From the Bookshelf of Science and Inquiry…

How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming

Mike Brown

Start date: March 1, 2011

Finish date: March 31, 2011

Discussion: Book Club 2011

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Book Club 2011

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last updated Jun 21, 2018 05:08AM

April 2011 - The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
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What Members Thought

Mar 03, 2011 Katy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

This is a great book. It is written for the average person, not for scientists, but still a good read.
It is funny and fascinating both.
We had the chance to visit Mauna Kea and view the stars and the large international telescopes there.
(We did not get to view from the Big Telescopes, but those are all computerized now anyway.)

I also loved Mike Brown's descriptions of his wife's pregnancy and the birth of his daughter.
His description of how he charted and wanted statistics on all the possible d ...more

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Mar 31, 2011 Sam rated it really liked it

Shelves: proper-books, earth-science, popular-science

A highly entertaining and incredibly interesting read that recounts how Mike discovered a number of solar system bodies that led to the eventual killing of the world's favourite planet, Pluto. Mike has a warm and endearing way of writing that comes across like an uncle telling you a story rather than a ground breaking astronomer telling of his latest and greatest discoveries. The inclusion of moments from his family life add a certain charm to the story and give it a depth and feeling of humanit ...more

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Feb 18, 2011 Valerie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

As I'm going page by page I've noticed that Brown is organizing his book just like Paul J. Steinhardt and Neil Turok do in their book, Endless Universe: Beyond the Big Bang. He is so far building up to his discovery in the form of an epiphany, like you would see in any fiction novel. It's masterfully organized, bringing in his life experiences (probably to not only inform the reader of him, but also to make the reader view him as competent in his discipline) as well as applying his thought proce ...more

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Mar 07, 2011 Eric Bingham rated it really liked it

I loved this book! It's a great story about a scientist with a life-long dream to discover a new planet. It could be enjoyed by anyone, scientist or not. I especially liked how the author often inserted little comments about his wife and daughter that made you realize that, while he is obsessed with finding a new planet, he is even more obsessed with his family. Great read! ...more

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