The story of how one man single-handedly brought down a planet. Well, not entirely so, but it was partially due to the displays that astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson worked on at the Hayden planetarium that ended up with the reclassification of Pluto. This is mostly his story, but it also has some background story and history.
Peppered with lots of feedback, mostly from children, decrying the author's decision to not list Pluto among the bona-fide planets at the planetarium, this book is still a bit hard to take. The engaging style of the author does not detract from the fact that much of the story is not very interesting. To be sure, a devotee of astronomy won't be entirely put off by it, especially since the author makes a great case for his decision.
However, I found that it took a bit of an effort to complete the book. The collected cartoons were interesting, as were the letters from Tyson's younger debators. Still, I can only rate this one 5½ stars.
1 comment:
Tyson hasn't "brought down a planet." The controversial IAU vote was done by only four percent of its members, most of whom are not planetary scientists, and was immediately rejected by a petition of an equal number of professional astronomers, some of whom are even now working to get it overturned.
Tyson contradicts himself regarding that controversial IAU vote as well. On the one hand, he disavows any connection to it and describes it as flawed. On the other hand, he cites it to vindicate his design of the Rose Center. Which one is it? He can't have it both ways.
Many scientist believe in a much broader definition of planet that includes any non-self-luminous spheroidal object orbiting a star. By that criteria, which makes far more sense, Pluto is very much a planet.
You can read more about efforts to get Pluto's planet status reinstated on my blog at http://laurele.livejournal.com
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