How I killed Pluto and why it had it coming
I enjoyed reading Mike Brown's "How I killed Pluto and why it had it coming". I found it interesting how Mike Brown, who is an astronomer at Caltech, always wanted to discover planets and he ended up killing Pluto! This was an easy-to-read book for me, considering English is my second language and that I am not a big fan of reading over all, let alone not a book in my native language.
By reading this book I learned how Brown always wanted to discover planets, the long sleepless nights that he had looking through telescopes and going through data, writing up computer programs for his found data and... . He basically loved astronomy and the solar system. I think Brown gave a human dimension to his book by telling us about how he met his wife, Diane, and also the birth of his daughter, Lilah. He talked about his first sleepless nights with Lilah and how he made an actual website for her where he was tracking Lilah's feedings and sleeping schedule. He made graphs of these data and put it on her website on a daily basis for at least the first 9 months of her life. This had helped one of his friends. This friend mentioned that he was glad to learn he was not the only dad who had a child with behavior like Lilah who would not sleep through the night.
Even though technically Pluto had been killed long before, the official announcement of it was not until August 25, 2006. Discovery of Xena by Mike Brown, was what led up to Pluto being killed. Xena is bigger than Pluto and had it's own moon, Gabrielle. I found it interesting that one of Brown's friends asked him " What would Lilah think when she found out that you were the one to blame for Pluto's death?" what would she really think ? I am interested in hearing her reaction or thoughts about this.
I found it disturbing how the Spanish astronomer was able to easily steal and claim one of Brown's discoveries. Brown and his team have been working on and were keeping a low profile on this discovery. Brown's team was obtaining more data and studying it, until their official announcement of the discovery. Brown had to act fast in announcing his two other objects that were on the data which the Spanish astronomers had already accessed. When the time came to name this planet, Mike Brown also suggested names for it, just like the Spanish astronomer who had stolen the data of this planet's discovery. The International Astronomical Union, picked the name that Mike Brown had suggested which meant they might have picked his side. I admire that Brown did not care about being just a scientist but an educator.
By reading this book I learned how Brown always wanted to discover planets, the long sleepless nights that he had looking through telescopes and going through data, writing up computer programs for his found data and... . He basically loved astronomy and the solar system. I think Brown gave a human dimension to his book by telling us about how he met his wife, Diane, and also the birth of his daughter, Lilah. He talked about his first sleepless nights with Lilah and how he made an actual website for her where he was tracking Lilah's feedings and sleeping schedule. He made graphs of these data and put it on her website on a daily basis for at least the first 9 months of her life. This had helped one of his friends. This friend mentioned that he was glad to learn he was not the only dad who had a child with behavior like Lilah who would not sleep through the night.
Even though technically Pluto had been killed long before, the official announcement of it was not until August 25, 2006. Discovery of Xena by Mike Brown, was what led up to Pluto being killed. Xena is bigger than Pluto and had it's own moon, Gabrielle. I found it interesting that one of Brown's friends asked him " What would Lilah think when she found out that you were the one to blame for Pluto's death?" what would she really think ? I am interested in hearing her reaction or thoughts about this.
I found it disturbing how the Spanish astronomer was able to easily steal and claim one of Brown's discoveries. Brown and his team have been working on and were keeping a low profile on this discovery. Brown's team was obtaining more data and studying it, until their official announcement of the discovery. Brown had to act fast in announcing his two other objects that were on the data which the Spanish astronomers had already accessed. When the time came to name this planet, Mike Brown also suggested names for it, just like the Spanish astronomer who had stolen the data of this planet's discovery. The International Astronomical Union, picked the name that Mike Brown had suggested which meant they might have picked his side. I admire that Brown did not care about being just a scientist but an educator.
This seems like a really cool book! I was intrigued by the title but ending up picking a different one. It is interesting that Brown's discoveries led to the "killing" of Pluto and it was through the discovery of Xena. It also sounds like there is more to the book than just his discoveries, with stories about his wife, daughter, and the Spanish astronomer. I will have to read it!
ReplyDeleteAfter seeing this I'm tempted to read it! I remember all the hysteria after the announcement that Pluto wasn't a planet anymore. Even though I remember the announcement, I never really learned the story behind it. Sounds like this book would be a useful read.
ReplyDelete-Ryan Baer
I like how you summarized everything that you thought was valuable to learn from the book. Some of the points you made were easy to brush over, so thank you for the clarity. It was really a great book! I also am curious to hear what are Lilah's thoughts about the death of Pluto!
ReplyDelete-KT
I really love your summary. I had no idea that a planet larger than Pluto with a moon (Xena) existed! How was the Spanish astronomer able to steal the information? Did he discover it at the same time or hack a data base or...?
ReplyDelete-Kaela
The Spanish astronomer got a hold of the data of the telescope that was monitoring the new planet.
DeleteI found the controversy surrounding the Spanish scientists very odd and interesting. The fact that data his team had been working on for so long was obtained by a supposed hack in the data base. This really points out the potential for an unknown lucrative buisness in the scientific cmmunity. It is an interesting thought to at least note.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I didn't read it, I get the sense that the book was really well written. There's aspects of science and the developing relationship between Brown and his daughter, but there's also the drama of the Spanish astronomers stealing his work and claiming it. I find it comforting that the International Astronomical Union decided against using the Spanish suggested names and opted for those from Brown and his team. It does sound like in some way they sided with him in the matter.
ReplyDelete