The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet

by Neil deGrasse Tyson

Book Overview

In August 2006, the International Astronomical Union voted Pluto out of planethood. Far from the sun, wonder Pluto has any fans. Yet during the mounting debate over rallied behind the extraterrestrial underdog. Disney created an irresistible pup by the same name, and, as one NASA scientist put it, Pluto was "discovered by an American for America." Pluto is entrenched in our cultural, patriotic view of the cosmos, and Neil deGrasse Tyson is on a quest...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393065200
• ISBN13: 9780393065206
• Release Date: January 2009
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 1.24 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.5" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Much better than I expected

Like many Americans, Pluto was always my favorite planet - for as long as I have known about planets I liked Pluto. And, also like many Americans, I was disturbed whenever anyone suggested that Pluto should be removed from that list of celestial bodies. In this surprisingly entertaining book, author and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson tells the story of Pluto, from its discovery, through its hold on American popular culture, and on to the discoveries that led to Pluto's reclassification as a Kuiper belt object. I must say, this book was much better than I expected. The author did a very good job of making the book informative, and at the same time easily readable. It's a bit of mass-market book, which means that if you are doing research on Pluto and want a summary of known data about the sphere, you probably will be disappointed. But, on the other hand, if you are a general reader, who is interested in knowing about the rise and fall of Pluto, then you will definitely enjoy this book...as I did! Congratulations to Mr. Tyson, great work!

A Delightful Gem

Only the well-respected and liked Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson could be forgiven for some of the steps taken to dethrone Pluto as the ninth planet of our solar system. Now, I am an amateur astronomer, and this debate went well before 2000. It began at least in the 1990s. However, the ball started rolling, and Pluto lost its status as the ninth planet in our solar system. Neil does an excellent job of explaining the history behind America's favorite planet. He blends humor and his own blend of scientific fun into a concise and complete explanation of the demotion..err..."reclassification" of Pluto. The great thing is that I can either a. move to New Mexico where Pluto is still legally a planet (thanks to the book I know this) or b. take the recommendation of a few hundred out-of-touch scientists with a grain of salt. I am glad to know that I am only one of many millions of Americans, including the angry third graders that dared to take on "the establishment". This is a must-read for any astronomy enthusiast, or anyone who appreciates Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson. A very well-done, delightful treat.

The Perils of Solar System Definition

Neil deGrasse Tyson is one of the world's most famous scientists. He is an astrophysicist and a columnist for _Natural History_. In addition to his own research and technical writings, he has written popularizations like _Death by Black Hole_, and he has produced television documentaries on the cosmos. It was as director at the Hayden Planetarium that he inadvertently stepped into one of the biggest scientific controversies of recent years. It had nothing to do with religious antagonism against evolution or a universe more than 6,000 years old. It had nothing to do with global warming. What got the public up in arms against him was a celestial body smaller than Earth's Moon, an icy object five billion miles from the Sun that no one knew for sure existed until its discovery in 1930. Tyson and his team creating an exhibit for the planetarium did not include Pluto in its models of planets. When this was discovered, and when the decision to leave Pluto out was found to be deliberate, Tyson became possibly the most hated astronomer on the planet. In _The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet_ (Norton), he has reported his own role in the controversy. There are serious scientific themes here, but this is a fun book. Tyson doesn't seem like a person who would relish bothering anybody, but he is instead amused by all the fuss, and much of his book is hilarious. Nonetheless, he has used it (always the teacher) to give a history of our knowledge about Pluto, to illustrate the way science handles categories and conflict, and to demonstrate the astonishing difficulties of making a good definition. The problem of naming things properly, and thereby classifying them, shows up all the time in biology, but is rarer in astronomy. The problem is that nature is not orderly or logical and resists our impulse to pigeonhole it at any scale. Planets are celestial bodies that go around the Sun, to be sure. But astronomers never had a problem with moons - moons go around the Sun, too, but they seem to do most of their orbiting around their designated planet, so no confusion ensued. In fact, by 1851 we had eighteen planets zipping around the Sun, until these were demoted to asteroids in their asteroid belt. In a similar circumstance, tiny Pluto is merely the biggest of many ice balls within what is now known as the Kuiper Belt. So no Pluto model was built for Tyson's exhibit. No press release of Pluto's demotion was put out, and the exhibit was not controversial until one year later a story in the _New York Times_ had a page one headline, "Pluto's not a planet? Only in New York." And then Tyson started to get hate mail. Tyson's reports on the protests and his responses to them, are great fun. He has included some endearingly cute letters from kids, including the one from the very first person to note Pluto's absence from the Hayden display, a seven-year-old who included a drawing to show how the model ought to be made. He has

A Lighthearted and Scientific Defense of Pluto's Demotion

Pluto was discovered in 1930 and named after the Roman god of the underworld; that same year, Disney created a cartoon pup of the same name. Pluto also found space in the Periodic Table (#94 - plutonoium), along with #92 uranium and #93 neptunium. The notion of dropping Pluto from the list of planets has created a media firestorm since it was first proposed in 2000 that continues to this day - some even thought it a publicity ploy to boost attendance at the author's Hayden Planetarium museum. However, in 2006, the International Astronomical Union officially downgraded Pluto from "planet" to "dwarf planet," taking some of the pressure off the author, Dr. Tyson. Problems with considering Pluto a planet include the fact that there are seven moons measure larger than Pluto (Earth's, four of Jupiter's, and one each belonging to Saturn and Neptune), it is the only planet to cross the orbit of another planet (Neptune), it has less than 5% the mass of Mercury - the next smallest planet, and its largest moon (Charon) is so large vs. Pluto that they orbit a spot not within Pluto, but in free space. Pluto's average high temperature is -365 degrees F., is only twice the size of Ceres (largest known asteroid), and 50X the size of the largest comet. The planet consists of about 70% rock and 30% ice; however, given that ice is much lighter than rock, about 55% of its volume is ice. The biggest problem with labeling Pluto a planet is that beginning in 1992, scientists began finding additional objects orbiting the Sun beyond Neptune. Astronomers believed that hundreds, maybe thousands more would be found, and that it was inevitable that one would be larger than Pluto. In 2005, Eris, 27% larger than Pluto was found in that same area, since named the Kuiper belt. Dr. Tyson maintains a light-hearted approach throughout the book, even including an sincere, but funny and apologetic letter from a 7-year-old formerly angry about Tyson's position vs. Pluto the ex-planet. Numerous humerous cartoons on the subject are also included.

Inspirational and Engaging!

Once again, Dr. Tyson engages our minds with a timely topic much grander than our own existence. My [...] science students have been enraptured by this fiery debate. Dr. Tyson is a wonderful "EXPLAINER" who makes science come alive for those with little or no formal education in the field. His writing style is identical to his witty dramatic live lectures. Highly recommended!! Dr. Tyson... I hope you know how much the younger Americans NEED you to continue your work. Your enthusiasm for science is contagious and that is just what Young America needs to take the reins of scientific research in today's ever-changing world. You are needed and LOVED!! Mrs. Scarola Pembroke Pines Charter Middle School Pembroke Pines, Florida P.S. My students REALLY want you to come visit us. There's NO SNOW here in SE Florida!