Space is one of my interests so I already knew that this book was going to be up my alley – and I also enjoy Brian Cox’s writing style ( though I hadn’t read Andrew Cohen before).
It was fascinating to see how each planet in the Solar System affects the whole – for better and for worse. I also love how, with the data that we have gathered so far, scientists like Cohen are able to piece together the history of each of these planets and to put forward hypotheses of the role they play on the Solar System overall.
I also love how they sent the New Horizon’s mission to Pluto with the essence (ashes) of the man who discovered it. One of my favourite lines is Cohen’s comment of “Thankfully our Solar System pays little heed to the fanciful definitions of humans … and while downgraded by name, the world that awaited us was anything but a disappointment.” I am also in awe of the glacier dubbed “Pluto’s Heart” and how he says that Pluto’s heart is ‘beating’ due to convection. An icy world with a subterranean ocean and a blue sky sounds like a beautiful planet.
Imagination Mansion 