The Origin and Evolution of the Solar System (Series in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 6, Band 6)

The Origin and Evolution of the Solar System begins by describing historical (pre-1950) theories and illustrating why they became unacceptable. The main part of the book critically examines five extant theories, including the current paradigm, the solar nebula theory, to determine how well they fit with accepted scientific principles and observations. This analysis shows that the solar nebula theory satisfies the principles and observational constraints no better than its predecessors. The capture theory put forward by the author fares better and also indicates an initial scenario leading to a causal series of events that explain all the major features of the solar system.