The volume gathers the prominent works by participants in the NATO Advanced Study Institute, liThe Comparative Study of the Planets", which was held at Vulcano (Aeolian Islands) from September 14 to September 25, 1981. The book is intended to be a landmark for all those inter- ested in the problems disclosed through the close-up exploration of planets and satellites, either for professional reasons or Simply for scientific knowledge. The topics dealt with concern all methodologies by which the members of the Solar System have been studied and the audience to whom the volume is addressed is,...