The Planet Factory

A precious compendium on what we can say about the formation of planets, and how much our knowledge has progressed in recent years. * Nature *Packed with interesting insights and scientific content that capably captures the current state of exoplanet research. * Sky at Night *If you’ve always been intrigued by extrasolar planets — or even if you haven’t! — you’ll want to move this book to the top of your reading list. * Sky & Telescope *Engaging and informative … a great introduction to a relatively new and fast-changing aspect of scientific endeavour. * Engineering and Technology *Brilliantly written … Tasker highlights how difficult the hunt for planets is. I highly recommend this book. * Physics World *This splendidly readable and authoritative book succeeds at the near-impossible task of explaining all you need to know about the revolutionary and fast-moving scientific field that’s seeking out these new worlds and what may be lurking on them. – Caleb Scharf, Directory of Astrobiology, Columbia UniversityElizabeth Tasker is the perfect guide in this astronomical adventure story; she brings the world’s leading planet hunters vividly to life and demystifies the crucial technical details of the research with impressive clarity and a light, engaging touch. – Michael D. Lemonick, Chief Opinion Editor at Scientific American and the author of Mirror Earth: The Search for Our Planet’s TwinIn a lively science narrative spiced with a sly humour, Elizabeth Tasker makes learning about the planets of our Solar System and beyond into a rich and rewarding pleasure. – Marc Kaufman, author of First Contact and Mars Up Close, and founder of NASA’S online column ‘Many Worlds’Elizabeth Tasker’s book is a surprisingly complete description of the current state of astronomy of extrasolar planets, presented in a way that is extremely entertaining and accessible. I highly recommend it to everyone who would like to get acquainted with this still-new, fascinating field of science. – Aleksander Wolszczan, discoverer of the first exoplanet

Elizabeth Tasker is an astrophysicist specialising in computational simulations of star formation in galaxies. After a degree in theoretical physics, she went on to complete her doctorate at Oxford before post-doctoral research at Columbia University and the University of Florida in the United States, and McMaster University in Canada. In 2011 she became an assistant professor at Hokkaido University, Japan. Elizabeth has been a keen science communicator for many years, dating back to winning the Daily Telegraph Young Science Writers Award in 1999. Since then she has written blogs for Scientific American and Physics Focus, and currently writes Hokkaido University’s research blog.