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

Neil deGrasse Tyson

Discussion: 2009-Jan-Feb-Mar

Why we're reading this: January 28, 2009
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2009-Jan-Feb-Mar

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* March 2009
By Tiffany , WristStrong · 1 post · 8 views

last updated Nov 26, 2010 08:37PM

* February 2009
By Tiffany , WristStrong · 1 post · 10 views

last updated Nov 26, 2010 06:45PM

What Members Thought

Feb 08, 2009 Tiffany rated it liked it

Shelves: science, tds_tcr

The book was a nice overview of Pluto's rise and fall as a planet, written for the layman/masses/pop culture. There's an overview of the science involved in why or why not Pluto is a planet, as well as some fun stuff about the Hayden Planetarium and how it structured its new exhibit about the solar system, and Pluto in pop culture (songs about the planet, Disney's Pluto, etc.).

Overall, it's a nice, fluffy book about Pluto's "demotion" -- not a ton of science, but enough for the commoner to unde The book was a nice overview of Pluto's rise and fall as a planet, written for the layman/masses/pop culture. There's an overview of the science involved in why or why not Pluto is a planet, as well as some fun stuff about the Hayden Planetarium and how it structured its new exhibit about the solar system, and Pluto in pop culture (songs about the planet, Disney's Pluto, etc.).

Overall, it's a nice, fluffy book about Pluto's "demotion" -- not a ton of science, but enough for the commoner to understand the debate.

6/7/15:
So now that I've finished reading my "Pluto trilogy" (the three books I wanted to read about Pluto being demoted from planet status), here's how I rank them, in order of how good the book was, combined with what order they should be read in:
1. The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet by Neil deGrasse Tyson. It's a good overview of the debate, with a whole lot of pop culture thrown in (Disney, editorial cartoons, protest parades). It's nice and light, so it's a great introduction to the topic. It does have some science thrown in, but nothing scary.
2. The Case for Pluto: How a Little Planet Made a Big Difference by Alan Boyle. More in-depth than The Pluto Files, this is where you really focus on the search for Planet X, Pluto, the International Astronomical Union's vote on Pluto's status and how that affects science, the future of science, the future of investigations of space, and disagreements between scientists. I liked this book more than The Pluto Files, but The Pluto Files served as a good introduction, and a light approach to the topic. You still get everything about it, but slightly fluffier.
3. How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming by Mike Brown. This book is less about killing Pluto and more about Mike Brown's discoveries and the affects they had on Pluto. This book is a whole lot less about Pluto's demotion from planet status, and both Tyson's book and especially Boyle's book talk about Brown's discoveries, so this one is the one to miss if you only want to read two books. ...more

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Mar 19, 2010 Laurean rated it really liked it

Tyson does a marvelous job of simplifying the history of Pluto's discovery to demotion as well as ultimately his role in the entire debate. Refreshing and educational, I caught myself chuckling as well as being impressed by how Tyson was able to explain everything plainly but in good humor. ...more

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