Read By: Ryan Gesell

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 10th planet, Eris, slightly bigger than Pluto. But instead of its resulting
in one more planet being added to our solar system, Brown's find ignited
a firestorm of controversy that riled the usually sedate world of astronomy
and launched him into the public eye.

The debate 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.

Filled with both humor and drama, How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming
is Mike Brown's engaging first-person account of the most tumultuous year in
modern astronomy - which he inadvertently caused.

As it guides readers through important scientific concepts and inspires us
to think more deeply about our place in the cosmos, it is also an entertaining
and enlightening personal story: While Brown sought to expand our understanding
of the vast nature of space, his own life was changed in the most immediate,
human ways by love, birth, and death.

A heartfelt and personal perspective on the demotion of everyone's favorite
farflung planet, How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming is the book for
anyone, young or old, who has ever dreamed of exploring the universe - and
who among us hasn't?

Download File Size:303.96 MB

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