Richard Greenwood is a Senior Research Fellow at the Open University, UK. A geologist by training, he started studying meteorites quite by accident after answering an advert in a science magazine. Life has never been quite the same since. Some of his close encounters with extraterrestrial rocks are described in this book. In particular, he was the first scientist to identify the Winchcombe meteorite. But things haven't always gone totally to plan. Failure to find a single space rock on a Moroccan expedition in the 1990s still hurts. Full disclosure is provided here.

Richard's more academic activities involve the study of meteorites with the aim of understanding the origin and early evolution of our Solar System. Spacecraft are now collecting material directly from asteroids and bringing the samples back to Earth. Richard has been at the heart of these activities, working with international teams analyzing material brought back by the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) from asteroid Ryugu and by the NASA OSIRIS-REx mission from Asteroid Bennu. He also maintains a popular outreach blog on meteorites: [...]

Chapter 1: Dead Cow. Chapter 2: Mr Pettifor's Garden - A Very English Meteorite Adventure. Chapter 3: Yes you have meteorites in your garden too! Lots of them! Chapter 4: Dinosaur Killers. Chapter 5: The Spy, the Meteorite, and the Lost Legendary City. Chapter 6: What have meteorites ever done for us? Chapter 7: A meteorite called Camel Donga. Chapter 8: The tall tale of the soldier who found a monster-sized meteorite and then lost it! Chapter 9: Having a smashing time - The story of Meteor Crater. Chapter 10: The Winchcombe meteorite - An extra-terrestrial splat! Chapter 11: 1969 and all that. Chapter 12: Antarctica - cool rocks from a cool place. Chapter 13: Desert Gold. Chapter 14: Capturing metoerites in space. Chapter 15: The chances of anything coming from Mars. Chapter 16: Grains from before the dawn of time. Frequently Asked Questions. Appendix 1: So You Think you Have Found a Meteorite - What Next? Appendix 2: Meteorites - A Very Short Guide. Index. Chapter Notes.