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How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming by Mike Brown
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How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming

By Mike Brown

By Mike Brown

By Mike Brown

By Mike Brown

By Mike Brown
Read by Ryan Gesell

By Mike Brown
Read by Ryan Gesell

Best Seller
Paperback $18.00

Jan 24, 2012 | ISBN 9780385531108

Ebook $8.99

Dec 07, 2010 | ISBN 9780385531092

Audiobook Download $17.50

Dec 07, 2010 | 469 Minutes

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    How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming by Mike Brown
    Paperback $18.00
    Jan 24, 2012 | ISBN 9780385531108

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    • $18.00

      Jan 24, 2012 | ISBN 9780385531108

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • Dec 07, 2010 | ISBN 9780385531092

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • Dec 07, 2010 | ISBN 9780307932693

      469 Minutes

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    About How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming

    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?

    About How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming

    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?

    About How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming

    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 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?

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    About Mike Brown

    Mike Brown is the Richard and Barbara Rosenberg Professor of Planetary Astronomy at the California Institute of Technology. In 2006 he was named one of Time magazine’s 100 People Who Shape Our World as well as one of Los Angeles magazine’s Most Influential People in… More about Mike Brown

    About Mike Brown

    Mike Brown is the Richard and Barbara Rosenberg Professor of Planetary Astronomy at the California Institute of Technology. In 2006 he was named one of Time magazine’s 100 People Who Shape Our World as well as one of Los Angeles magazine’s Most Influential People in… More about Mike Brown

    About Mike Brown

    Mike Brown is the Richard and Barbara Rosenberg Professor of Planetary Astronomy at the California Institute of Technology. In 2006 he was named one of Time magazine’s 100 People Who Shape Our World as well as one of Los Angeles magazine’s Most Influential People in… More about Mike Brown

    Product Details

    Category: Science & Technology | 21st Century U.S. History

    Paperback | $18.00
    Published by Random House
    Jan 24, 2012 | 288 Pages | 5-3/16 x 8 | ISBN 9780385531108

    Category: Science & Technology | 21st Century U.S. History

    Ebook | $8.99
    Published by Random House
    Dec 07, 2010 | 288 Pages | ISBN 9780385531092

    Category: Science & Technology | 21st Century U.S. History | Audiobooks

    Audiobook Download | $17.50
    Published by Random House Audio
    Dec 07, 2010 | 469 Minutes | ISBN 9780307932693

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    Praise

    “Brims with humor and charm . . . exhilarating.”—Los Angeles Times

    “[An] out-of-this-world science memoir . . . brilliant . . . brings clarity and elegance to the complexities of planetary science. Brown is also a surprisingly self-effacing and entertaining genius.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune

    “Brown’s brisk, enjoyable How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming chronicles the whole saga [of the demotion of Pluto] and, in the process, makes [its] sad fate easier to take. If we’ve lost a planet, we’ve gained a sprightly new voice for popular science.”—The Wall Street Journal

    “Eminently readable and entertaining . . . blends elements of sleuthing, international intrigue, and the awe and wonder intrinsic to the exploration of space.”—The Oregonian
     
    “An unlikely hybrid of Dennis Overbye’s Lonely Hearts of the Cosmos and Anne Lamott’s Operating Instructions.”—The New York Times Book Review
     
    “[Brown] might be the finest scientist alive today. . . . We’re all better off for this man’s breathtaking commitment to science.”—The Boston Globe

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