Meteorites - as well as shooting stars and meteors - result from a collision of a solid body from space with our Earth, but only meteorites are able to penetrate the Earth's protective shield, the atmosphere, and fall to the Earth's surface. Before the return of lunar samples, they were the only materials from beyond the Earth which we could take in hand and study.
This book gives a concise and up-to-date description of meteorites - fall phenomena, chemical and mineral composition, classification - as well as a discussion of their formation and origin, which also tells us the story of the formation of our Planetary System. The text is understandable for laymen and students, but can also be used as an introduction to the field for students and scientists.

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"I enjoyed reading it and will hesitate to recommend it to friends and undergraduate students who are keen to tap at the door of this exciting discipline." Meteoritics



Book Information
ISBN 9783540581055
Author Fritz Heide
Format Paperback
Page Count 233
Imprint Springer-Verlag Berlin and Heidelberg GmbH & Co. K
Publisher Springer-Verlag Berlin and Heidelberg GmbH & Co. KG