This is the most important reference on asrteroids and on asteroid research. Binzel divides the book into six parts; introduction, exploration, structure and properties, origin and evolution, space studies, and tabulation. Each part is further subdivided. Of the six main parts, the smallest section is the one names space studies. Since publication there have been a number of space proes targeted to asteroids and much more is now confirmed about asteroid composition, surfaces, sizes, and makeup from those probes. With well over a thousand pages, there is something on every imaginable aspect of asteroids.

The author has been very encouraging toward dedicated amateurs who like to gather data and collaborate with professional astronomers refining orbit, rotation rate, and surface properties and color data. ( )