The Planets

Professor Brian Cox · Andrew Cohen

May 2019 · William Collins · Narrated by Samuel West

About this audiobook

‘So staggering you go “whoa!” every few seconds’ Guardian

‘Really impressive’ Eamonn Holmes, ITV This Morning

A companion book to the critically acclaimed BBC series.

The bestselling authors of Wonders of the Universe are back with another blockbuster, a groundbreaking exploration of our Solar System as it has never been seen before.

Mercury, a lifeless victim of the Sun’s expanding power. Venus, once thought to be lush and fertile, now known to be trapped within a toxic and boiling atmosphere. Mars, the red planet, doomed by the loss of its atmosphere. Jupiter, twice the size of all the other planets combined, but insubstantial. Saturn, a stunning celestial beauty, the jewel of our Solar System. Uranus, the sideways planet and the first ice giant. Neptune, dark, cold and whipped by supersonic winds. Pluto, the dwarf planet, a frozen rock.

Andrew Cohen and Professor Brian Cox take readers on a voyage of discovery, from the fiery heart of our Solar System, to its mysterious outer reaches. They touch on the latest discoveries that have expanded our knowledge of the planets, their moons and how they come to be, alongside recent stunning and mind-boggling NASA photography.

Ratings and reviews

well structured and very enjoyable. As a guided tour of our solar system this book makes for a stellar companion on the commute.

a mesmerizing experience! absolutely fantastic content, and Samuel West is the perfect narrator.

Good long book and a great listen. Read very well and very clearly.

About the author

Professor Brian Cox, OBE is a particle physicist, a Royal Society research fellow, and a professor at the University of Manchester as well as researcher on one of the most ambitious experiments on Earth, the ATLAS experiment on the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland. He is best known to the public as a science broadcaster and presenter of the popular BBC Wonders trilogy, Human Universe, Forces of Nature and Stargazing Live.

Andrew Cohen is Head of the BBC Science Unit and the Executive Producer of the BBC series Planets. He has been responsible for a wide range of science documentaries, including the Wonders trilogy, Human Universe, Forces of Nature and Stargazing Live. He lives in London with his wife and three children.