Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My father discovered Pluto in 1930. Neil Tyson's book is an interesting and enlightening history of the discovery and the controversy surrounding the new definition of major Planets and Tyson's decision to omit Pluto from the depiction of our solar system at the new Rose Center in New York. Although I do not agree with all his points of view, I do applaud his endeavors in astronomy, writing and education.
Alden Tombaugh

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!

I rate the hardback book with 5 stars, but the kindle edition with only 2 stars because of the missing cartoons, photos, charts and graphics. The essay is still well worth reading, but you will miss a lot if you don't have the graphics. I ended up going to my local bookstore and purchasing the hardback when I realized that the Kindle edition had left out the 35 color illustrations and 10 black and white illustrations. I know that Kindle doesn't show color, but the color illustrations could have been reproduced in gray scale.

It is a great book, but a mediocre kindle edition.

A contemporary topic, Pluto's planetary reclassification calamity has been both an emotional and a scientific issue ever since the N.Y. Times revealed that the Rose Center (Hayden Planetarium) had left Pluto out of the planetary lineup. Dr. Tyson has been in the thick of it even before the story broke. His account of the events and colorful comments that ensued is enjoyably portrayed throughout the book. As in his other books, his effervescent writing style makes this book an easy read even though he includes a lot of names and facts pertinent to the history if Pluto and its new status. It is a short 160 page book filled with many color images and illustrations, which allowed me to read it in only one day. Many, if not most, of the images are quite humorous adding to the enjoyment. Young and old will enjoy will enjoy this book!

Regarding the ongoing, though likely diminishing, debate about Pluto's status, I liked his statement, "You're having an argument over something you generate rather than what is fundamental to the universe." Science is about organization of objective discoveries, and subjective views should always play a subordinate roll. This includes those warm fuzzies we feel for certain traditional views, including Pluto's prior rank as planet. Science is not about a consensus of our feelings, but whether or not quality science is being conducted. Dr. Tyson presents the objective evidence of both sides fairly, and gives lucid reasoning for his position, which I suspect most scientifically-minded folks will eventually concur with his views.

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 also included many cartoons - the cartoonists had a field day over Pluto's demotion and people's reaction to it.

The other reason people seem fixed upon including Pluto in the set of planets is simply that this is what they were taught in school. Tyson lists many mnemonic sentences, the first letter of each word being the first letter of each planet in order from the Sun outwards ("My very elegant mother just sat upon nine porcupines" is the one I remember from childhood.) Tyson shows that there is nothing wrong with mnemonics, but writes, "Because of exercises such as this, elementary school curricula have unwittingly stunted an entire generation of children by teaching them that a memorized sequence of planet names is the path to understand the solar system." His exhibit, for instance, does not organize by what is a planet and what isn't. It draws comparisons and contrasts between what are the "terrestrials", the inner four planets all of which are rocky, small and dense; and the outer four, the gas giants, all of which are big, gaseous, ringed, and multiply-mooned. A kid who can sort the solar system out that way is a lot further along than one who can recite an ordered list of planets. _The Pluto Files_ (note that it puns on "Plutophiles", the people who were protesting in favor of their favorite planet) is an exercise in this sort of instruction. Ostensibly, it is about an amusing battle of what happens when science but also culture makes definitions, and it works at this level delightfully well. It is also, and more importantly, an introduction to thinking beyond the definitions and categories and to better understanding the messy, fascinating star system we live in.

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.

This colorful, funny book tells the story of the backwards growth of Pluto the one-time planet. It is told with wit and sensitivity by the perpetrator of Pluto's downsizing, astrophysicist Neil Degrasse Tyson. It is a terrific read, full of history, culture, politics, hurt feelings and of course science. There is even a happy ending of sorts.

The book itself surprised the heck out of me. I was expecting an interesting story, probably presented in a dry, text-only way. The riveting plot is certainly there, but The Pluto Files is also full of color, jokes, cartoons, illustrations and photos both historical and current.

It starts at the beginning, when the planet Pluto was discovered in 1930 and named by an 11-year-old girl for the god of the underworld. Not long after, a press release issued by Mickey Mouse announces: "Walt decided that I should have a pet and we decided on a dog. All the writers at Disney tried to come up with a name. We tried the `Rovers' and the `Pals' but none seemed to fit. Then one day, Walt came by and said, how about Pluto the Pup? And that's what it's been ever since."

Full disclosure: Pluto is my paws-down favorite Disney character, and I have always associated the planet with the pup. I picture it romping and galumphing out there, at the far end of its leash.

Apparently I was not the only Pluto-lover dismayed when Tyson demoted Pluto the planet to Pluto the icy rock. The Pluto Files chronicles the uproar that followed the downgrade, including everything from media reports to actual letters written by third-grade students to cartoons. My favorite shows Star Wars Yoda declaring: "If landing a spaceship on it you can, a planet in my books it is."

It all ends well in 2006 when Pluto was officially granted "Dwarf Planet" status.

What a fun book!

Here's the chapter list:

1. Pluto in Culture
2. Pluto in History
3. Pluto in Science
4. Pluto's Fall from Grace
5. Pluto Divides the Nation
6. Pluto's Judgment Day
7. Pluto the Dwarf Planet
8. Pluto in the Elementary School Classroom: A personal recommendation for educators
9. Plutologue

For kicks, and a reminder of just how great Disney's Pluto really is, check out Walt Disney Treasures - The Complete Pluto, Volume One and Walt Disney Treasures - The Complete Pluto, Volume Two.

Professor Neil DeGrasse Tyson found himself on receiving end of one of the most controversial non-issues of our time. The demotion of Pluto from planet to "dwarf planet" made the front page of the New York Times and prompted legislation in the state of New Mexico to rebuff the consensus of the International Astronomical Union recognizing Pluto's planethood a matter of law. It's a bizarre story well told by the unassuming astronomer who unintentionally found himself at the center of a firestorm of controversy.

In the Pluto Files Tyson chronicles the events of "the rise and fall of America's favorite planet." This subtitle at first seems odd in that there does not seem to be any American consensus on what its favorite planet might be, but judging by the energetic reaction of the press, various disagreeable astronomers, and children in grade school who wrote letters of protest at the behest of their teachers, it is not far off the mark that the tiny ball of ice five billion kilometers away really does have a special place in the hearts of Americans.

It all began when Tyson, a leading astronomer at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, helped design a scale model of the solar system that did not include the ninth planet. The decision to not include Pluto was not made solely by him or anyone else, but by a consensus agreement of several astronomers who devised their classification system on the basis of shared properties. This was not without its controversy as some astronomers thought it would be best to leave the matter alone and not risk confusing the public with technical scientific details. The curators of the Museum disagreed, however, believing it was their duty to inform and educate the public of the finer points of astronomy. Yet, with that in mind, they would soon find out that there really wasn't a clear set of criteria that defined the necessary and sufficient conditions of planethood.

Tyson spins several theories to explain why downgrading Pluto was so controversial. He lays blame at the feet of Disney and Micky Mouse's lovable dog, he faults educators and their pneumatic devices for memorizing the planet names (My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas), and even goes so far to criticize scientists who write textbook that emphasize the importance of counting planets. Yet each of these explanations seems a bit ad hoc and fails to account fully for the protracted and sometimes severe psychological reaction to Pluto's demise.

I have my own theories, of course. When we are taught that something is scientifically true, we are inclined to feel certain about its truth. When science says it, we believe it, and that settles it. Science's authority in our culture is rightly respected, and we would never question the idea that the Earth goes round the sun or that water is made from one part oxygen and two parts hydrogen. But when our scientific knowledge is challenged by further evidence or a new way of reframing the evidence we are naturally resistant. We don't like being told one thing and then being told another, especially when all of the authority of science, at least at one time, was invested in each. It is like if the Pope one day said we could not eat fish on Fridays and then on another said we could.

Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson's book is a treasure in that it captures the cognitive dissonance between professional science and popular science well. The academic hob-knobing, the Museum-building, and the popular educating are all wonderfully set on a collision course with a culture that is more than willing to trust its scientists to get it right... and not change their minds.

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!

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.