The Planets [Paperback]

Dava Sobel'sThe Glass Universewill be available from Viking in December 2016

With her bestsellersLongitudeandGalileo's Daughter, Dava Sobel introduced readers to her rare gift for weaving complex scientific concepts into a compelling narrative. Now Sobel brings her full talents to bear on what is perhaps her most ambitious topic to date-the planets of our solar system. Sobel explores the origins and oddities of the planets through the lens of popular culture, from astrology, mythology, and science fiction to art, music, poetry, biography, and history. Written in her characteristically graceful prose,The Planetsis a stunningly original celebration of our solar system and offers a distinctive view of our place in the universe.

* ANew York Timesextended bestseller
* A Featured Alternate of the Book-of-the-Month Club, History Book Club, Scientific American Book Club, and Natural Science Book Club
* Includes 11 full-color illustrations by artist Lynette R. Cook

[The Planets] lets us fall in love with the heavens all over again.
-The New York Times Book Review

Playful . . . lyrical . . . a guided tour so imaginative that we forget we're being educated as we're being entertained.
-Newsweek

[Sobel] has outdone her extraordinary talent for keeping readers enthralled. . . .LongitudeandGalileo's Daughterwere exciting enough, butThe Planetshas a charm of its own . . . . A splendid and enticing book.
-San Francisco Chronicle

A sublime journey. [Sobel's] writing . . . is as bright as the sun and its thinking as star-studded as the cosmos.
-The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

An incantatory serenade to the Solar System. Grade A-
-Entertainment Weekly

Like Sobel's [LongitudeandGalileo's Daughter] . . . [The Planets] combines masterful storytelling with clear, engaging explalc%