Coal

Coal Nature and Culture Ralph Crane

While concerns about climate change have focused negative attention on the coal industry in recent years, as descendants of the Industrial Revolution we have all benefited from the mining of the black seam. Coal has influenced significantly the course of human history and our social and natural environments. This book explores the extraordinary artistic responses to coal – from its role in the works of numerous writers, including Zola, Lawrence and Orwell, to the way it inspired painters such as Turner, Monet and Van Gogh, and its place in film, song and folklore – as well as the surprising allure of coal tourism. This strikingly illustrated book provides an engaging and informative insight into the myriad ways coal has affected our lives.

Ralph Crane is Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Tasmania. He has written or edited 25 books, including Cave (Reaktion, 2015).

An engaging insight into the myriad ways coal has affected our lives

earth April 2021 • Popular Science isbn 978 1 78914 366 9 210 × 148 mm • 224 pp 99 illustrations, 76 in colour Paperback • £15.95/$24.95 ebook 978 1 78914 367 6 World rights: Reaktion

Asteroids

Clifford J. Cunningham

‘The most engaging book that I have ever read on asteroids. The book covers every major topic and should be on the shelf of every person interested in asteroids.’ – Thomas Burbine, Visiting Assistant Professor in Astronomy, University of Massachusetts

Grounded in historical studies of asteroids from the nineteenth century, Asteroids is an up-to-date view of these remarkable objects. Without resorting to any technical plots or mathematics, the author shows that asteroids are not just rocks in space, but crucial to understanding the life and death on Earth of both animals and humans. From space missions to asteroids’ starring roles in literature and film, Clifford J. Cunningham precisely and entertainingly looks at the place asteroids have in our solar system and how they affect our daily lives.

Clifford J. Cunningham is a Research Fellow at the University of Southern Queensland and Research Associate at the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand. He is the author of six previous books on asteroids, including Introduction to Asteroids (1988), and the editor of a book on William Herschel. Asteroid 4276 (Clifford) is named in his honour.

A fully up-todate view of the remarkable cosmic objects we call asteroids

kosmos May 2021 • Popular Science isbn 978 1 78914 358 4 220 × 171 mm • 232 pp 100 illustrations, 80 in colour Hardback • £25/$40 ebook 978 1 78914 359 1 World rights: Reaktion