WW Norton & Co Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet

Traces the history of Pluto and the recent debate over its planethood, citing its entrenchment in America's cultural and patriotic view of the cosmos to explain its considerable popularity and the reasons behind why so many people campaigned for the preservation of its status. By the author of Death by Black Hole. 50,000 first printing. The New York Times bestseller: “You gotta read this. It is the most exciting book about Pluto you will ever read in your life.”—Jon Stewart When the Rose Center for Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History reclassified Pluto as an icy comet, the New York Times proclaimed on page one, “Pluto Not a Planet? Only in New York.” Immediately, the public, professionals, and press were choosing sides over Pluto’s planethood. Pluto is entrenched in our cultural and emotional view of the cosmos, and Neil deGrasse Tyson, award-winning author and director of the Rose Center, is on a quest to discover why. He stood at the heart of the controversy over Pluto’s demotion, and consequently Plutophiles have freely shared their opinions with him, including endless hate mail from third-graders. With his inimitable wit, Tyson delivers a minihistory of planets, describes the oversized characters of the people who study them, and recounts how America's favorite planet was ousted from the cosmic hub. Autorid: Neil deGrasse Tyson