How I Killed Pluto And Why It Had It Coming (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
This was a great read! I learned a lot about our Solar System. And I learned why Pluto is no longer considered a planet, which I had never known before. My short explanation, after reading the book, is that when Pluto was discovered, nothing else that far out in the solar system had ever been seen, so not knowing what else to call it, and despite that fact that its size, composition, and orbit were considerably different from the other known planets, they named it the 9th planet. In recent decades, though, dozens of what are now called "dwarf planets" have been discovered in a region beyond Neptune now known as the Kuiper Belt. Pluto is not remarkable compared to the others in that region. It is the second-largest of those thus-far discovered, and is not the only one to have a moon or moons. The author, whose team has discovered most of the Kuiper belt objects now known, compares the Kuiper belt with the asteroid belt. When objects were first discovered in it a couple of centuries ago, they called them planets, too, until they kept discovering more and more and more. When it became clear that there was a whole swarm of things in orbit around the sun between Mars and Jupiter, they demoted Ceres and the others from "planet" to "asteroid", reserving the term "planet" for a small number of large, important objects in orbit around our sun. The author argues that it would really make sense to talk about at least 5 different types of objects orbiting the sun: the 4 terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars), the asteroids in the asteroid belt, the 4 gas giant planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune), Kuiper belt objects, and comets (which have their own unique orbits). Each is sufficiently different to constitute a category. My 3 year-old is currently interested in all things space-related, so I've been trying to learn a few things, myself. This was a good start! I found How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming both informative and very entertaining. There is a really good balance between the professional and the personal. Mike Brown was the astronomer who discovered Eris (amongst other dwarf planets) which prompted the International Astronomical Union to demote what had once been the ninth planet. He agrees with the demotion and presents his case very well, helped along by a dry sense of humor. He also explains how he works to detect new bodies in the far reaches of the solar system and how such bodies derive their names; he describes the dispute involving the discovery of Haumea (who knew astronomers would be so underhanded?) and he shares the wonder of his baby daughter growing and coming to understand the world around her. Mike’s particular field of study is one that has always intrigued me and his great explanations make our solar system that much more understandable.
What do You think about How I Killed Pluto And Why It Had It Coming (2010)?
This was a very good book. Fun to read and let you learn something in the process.
—jinxedjane
Probably a good book for astronomers, but not so much for laypeople like me
—Justling
Pluto is back :Pi think YOU didn't see that coming
—gshark
