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Catching Stardust: Comets, Asteroids and the Birth of the Solar System
An up-close and personal look at comets and how we can use these ancient voyagers to understand our place in the solar system.
Icy, rocky, sometimes dusty, always mysterious--comets and asteroids are among the Solar System's very oldest inhabitants, formed within a swirling cloud of gas and dust in the area of space that eventually hosted the Sun and its planets. Locked within each of these extra-terrestrial objects is the 4.6-billion-year wisdom of Solar System events, and by studying them at close quarters using spacecraft we can coerce them into revealing their closely-guarded secrets. This offers us the chance to answer some fundamental questions about our planet and its inhabitants.
Exploring comets and asteroids also allows us to shape the story of Earth's future, enabling us to protect our precious planet from the threat of a catastrophic impact from space, and maybe to even recover valuable raw materials from them. This cosmic bounty could be as useful in space as it is on Earth, providing the necessary fuel and supplies for humans as they voyage into deep space to explore more distant locations within the Solar System.
Catching Stardust tells the story of these enigmatic celestial objects, revealing how scientists are using them to help understand a crucial time in our history – the birth of the Solar System, and everything contained within it.
Icy, rocky, sometimes dusty, always mysterious--comets and asteroids are among the Solar System's very oldest inhabitants, formed within a swirling cloud of gas and dust in the area of space that eventually hosted the Sun and its planets. Locked within each of these extra-terrestrial objects is the 4.6-billion-year wisdom of Solar System events, and by studying them at close quarters using spacecraft we can coerce them into revealing their closely-guarded secrets. This offers us the chance to answer some fundamental questions about our planet and its inhabitants.
Exploring comets and asteroids also allows us to shape the story of Earth's future, enabling us to protect our precious planet from the threat of a catastrophic impact from space, and maybe to even recover valuable raw materials from them. This cosmic bounty could be as useful in space as it is on Earth, providing the necessary fuel and supplies for humans as they voyage into deep space to explore more distant locations within the Solar System.
Catching Stardust tells the story of these enigmatic celestial objects, revealing how scientists are using them to help understand a crucial time in our history – the birth of the Solar System, and everything contained within it.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2018
37 people are currently reading
628 people want to read
About the author
Natalie Starkey
2 books33 followersNatalie Starkey is a former geo- and cosmo-chemist who moved into science communication. Following a PhD at Edinburgh University studying Arctic volcanoes, Natalie's post-doctoral work at The Open University shifted her research focus to comets and asteroids. She has analysed hundreds of pieces of stardust, samples from space missions to comets and asteroids, and many meteorites. Natalie has worked on samples from the NASA Stardust and JAXA Hayabusa missions and was a co-investigator on one of the ESA Rosetta lander instruments.
Natalie's passion for her research makes her a keen science communicator. She received a British Science Association Media Fellowship in 2013 and a SEPnet media communications award the same year. Natalie is a regular contributor to Neil deGrasse Tyson's popular StarTalk Radio and her freelance writing includes work for the Guardian, The Conversation website, All About Space, BBC Science Focus and New Scientist.
Natalie's passion for her research makes her a keen science communicator. She received a British Science Association Media Fellowship in 2013 and a SEPnet media communications award the same year. Natalie is a regular contributor to Neil deGrasse Tyson's popular StarTalk Radio and her freelance writing includes work for the Guardian, The Conversation website, All About Space, BBC Science Focus and New Scientist.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
April 18, 2018
Whew. Finally. And yes, I’m aware that should not be a reaction to finishing a book, but this one was just such an effort. Originally selected for purposes of continuous self education and finished by sheer will power, this book took a week to wade through, which is not only extremely uncharacteristic for me in general, but just plain wrong considering the relatively slender page count. And for the record I am very interested in the subject, having read extensively on and taking classes and so on. So it wasn’t that. It was definitely the execution. Nonfiction can be tricky to get right, but the key to popular science is a certain sort of accessibility that would make it…well…popular. For me that doesn’t mean dumbing down the context, not at all, I very much enjoy the fact that the author is someone very well educated on the subject and I strongly believe in reading up (the literally equivalent of marrying up), no, I’m talking about the delivery, the right tone to convey the information in a way that makes learning exciting, the way it ought to be. This learning, sadly, felt very much like a chore. The author made a choice of creating an almost (not entirely) personality free presentation of facts, arid, humorless and tragically pedantic. The latter was especially frustrating and not just in constant repetitiveness of information, but also in overexplaining, such as presolar…seriously, pre is a pretty self explanatory prefix, isn’t it. While I completely accept the fact that the author is most definitely more knowledgeable than I am on the subject and possibly in general, being talked down to (even though most likely unintentionally) just isn’t all that enjoyable. The book featured no pictures or graphics (although this might be due to it being an ARC), but actually that went perfectly well with the general thesis vibe. But all that aside, it is educational. You will learn about asteroids and comets and all the nifty acronyms scientists use studying various celestial debris. Some of this I knew and enjoyed revisiting, some of this was new. The autodidact in me was pleased, the reader in me was…tried. Look up, look up, the space is a magical place, containing secrets untold about our past, present and future. The sum of current knowledge leaves a lot to be desired and much to speculation, but in a grand scheme of things it’s positively awe inspiring. Comets and asteroids might be responsible for life on Earth, might be responsible for its annihilation too. Terrifying range of power, really. Well worth learning about, albeit maybe in a more compelling engaging way. Thanks Netgalley.
June 20, 2018
Uma ótima forma de entender a formação do sistema solar, da Terra e como meteoros e cometas tiveram um papel na criação e na extinção da vida aqui. Além de falar sobre os tipos de meteoritos e como eles explicam diferentes momentos na formação do sistema solar, Starkey passa pelas missões Stardust e Rosetta, falando sobre as descobertas, como ainda temos muito o que aprender sobre os cometas e o que o futuro reserva. Terminando com a possibilidade de mineração espacial e como podemos ficar espertos com o que vem na nossa direção.
September 15, 2021
Rating: 2.5 stars
This is an adequate, though lackluster, introductory text to solar system and Earth formation, with a heavy dose of asteroids and comets. The interesting chapters are those that deal with the various space missions to visit and sample comets and asteroids. The text is simple and clear.
This is an adequate, though lackluster, introductory text to solar system and Earth formation, with a heavy dose of asteroids and comets. The interesting chapters are those that deal with the various space missions to visit and sample comets and asteroids. The text is simple and clear.
March 8, 2018
It is a truth universally acknowledged that geology is by far the hardest topic to make interesting in popular science. We're fine when it comes to stories of some of the characters of geological history, but as far as the geology itself, it's difficult to get excited. So what better way to raise the interest levels than to move your geology* into space? This is what Natalie Starkey does in Catching Stardust. But does it work?
The main focus of Catching Stardust is comets and asteroids. What they are, where they came from, what they're made of (lots about what they're made of) and their (literal) impact on Earth from potentially supplying water and amino acids to the destruction of the dinosaurs to the possibility of us getting a major strike in the future and what we could do to prevent it.
There's certainly plenty to interest us here, and though the focus is primarily on those space objects, Starkey gives us a fair amount on how the Earth and the Moon formed - in fact, the whole solar system - not limiting the content to asteroids and comets. In doing so, she introduced the most tautly stretched analogy I've come across in a long while. The solar system is compared to a city 'with the different parts of it as neighbourhoods.' It's difficult to see how this analogy helps understand anything, especially when we read, for example that before the planets formed the solar system was a swirling cloud of gas and dust: 'If we want to draw on the Solar-System-as-a-city metaphor here, we can think of this as the peaceful and luscious green countryside existing before our metropolis was built.' Well, not only does a swirling cloud of gas and dust have a limited resemblance to anything green and lush, the metropolis isn't made out of grass. The approach doesn't help, but luckily it peters out after a while.
Where Starkey is at her best is when she is talking about space technology. For example, her description of the use of dust collectors at high altitude to collect space dust, of the various missions to asteroids and comets (who could forget plucky Philae?) and in considering the possibilities and pitfalls of space mining. In these sections, the writing really comes alive.
Unfortunately, more than half the book focuses on the geological aspects of asteroids and comets and the Earth and so forth. And, sadly, here the curse of geological popular science is fulfilled. It is tough going, not helped by an overload of the academic tendency to want to be very precise and give lots of details that don't help get the story across. These sections simply lack any narrative drive - there's little to latch onto if you don't have an abiding interest in geology.
This lack of storytelling is compounded by the way information is put across. Take a section where Starkey spends a couple of pages talking about the way labs work. Useful for us to know, but described in far too general terms. So we get: 'There are many, many possibilities for the further analysis of IDPs [interplanetary dust particles - she uses acronyms a lot], depending on what exactly needs to be investigated to answer the scientists' queries.... The work a scientist can achieve is usually very much dependent on the budget constraints of the laboratory they work in, as this controls what scientific equipment is available to them... When a scientist establishes that further laboratory investigations are required on a sample, for instance to test a new hypothesis, but they don't have the right equipment available in their laboratory to carry them out, they will often aim to collaborate with other scientists...' It feels more like an undergraduate essay than a book.
If comets and asteroids are of interest to you, I don't want to put you off. You will certainly gain a considerable amount of knowledge from Catching Stardust. But the NASA representative who describes this as an 'action-packed narrative' on the back needs to get out more.
* Strictly, since 'geology' is literally about the Earth, this is probably an oxymoron.
The main focus of Catching Stardust is comets and asteroids. What they are, where they came from, what they're made of (lots about what they're made of) and their (literal) impact on Earth from potentially supplying water and amino acids to the destruction of the dinosaurs to the possibility of us getting a major strike in the future and what we could do to prevent it.
There's certainly plenty to interest us here, and though the focus is primarily on those space objects, Starkey gives us a fair amount on how the Earth and the Moon formed - in fact, the whole solar system - not limiting the content to asteroids and comets. In doing so, she introduced the most tautly stretched analogy I've come across in a long while. The solar system is compared to a city 'with the different parts of it as neighbourhoods.' It's difficult to see how this analogy helps understand anything, especially when we read, for example that before the planets formed the solar system was a swirling cloud of gas and dust: 'If we want to draw on the Solar-System-as-a-city metaphor here, we can think of this as the peaceful and luscious green countryside existing before our metropolis was built.' Well, not only does a swirling cloud of gas and dust have a limited resemblance to anything green and lush, the metropolis isn't made out of grass. The approach doesn't help, but luckily it peters out after a while.
Where Starkey is at her best is when she is talking about space technology. For example, her description of the use of dust collectors at high altitude to collect space dust, of the various missions to asteroids and comets (who could forget plucky Philae?) and in considering the possibilities and pitfalls of space mining. In these sections, the writing really comes alive.
Unfortunately, more than half the book focuses on the geological aspects of asteroids and comets and the Earth and so forth. And, sadly, here the curse of geological popular science is fulfilled. It is tough going, not helped by an overload of the academic tendency to want to be very precise and give lots of details that don't help get the story across. These sections simply lack any narrative drive - there's little to latch onto if you don't have an abiding interest in geology.
This lack of storytelling is compounded by the way information is put across. Take a section where Starkey spends a couple of pages talking about the way labs work. Useful for us to know, but described in far too general terms. So we get: 'There are many, many possibilities for the further analysis of IDPs [interplanetary dust particles - she uses acronyms a lot], depending on what exactly needs to be investigated to answer the scientists' queries.... The work a scientist can achieve is usually very much dependent on the budget constraints of the laboratory they work in, as this controls what scientific equipment is available to them... When a scientist establishes that further laboratory investigations are required on a sample, for instance to test a new hypothesis, but they don't have the right equipment available in their laboratory to carry them out, they will often aim to collaborate with other scientists...' It feels more like an undergraduate essay than a book.
If comets and asteroids are of interest to you, I don't want to put you off. You will certainly gain a considerable amount of knowledge from Catching Stardust. But the NASA representative who describes this as an 'action-packed narrative' on the back needs to get out more.
* Strictly, since 'geology' is literally about the Earth, this is probably an oxymoron.
August 9, 2020
Recently my wife and I went up to our town park (AKA low light pollution site) on three different nights to see Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE. With a pair of binoculars, that we keep for bird watching, we were able to observe the comet and its tail as it made its way around the sun. One night, with the help of friendly neighbors, we were able to spot the comet, Saturn, Jupiter, and the International Space Station all at the same time, an amazing and awe inspiring event.
Since I am the designated “space geek” of the family, my wife asked me to tell her about comets. I gave her the standard, “you know, they are space objects that orbit the sun every few decades or longer. They are dirty snowballs and, as they get near the sun, parts of them vaporize and that becomes the comets tail.”
Of course, I realized that I really didn’t know a comet from a meteoroid and, more importantly, what in the world was a NEOWISE. So, I went looking for a book to read to gain a little knowledge and to restore my self-respect and geek status. I found that nearly all of the books in the library about comets and astroids were YA books and I was looking for something a bit more scientifically detailed. Fortunately, I found Natalie Starkey’s Catching Stardust.
Starkey is a geologist and cosmochemist - one of those fields that my high school guidance counselor definitely did not tell me about nor prepare me for. Her focus is comet and asteroid samples and she really knows her stuff!
This is a very interesting book on a number of planes. She goes into great detail telling you what we know, and do not know, about asteroids and comets from the Asteroid and Kuiper belts as well as from the Oort Cloud. She tells you about rocky vs snowy objects and early formation vs extrasolar objects. She talks about amino acids and water and space dust. In other words, Starkey tells you everything you wanted to know, and more, about comets and asteroids.
There are great chapters about both the NASA (National Aeronautic and Space Administration) and ESA (European Space Agency) Stardust and Rosetta missions to interface with comets as they sped through our area of space. Truly these missions are the apex of human scientific achievement and most people have never heard of them.
While most of us are aware of the fact that a large space object hit Earth and wiped out over 80% of life here, including the dinosaurs, we go about our everyday lives not worrying about the next impact. Personally, I do worry about an asteroid or meteor life extinction event. All of the space scientists agree that one is definitely one coming, we just do not know when. So, I was somewhat relieved to learn that the NEOWISE comet was named for the NEOWISE mission which uses a space telescope to hunt for asteroids and comets, including those that could pose a threat to Earth. Unfortunately, once we spot one there we have done little to prepare for it or to protect life on earth.
We spend billions of dollars developing bombs to blow up our fellow human beings but hardly any significant funding goes to protect us from a world ending event from space. We really are a fragile blue marble in the vastness of space. What will it take for us to know that all of us are similar human beings. Our DNA is 99.9 percent identical. To paraphrase the Youngbloods, “Come on people now. Smile on your brother (and sister). Everybody get together. Try to love one another. Right now.”
Since I am the designated “space geek” of the family, my wife asked me to tell her about comets. I gave her the standard, “you know, they are space objects that orbit the sun every few decades or longer. They are dirty snowballs and, as they get near the sun, parts of them vaporize and that becomes the comets tail.”
Of course, I realized that I really didn’t know a comet from a meteoroid and, more importantly, what in the world was a NEOWISE. So, I went looking for a book to read to gain a little knowledge and to restore my self-respect and geek status. I found that nearly all of the books in the library about comets and astroids were YA books and I was looking for something a bit more scientifically detailed. Fortunately, I found Natalie Starkey’s Catching Stardust.
Starkey is a geologist and cosmochemist - one of those fields that my high school guidance counselor definitely did not tell me about nor prepare me for. Her focus is comet and asteroid samples and she really knows her stuff!
This is a very interesting book on a number of planes. She goes into great detail telling you what we know, and do not know, about asteroids and comets from the Asteroid and Kuiper belts as well as from the Oort Cloud. She tells you about rocky vs snowy objects and early formation vs extrasolar objects. She talks about amino acids and water and space dust. In other words, Starkey tells you everything you wanted to know, and more, about comets and asteroids.
There are great chapters about both the NASA (National Aeronautic and Space Administration) and ESA (European Space Agency) Stardust and Rosetta missions to interface with comets as they sped through our area of space. Truly these missions are the apex of human scientific achievement and most people have never heard of them.
While most of us are aware of the fact that a large space object hit Earth and wiped out over 80% of life here, including the dinosaurs, we go about our everyday lives not worrying about the next impact. Personally, I do worry about an asteroid or meteor life extinction event. All of the space scientists agree that one is definitely one coming, we just do not know when. So, I was somewhat relieved to learn that the NEOWISE comet was named for the NEOWISE mission which uses a space telescope to hunt for asteroids and comets, including those that could pose a threat to Earth. Unfortunately, once we spot one there we have done little to prepare for it or to protect life on earth.
We spend billions of dollars developing bombs to blow up our fellow human beings but hardly any significant funding goes to protect us from a world ending event from space. We really are a fragile blue marble in the vastness of space. What will it take for us to know that all of us are similar human beings. Our DNA is 99.9 percent identical. To paraphrase the Youngbloods, “Come on people now. Smile on your brother (and sister). Everybody get together. Try to love one another. Right now.”
September 10, 2018
There is so much for you to learn in this wonderful book. Starkey does a fabulous job of writing a pop science book about space geology, even though this is her first book. And let's face it; trying to popularize geology is an arduous task. I knew a little about comets and asteroids already, but this book was definitely a refresher and at the same time added a wealth of information to my knowledge. If you are keen to learn more about our solar system and how it was formed and why asteroids and comets are important objects for us to study, you need to check this book. For instance, It's interesting to know that possibly we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for comets delivering an abundance of water to Earth, even though new theories and models suggest that Earth had already some water to begin with. Yes, Earth was born wet. Well, there's a flip side to this coin. The same comets and asteroids that brought water and other resources necessary for life to start, could one day pose a threat to us. Of course there may be no immediate danger, however, it's still a matter of some urgency. Hence a need for us to study these objects and get to know them better and find out ways to deflect them in case one is on a collision course to Earth. Such collisions could end us permanently. Furthermore, asteroids and comets contain a wealth of valuable metals and resources. Starkey also talks about space missions to comets and asteroids. Two such missions were Stardust and Rosetta. She elaborates on how such missions are controlled. We might even be able to mine these objects one day. All in all, this book is an easy read. There's no rockets science involved. It's a must-read for anyone who likes to know more about space geology.
January 2, 2019
While the book covers a range of interesting topics, I didn’t really enjoy the style of writing. The author keeps repeating several points over and over again in nearly the exact same wording. At the same time, the author frequently uses abbreviations, which had me flip back and forth to look up the definitions of those. More than a work of popular science, it made the book read like a set of lecture notes, with diagrams and equations replaced by superfluous explanation.
Regardless, I do think the book is worth reading, and I did learn a bunch new stuff, the author is clearly an expert.
Regardless, I do think the book is worth reading, and I did learn a bunch new stuff, the author is clearly an expert.
February 24, 2023
I wasn't keeping track and randomly updated it yesterday but I was closer to the finish line than I thought. I enjoyed this one but something about it didn't keep my attention on it as much as it should have. This was a fascinating topic and I took way too long to finish it. Oh well.
March 21, 2021
Perhaps I have been spoiled by the visual wonders of HD computer-animated space exploration documentaries. Seeing a visually grand rendering accompanied by a grand orchestral soundtrack is hard to beat. Still, I love a great book just as much. I greet new books with high hopes. So I confess I found myself rather disappointed by Catching Stardust: Comets, Asteroids and the Birth of the Solar System.
Natalie Starkey’s debut popular science book takes the reader on a comprehensive tour of the solar system’s origin and development. The book succeeds in relating its knowledge. It exhibits an overall flow well-suited for amateur readers like me. We see things from young to old, from near the sun to far away, from tiny to gigantic. Scale, especially the vast scale of geologic time, is something this book provides wonderfully.
Moreover, Dr. Starkey is at her best making statements like these: “…a hypothesis is only a prediction of what might have occurred and the only way to test whether it is correct is by gathering data and seeing how they fit the hypothesized model.” That’s good stuff! The word hypothesis, and the way she defines it, needs to be used more often, especially by amateurs like me who only seem to know the word theory and who use it too broadly.
Catching Stardust also gives readers the highlights from important planetary science missions in recent years, with entire chapters devoted to the Stardust and Rosetta missions. These were some of my favorite passages, along with the no-nonsense chapter on the risk of catastrophic meteor and comet impacts. And I’ll never fault a science communicator beating the drum for more planetary science missions.
Yet, I came away from this book a bit disappointed. Perhaps I was hoping for something more personal and conversational. This is a choice all popular science works must make: how front and center do you put the author as researcher, explorer, and evangelist? Catching Stardust largely forsakes a personal narrative and focuses almost entirely on facts and figures. I often felt myself bogged down in prose devoted to the minutia of its subject. My mind felt inundated by the rate and volume of specialized details. The cumulative effect was to leave the subject feeling esoteric. In its prose delivery, this book feels closer to a textbook, or even sometimes a research article abstract. Those approaches are essential to furthering research and knowledge, but they are also not popular science as I understand it.
If, like me, you are deeply into exploring the exploration of space, Catching Stardust may be a worthwhile read. I cannot recommend it as an introduction to the material. That said, I have also heard Dr. Starkey appear on StarTalk Radio, where I became aware of this book. And as she is passionate and knowledgeable about a subject of which I am an enthusiast, I hope to see more work from her. She has another book in the works, Fire & Ice: The Volcanoes of the Solar System. As was the case with this book, I find the subject irresistible.
Natalie Starkey’s debut popular science book takes the reader on a comprehensive tour of the solar system’s origin and development. The book succeeds in relating its knowledge. It exhibits an overall flow well-suited for amateur readers like me. We see things from young to old, from near the sun to far away, from tiny to gigantic. Scale, especially the vast scale of geologic time, is something this book provides wonderfully.
Moreover, Dr. Starkey is at her best making statements like these: “…a hypothesis is only a prediction of what might have occurred and the only way to test whether it is correct is by gathering data and seeing how they fit the hypothesized model.” That’s good stuff! The word hypothesis, and the way she defines it, needs to be used more often, especially by amateurs like me who only seem to know the word theory and who use it too broadly.
Catching Stardust also gives readers the highlights from important planetary science missions in recent years, with entire chapters devoted to the Stardust and Rosetta missions. These were some of my favorite passages, along with the no-nonsense chapter on the risk of catastrophic meteor and comet impacts. And I’ll never fault a science communicator beating the drum for more planetary science missions.
Yet, I came away from this book a bit disappointed. Perhaps I was hoping for something more personal and conversational. This is a choice all popular science works must make: how front and center do you put the author as researcher, explorer, and evangelist? Catching Stardust largely forsakes a personal narrative and focuses almost entirely on facts and figures. I often felt myself bogged down in prose devoted to the minutia of its subject. My mind felt inundated by the rate and volume of specialized details. The cumulative effect was to leave the subject feeling esoteric. In its prose delivery, this book feels closer to a textbook, or even sometimes a research article abstract. Those approaches are essential to furthering research and knowledge, but they are also not popular science as I understand it.
If, like me, you are deeply into exploring the exploration of space, Catching Stardust may be a worthwhile read. I cannot recommend it as an introduction to the material. That said, I have also heard Dr. Starkey appear on StarTalk Radio, where I became aware of this book. And as she is passionate and knowledgeable about a subject of which I am an enthusiast, I hope to see more work from her. She has another book in the works, Fire & Ice: The Volcanoes of the Solar System. As was the case with this book, I find the subject irresistible.
March 26, 2018
Having approached this book as someone who was aggressively average at science in school, I was pleasantly surprised at how readable it was for me. While I had to draw upon every single bit of my retained knowledge from school, none of the information presented felt inaccessible to me. I started it immediately after finishing a frothy fiction, so I had a bit of trouble focusing at first. I decided to start at the final chapter, which I found fascinating and terrifying in equal measure. Then I circled back and started again, this time with my interest fully captured. I disagree with the previous reviewer who didn't find the book exciting enough--having heard very little about the Rosetta and Stardust missions before, I found myself rooting for that little lander almost as much as I do any fictional character whom I want to succeed; it was no less exciting for being a nonfictional, nonhuman "character" whose action happened in the past.
I also found it a surprisingly emotional read. I haven't spent much time learning about the vastness of our universe and the incredibly minute territory humanity occupies in both space and time, and I found myself being equal parts inspired by the accomplishments of my fellow humans, and despairing at the seeming futility of our existence. Not exactly the emotions I expected upon picking up a science book.
I've read other reviews that mentioned the book's repetitiveness as a negative thing, but I found having certain details repeated very helpful for my retention of the information. If it's truly meant to be a popular science book, writing for the benefit of the lowest common denominator only makes the information more accessible to those of us who otherwise may get confused and disengage from the material entirely.
I plan to read it again once I've given the material some time to digest, and I may have more insights upon a second reading. But I will wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone I know who has even the slightest interest in learning about space!
I also found it a surprisingly emotional read. I haven't spent much time learning about the vastness of our universe and the incredibly minute territory humanity occupies in both space and time, and I found myself being equal parts inspired by the accomplishments of my fellow humans, and despairing at the seeming futility of our existence. Not exactly the emotions I expected upon picking up a science book.
I've read other reviews that mentioned the book's repetitiveness as a negative thing, but I found having certain details repeated very helpful for my retention of the information. If it's truly meant to be a popular science book, writing for the benefit of the lowest common denominator only makes the information more accessible to those of us who otherwise may get confused and disengage from the material entirely.
I plan to read it again once I've given the material some time to digest, and I may have more insights upon a second reading. But I will wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone I know who has even the slightest interest in learning about space!
December 4, 2018
This new science book is an intriguing summary of the emerging field of cosmochemistry. By studying samples from asteroids, comets, planets, moons, and interstellar dust, scientists can determine the origin and history of our solar system. Isotopic analysis reveals the “fingerprints” of molecular compounds, telling us how close to a sun they were formed, and by comparing our solar system to other younger solar nebula visible in the heavens, we can put together a fairly reliable model of planetary formation. Our solar system had a particularly rough history, so the basic model is just a starting point to a continuing puzzle. A quick look at the moon shows the dramatic result of the Late Heavy Bombardment period, which left numerous large craters on the surface as material was exchanged between inner and outer layers of the solar system. Indeed, the moon itself is thought to have broken off from Earth after a catastrophic collision with an icy asteroid that may have supplied fresh water to our planet. (The remaining land mass appears to have been spreading apart into continents ever since, perhaps to balance out the void.) Natalie Starkey also devotes a chapter to the feasibility and necessity of asteroid mining in the near future. She points to an infinite treasure trove of building materials and fresh water waiting in stable orbit for the expansion of the human race into space. According to the author, the dwarf planet, Ceres, has more water than planet Earth, and a single metallic asteroid might contain a trillion dollars worth of rare minerals. This book is highly recommended.
August 5, 2019
This was one of the absolute best nonfiction books I've ever read- though most of that is due to the fact that I love learning about space. However, it really is a well-written science book.
This was written in an engaging, understandable, organized fashion- much unlike most science-themed nonfic I'm familiar with. I am a novice when it comes to space science, but this book made it possible for me to understand the basics, and scientifically engage in adequate thought about the material. I really enjoyed it, I felt like I learned a TON, and I feel like I have a better grasp on space science of which I am very interested (albeit still a novice).
If you are interested in space themed science; or even just curious about reading up on some space basics- this is a good place to start. It's worthwhile for both the seasoned space explorer as well as for novices.
This was written in an engaging, understandable, organized fashion- much unlike most science-themed nonfic I'm familiar with. I am a novice when it comes to space science, but this book made it possible for me to understand the basics, and scientifically engage in adequate thought about the material. I really enjoyed it, I felt like I learned a TON, and I feel like I have a better grasp on space science of which I am very interested (albeit still a novice).
If you are interested in space themed science; or even just curious about reading up on some space basics- this is a good place to start. It's worthwhile for both the seasoned space explorer as well as for novices.
May 25, 2018
*Book provided via NetGalley for an honest review.
Starkey takes us on a complete tour of all things comet and asteroid. From their chemical makeup and physical appearance to their probable roles in our past and future. There are chapters dedicated to the mining of asteroids, protecting Earth from asteroids, and missions from space stations around the world landing on comets and collecting their dust for study. I now know so much more about comets and asteroids than I did. I even got a bit of a chemistry and geology refresher. It was definitely written at a level for casual readers and I greatly appreciate that. This is definitely a good book for any amateur astronomer or anyone wondering why comets and asteroids are so important.
Starkey takes us on a complete tour of all things comet and asteroid. From their chemical makeup and physical appearance to their probable roles in our past and future. There are chapters dedicated to the mining of asteroids, protecting Earth from asteroids, and missions from space stations around the world landing on comets and collecting their dust for study. I now know so much more about comets and asteroids than I did. I even got a bit of a chemistry and geology refresher. It was definitely written at a level for casual readers and I greatly appreciate that. This is definitely a good book for any amateur astronomer or anyone wondering why comets and asteroids are so important.
June 6, 2025
Man this was a read. While the information presented is interesting, that doesn’t still take away from the fact that it is still boring. Of course a part of that is always my lack of previous knowledge in this topic, which meant that certain things flew over my head, making it slightly harder than I would’ve expected. Though the rather dry tone of the book certainly doesn’t help things. Easy to pick up, easy to put down.
October 8, 2018
Engagingly written, I found this very easy to read given the subject matter. There were a few times that the text slipped into excessive initialisation (all defined but still ready to get lost in). Even though I'm already familiar with the subject i still learned a lot, with lots of fun anecdotes and factoids along the way. Starkey's enthusiasm for her subject is clear... and infectious.
July 17, 2020
An excellent piece of popular science, Catching Stardust champions the relevance of research on comets and asteroids, whether as frozen time capsules or future mining quarries. See my full review at https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2019...
May 6, 2020
This book is an enjoyable read start to finish. From our quest to study these ancient rocks, which may hold the secrets of our origins to future mining operations, Natalie Starkey held my interest through the entire book.
October 14, 2020
Amazing mind blowing facts about Comets and asteroids
I'm a beginner in learning astronomy. I found this book more helpful in knowing various cool facts about astroids and comets. Author explored
star dust and rosseta missions in details those were amazing chapters.
I'm a beginner in learning astronomy. I found this book more helpful in knowing various cool facts about astroids and comets. Author explored
star dust and rosseta missions in details those were amazing chapters.
February 25, 2019
There was nothing wrong with the book it's just that I am not that big of a fan of non-fiction but this book was quite intriguing. I especially liked chapter 9.
July 3, 2019
There were some interesting -- fascinating really - bits about how to manipulate objects in space. Other than that, most of read like a transcribed notebook.
January 29, 2023
dnf bc of no motivation but i like how the author wrote the book so it wasnt boring to read :) may come back to finish it one day
May 23, 2023
A very good book covering a wide variety of aspects of comets and asteroids.
November 16, 2023
I feel like I’ve learned a lot, but maybe not 250 pages worth 🤷♂️
May 9, 2024
cool subject but very boring way of presenting the content
January 1, 2022
There is so much for you to learn in this wonderful book. Starkey does a fabulous job of writing a pop-science book about space geology
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