Book 1 Post 2 - How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming
Mike Brown, “How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming” Book Review
As a kid, I dreamt of becoming an astronaut. I remember being amazed in first grade when my teachers told me that a Vietnamese astronaut, Pham Tuan, had already been into space in 1980. I hoped that once I grew up, I would get to board a rocket ship, travel even further to the edge of our solar system, and see a new planet with my own eyes that I could name myself. 14 years later, even though I decided to major in Business and not Astrophysics, I still love learning more about space. So, a book about how Pluto, one of my favorite planets as a kid, got downgraded to a mere dwarf planet intrigued me.
What initially drew me into the book was Mike’s description of the history of astronomy. He showed us that our view of the universe is shaped not only by what we see in the sky but also by linguistics, technology, and religion. He wrote about how the ever-changing definition of the word ‘planet’ affected how astronomers categorized the solar system. He demonstrated how digital cameras and lasers completely changed how he worked with the 48-inch Schmidt telescope at the Palomar Observatory compared to his predecessors. Learning more about astronomy and how it was intertwined with the rest of human history was fascinating.
However, in the second half of the book, what kept me reading wasn’t the astronomy aspect. It was still fascinating to learn how Mike discovered Huamea, Eris, and Makemake and how these discoveries implicated Pluto’s status as a planet. But, I was more captivated reading about Mark’s personal experiences. I loved learning about the controversy between Mike and Spanish astronomer Ortiz over the discovery of Huamea, the angry astronomy internet group chat, and the SMARTS database. I loved reading Mark’s diary-like entries about his daughter Lilith from when she was just a fetus until she was a toddler. One of my favorite parts was reading about how Mike tried to scientifically figure out Lilith’s eating and sleeping habits using graphs, schedules, and statistics. Reading this made me physically laugh out loud as I wondered if I thought it would be the same as Mike when I grew up and had a kid myself.
“How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming” is not just a story about astronomy but also a coming-of-age story of a man growing into his career and starting a family. Rather than treating the readers as outside observers, Mike’s writing is personable and pulls us in. He describes the complex concepts of his work and details his personal experiences in quirky and creative ways that keeps it lighthearted, easy to understand, and engaging. I would highly recommend this book to others.
I feel like wanting to be an astronaut is such a universal experience! I felt the same way when I was little and even tried to photoshop my 2nd-grade school picture into an image of a spaceship-- lol. I love your takeaway from the book and I resonate with the fact that I felt like I was there with Brown along the way. I definitely have a lot of respect for him and really enjoyed his story.
ReplyDeleteI like how you started with your childhood dream and connected to the book! The part where you talked about how our linguistics, religion, and technology affect our view of the universe because I thought it was purely scientific. I'm curious how astrology will continue to evolve!
ReplyDeleteI also had an interest in astronomy when I was younger! I liked how you connected your childhood life to the book; it drew the readers in and grabbed our attention. As someone who also chose and read the book, I thought Brown's writing was so witty and entertaining to read. I'm glad you highlighted this part in your third paragraph.
ReplyDeleteIt's cool that you were able to use something personal to help you pick which book you wanted to read. I'm sure it was a very interesting book and after reading your review, I might check it out! I also enjoyed how detailed you were in your analysis in terms of explaining your opinions on the piece, considering people could interpret it differently.
ReplyDeleteI love your breakdown of the book, often when a topic is scientific it can be redundant, but your review expresses how well the authors story telling carries the book outside of just science; more of the passion and life aspect through research. I also love the intro of your review, it felt like the book was more personal and connected to you which is great.
ReplyDeleteHi Hai! Through reading this report, I can feel your passion about astronomy, so I think its amazing that you had the chance to read this book and share your thoughts and takeaways with us! I didn't read this book, so hearing about the two different vibes and how this intersect to create this story is so interesting! Your appreciation and acknowledgement of Mike as a person and writer is awesome as well! This review has me wanting to read "Why I Killed Pluto"!
ReplyDelete"How I Killed Pluto" oops
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