solar System. Uranus, the sideways planet and the first ice giant. Neptune, dark, cold and whipped by supersonic winds. Pluto, the dwarf planet, a frozen rock.

Andrew Cohen and Professor Brian Cox take readers on a voyage of discovery, from the fiery heart of our Solar System, to its mysterious outer reaches. They touch on the latest discoveries that have expanded our knowledge of the planets, their moons and how they come to be, alongside recent stunning and mind-boggling NASA photography.

©2019 Brian Cox and Andrew Cohen (P)2019 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

‘So staggering you go whoa!’ every few seconds … Cox is the Attenborough of the Solar System’ Guardian

‘Spectacular. [Cox’s] ability to convey maximum information in a clear and minimalist style is so softly winning and persuasive’ The Sunday Times

‘Professor Brian Cox continues to boggle our minds’ Daily Mail

‘It was life affirming, it was perspective shifting. It was beautifully made’ Fearne Cotton, The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show, Radio 2

‘Amazing work’ Emma Barnett, Adrian Chiles, Radio 5 Live

‘Starry-eyed Brian Cox is the only man for this job’ The Times

‘Wow’ Evening Standard

‘The professor makes us marvel at life on Earth’ iNews

‘Excellent … a blend of enjoyable, accessible science and dreamlike wonder’ The Times

‘Brian Cox breathes life into science again … breath-taking’ Guardian

‘Fascinating … Good science’ Observer

‘Extraordinary – at its best magically fascinating and full of vast, weird drama’ Radio Times

more up to date than most

well organized and paced. unlike others which cite "upcoming' missions that are in fact well underway or over, this title includes recent information. It is well presented and suitable for audio (others I have felt were print edition titles that didn't really work without tables and illustrations). Excellent value for money. I have listened 3 times within a month of buying.

Excellent listen

I enjoyed this reading, the subject was interesting and the narration was excellent. I highly recommend.

Time to learn/relearn the solar system!

Mercury is basically what remains of some crust and the core of an Earth-sized planet. Who knew? As a Gen Xer, the books we read were old, most pre-space race. This book noted all of that (Venus was always imagined as swampy in these books) and sets the record straight, as far as we know today.

Excellent

Great narrator and up to date information about our solar system. You will not be disappointed.

Simply wonderful.

It’s amazing how easy they make it to understand. I never thought I would ever be able to comprehend the amount of fascinating information about our solar system. I would recommend this wonderful book to anyone who looks up at the night sky with wonder and amazement.