Dava Sobel kicked off the International Polar Year in Fairbanks with a lecture on her newest book, "The Planets," last week in the UAF Davis Concert Hall.

The book is a collection of essays that takes an interdisciplinary approach to entertain and educate a general audience on the planets through science, history, music, religion, and art.

"She has a great sense of humor and is very engaging," said Buck Sharpton, the vice chancellor for research at UAF. "She captured the audience and brought them science, history, and art -- all facets of culture that the planets have inspired."

Using colored illustrations designed for the book by Lynette Cook, Sobel guided the audience through a taste of "The Planets," incorporating planetary facts, history, general themes, and anecdotal stories into her March 12 lecture.

Each chapter focused on describing the planets from a different perspective. The sun is discussed using Biblical references, while Mercury's prevalence in mythology guides the scientific information. Venus's beauty is highlighted through the prose of several poets, and the chapter on Earth contains a history of navigation and geography.

The moon's illusions are coupled with a personal story about eating moon dust, while the chapter on Mars, the science fiction planet, is written from the perspective of the Martian meteorite Allan Hills 84001, found in Antarctica. Astrologically known as the planet of the greatest good, Jupiter's chapter is devoted to astrology. Despite the cosmic connection, Sobel noted this section was the most widely criticized.

"I'm trying to improve the public understanding of science in a way I hope is painless, even enjoyable," she said. "I thought if this could pull more people into the book that would be great."

An informal poll taken during the lecture confirmed that while knowledge of the solar system, the universe and the galaxy was shaky, knowledge of astrological signs was ubiquitous.

Music is the theme for Saturn's chapter. Holsts, Hayden and Mozart wrote pieces inspired by celestial bodies and even Johannes Kepler correlated music with the spacing of the planets.

In her lecture, Sobel said that the resonance separating ice and dust particles differentiating Saturn's rings is also similar to resonance between musical notes.

Uranus and Neptune are combined in one chapter describing their history of discovery. The last chapter on Pluto, entitled "UFO," ties Pluto's planetary status to stories of U.S. citizenship and immigration.

"The structure was important," Sobel said. "I wanted to find a way to present the information that was interesting to me and, with any luck, interesting to other people. I was looking for connections to the planets in every day life."

Sobel decided to write "The Planets" to educate her editor about the solar system.

Sobel also wanted to appeal to the experts.

"To learn about the history and the cultural aspects of the planets educates scientists and helps them to appreciate their own work more," she said.

"I learned a tremendous amount from her," Sharpton, a former NASA employee and a professor of planetary science, said. "Her breadth of information extends into areas I had little knowledge of."

IPY postdoctoral fellow Chris Petrich attended the lecture.

"I thought it was great," he said. "[Sobel] is already doing what we are trying to do with IPY - get people interested and involved with science. She was able to get the community interested in science through books that appeal to a general audience and yet have scientific substance."

Yiming Wang, a geology Ph.D. student studying past climate change, waited in line after the lecture to have her book signed.

"I enjoyed the human perspective and the pictures," she said. "I bought the book for inspiration."

Sobel is the author of "The Planets," "Longitude," "Galileo's Daughter" and "Letters to Father." A science writer for more than 30 years, she previously was a staff reporter for The New York Times. She also has freelanced for magazines like Discover, Life and The New Yorker.