Exoplanets - Michael E. Summers

The past few years have seen an incredible explosion in our knowledge of
the universe. Since its 2009 launch, the Kepler satellite has
discovered more than two thousand exoplanets, or planets outside our
solar system. More exoplanets are being discovered all the time, and
even more remarkable than the sheer number of exoplanets is their
variety. In Exoplanets, astronomer Michael Summers and physicist
James Trefil explore these remarkable recent discoveries: planets
revolving around pulsars, planets made of diamond, planets that are
mostly water, and numerous rogue planets wandering through the emptiness
of space. This captivating book reveals the latest discoveries and
argues that the incredible richness and complexity we are finding
necessitates a change in our questions and mental paradigms. In short,
we have to change how we think about the universe and our place in it,
because it is stranger and more interesting than we could have imagined.