This book recounts the epic saga of how we as human beings have come to understand the Solar System. The story of our exploration of the heavens, Peter Bond reminds us, began thousands of years ago, with the naked- eye observations of the earliest scientists and philosophers. Over the centuries, as our knowledge and understanding inexorably broadened and deepened, we faltered many times, frequently laboured under misconceptions, and faced seemingly insurmountable obstacles to understanding. Yet, despite overwhelming obstacles, a combination of determined observers, brilliant thinkers, courageous explorers, scientists and engineers has brought us, particularly over the last five decades, into a second great age of human discovery.
