＊本书是KOSMOS系列的其中一本，已出版Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, The Moon, Saturn, The Sun，接下来会出版The Solar System, Stars, Uranus & Neptune 以及The Greatest Adventure: A History of Human Space Exploration

从十九世纪的科学研究到现在的最新发现，这本书带给读者关于小行星的所有知识。书中不会用到太技术性的词语也不使用太多的数学，作者清楚地说明小行星如何不只是外太空里的石头，而是了解地球上人类以及动物的生与死的关键。从太空行到文学及影视里所看到的小行星，作者解释它们在太阳系里以及在我们生活中扮演的角色。

关于作者：

Clifford J. Cunningham是University of Southern Queensland的研究员，同时也是National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand的研究助理。他写过许多本书，包括1988年的Introduction to Asteroids。

好评：

‘Asteroids by Clifford J. Cunningham is 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 Lecturer of Astronomy, Mount Holyoke College

‘We have conscripted asteroids into video games and transformed them into

exotic landscapes through space exploration. At first we didn’t know what to call them, and then we named them after ancient gods, close relatives, and the Beatles. Here Clifford J. Cunningham, the expert on asteroid history, conducts us from a time only a little more than two centuries ago, when no one knew aster- oids exist, to now, when many know the dinosaurs were done in by one asteroid and wonder whether another might have our name on it. Dr Cunningham has mined the asteroid belt to tell us the whole story of these small but compelling worlds – where they are, what they are, and what they mean for us.’
– E. C. Krupp, Director, Griffith Observatory