How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming

Title: How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming

Author: Mike Brown

Year: 2012

Genre: Nonfiction

Age: 8th grade up

Summary: The solar system most of us grew up with included nine planets, with Mercury closest to the sun and Pluto at the outer edge. Then, in 2005, astronomer Mike Brown made the discovery of a lifetime: a tenth planet, Eris, slightly bigger than Pluto. But instead of adding one more planet to our solar system, Brown’s find ignited a firestorm of controversy that culminated in the demotion of Pluto from real planet to the newly coined category of “dwarf” planet. Suddenly Brown was receiving hate mail from schoolchildren and being bombarded by TV reporters—all because of the discovery he had spent years searching for and a lifetime dreaming about.

A heartfelt and personal journey filled with both humor and drama, How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming is the book for anyone, young or old, who has ever imagined exploring the universe—and who among us hasn’t?
Text from www.barnesandnoble.com/


Review: I’ve loved astronomy since I was a little girl. I even seriously wanted to be an astronomer in High School. (To be fair, this was directly after my Egyptolgist phase and only lasted until I learned exactly how much calculus is involved). Ever since, I’ve had a soft spot for stories about the astronomy and about how we see the universe around us.

In How I Killed Pluto... Brown shows himself to be the rare example of an astronomer who can also expertly craft a narrative compelling enough to read for pleasure. Brown’s explanations of astronomic phenomena in layman's terms are easy to follow. I also quite enjoyed how he wove the story of his personal life into his professional life. Sometimes, it felt a bit like filler, but it mostly served the story Brown set out to tell.

I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in astronomy, science nonfiction lovers like myself.