Higher Than Everest: An Adventurer's Guide to the Solar System

In this book, Paul Hodge presents a highly informative yet nontechnical and easy-to-read introduction to the unique features of many planets and moons of our Solar System. The book is written in the style of a travel guidebook to give the reader some idea of what it would be like, actually to be present at the many unique places on the worlds around us. The main thing I learned from this book was how "modest" our geological features on this planet are, compared to those of some other planets! For instance, our Mt. Everest pales in comparison to Mt. Olympus on Mars and many mountains of Venus, our Grand Canyon is a shallow valley compared to Valles Marineris on Mars, and even a huge cliff on the tiny Uranian moon Miranda dwarfs any on earth! Unlike a technical textbook, this book is more of an informal tour, which both informs and stimulates the imagination and inspires wonder for the other worlds near us. My one criticism concerns the pictures. The book does contain some excellent pictures, real and simulated, which complement the text well. It could have used more, though. Now that so many more are available since the Cassini probe reached Saturn and Titan, and the entire surface of Venus has been mapped, perhaps such pictures will be included in a future edition. I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in geology or planetary science, or is just curious about the Solar System. It's easy to read even if you don't have much background in science and will open your eyes to the great variety and beauty of worlds beyond.

Written like an informal, rather breezy guidebook, Higher than Everest describes how future adventurers might climb the highest mountains and cross the most dramatic landscapes on other planets and moons in our solar system. The author provides some general factual background for each destination, keeping the language simple (intelligent high school students could read this book easily). He gives only the briefest description of the technical needs of such expeditions, blurring distinctions between relatively straightforward ventures such as climbing the Moon's Mount Pico and much more difficult challenges like descending into Jupiter's atmosphere or landing atop a Venusian peak. Most of the real images of these destinations are helpful, though one wishes the author had given us more of them instead of his own photographs of similar landscapes on Earth. In one case - the ascent of Mars' Mount Olympus - the author shows us a proposed route for the expedition. Unfortunately, he does not use this helpful device for any of the other sites.

The author provides a true guided tour, focusing on the most spectacular features of the planets. Beautiful color pictures combine with informal second-person language ("Once on the surface your exploring party will make its way towards the mysterious source ..."). Despite -- or perhaps because of -- the coffee-table-book presentation, I learned more about Solar System here than in many planetary geology texts. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the subject, from curious middle schoolers to scientists.