Decoding the Solar System

From time immemorial mankind is trying to understand his surroundings – amongst which – besides the countryside, the Sun, the Moon, the planets, the blinking stars, the shooting stars and the rare sight of colossal comets have been witnessed with immense awe and interest by the sky watchers of all ages. The adventures with the sky have given mankind a deep insight on our cosmic surroundings and existence. In embarking upon such a venture of enormous dimension, it is needless to say that in most of the cases success could only be achieved after several faltering steps which required conquering of many misgivings and delusions on popular notions. The author’s passion for comprehending his cosmic existence to a great extent has been accentuated by the achievements and failures of his illustrious predecessors. Hence, if this book deserves any credit, the lion’s share of it should go to the author’s predecessors, who had toiled much harder than the author in their cherished pursuits of unlocking the cosmic mysteries. The author is indebted to all his predecessors including many unknown giants and pathfinders. Besides, it is owing to the brilliant work conducted by the scientists of various space missions, especially the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of USA, the author could undertake this challenging task. The author would like to emphasize that some of his views discussed in the book are not in agreement with the prevalent popular concepts and, therefore, for a comparative appraisal, along with the author’s interpretation, the prevalent concepts have also been presented. The author pleads that the verdict regarding his views should be decided after a thorough analysis and comprehensive investigation and not in the way some of the concepts on earth and planetary sciences have been accepted in the past without scrutiny.