I don't usually do book reviews, actually this is the first post I've done with "Book Review" in the title, but every once in a while a book comes along that I think my readers , who might not be in the market for a book about space would enjoy.
What caught my attention about this book, besides the freaky cool eye on the cover and the fact that the words "Planet X" and "Pluto" are in the same title, is, as I was reading it that it is very accessible to the average person on the street, it is a bunch of little stories personalizing our solar system in easy to understand language. It is a book about how our solar system came to be, how astronomers and planetary scientists go about discovering the next new planet. It has drama, complete with the human factor, egos, personalities, foul play even thievery come into play in the rush to be the first discoverer of the next "Planet X", the next yet undiscovered planet.
It is a book rich in history, for example you'll learn of a German astronomer being the son of a convicted witch, if you happen to know who this astronomer is, the first person commenting with the name of gets a free pair of Hanna Montana/Miley Cyrus 3D glasses.
It also has a very high PTPR, or as I like to call, Picture To Print Ratio, meaning it has lots of pictures, I like pictures, this book has it's fair share, also it has glossy pages, now that might not be a criteria for you when buying a book, but the glossiness brings out the beautiful illustrations nicely and makes you feel like you're holding a quality book.
You'll also read about the theory how "Planet X" may have a part in the 2012 destruction of our planet as well as a possible "Death Star", a companion Red dwarf star to our Sun in the far reaches of our solar system chucking mass extinction comets at us every 26 million years or so.
Pluto, I have always thought the demotion of Pluto from planet status to whatever it is called now a farce. The book goes into the whys and wherefores of the decision to demote, but in the end, in Bobland it will always be a planet.
In one week back in August 2006 the IAU went from 9 to 12 then down to 8 planets, just goes to show you the uncertainty of what to do with little Pluto.
I say, you know what, Pluto may not meet all the new criteria developed by the intellectual elite for remaining a planet, but Damn the torpedoes, let's make an exception to the new rules and keep Pluto with full planetary status, has the science of astronomy become totally void of emotion and compassion?
At least we have the state of Illinois, they have restored Pluto's planetary status, at least for the their "Pluto Day". If you want to make your voice heard you can head over to The Pluto Petition web site and cast your vote.
Overall, freelance astronomy writer Govert Schilling did a great job of bringing the solar system to the masses in well written easy to understand shorts packed full of adventure and intrigue.
I'll leave you now with my latest Lunar image animated.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Book Review, " The Hunt For Planet X, New Worlds And The Fate Of Pluto"
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326 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 1 – 200 of 326 Newer› Newest»Seems interesting.
I was following over the internet the debate about Pluto and how the poor little planet was decreased to be a dwarf one.
LOL! My God, did Google penalized the planet's pagerank ;)
p.s. thanks a lot for dropping by my blog.
I guess there is no escaping the energetic influence of Pluto, planet or not ... :-) Thanks for sharing your insightful review!
Thanks for dropping by as well Hicham. Lol, with Pluto's luck maybe they did, poor little Pluto.\m/\m/
Thanks a lot Anne, little Pluto has always been the underdog, and I have all my life been for the underdog.\m/\m/
wow great review! ^^ i love space stuff! XD maybe u can do a post on dark matter? or the string theory ^^
Thanks a lot Shu Fen, and thanks for dropping by! I have done a few posts on both Dark Matter and String Theory, and I will be doing more when the LHC gets up and running. I think the Large Hadron Collider will give us the answers to both, or at least big pieces to their puzzle.\m/\m/
I like Bobland, Bob. The debate was interesting though! I think the astrological community refused to let it go...
Hi Priyank, lol, I refuse to let it go, I think there is a slight possibility of Pluto being promoted back to being a planet due to the public outcry, perhaps at the next major meeting of the IAU in Rio in August, we shall see.\m/\m/
Not a book I would read, but you gave a very in depth review Bob.
Thanks Rose, no problem, I know space stuff isn't exactly your cup of tea,lol. glad you dropped by.\m/\m/
Pluto is very much still a planet and the so-called new rules are bogus. They were adopted by only four percent of the IAU, most of whom are not planetary scientists, in a process that violated the group's own bylaws. Their planet definition was immediately rejected by hundreds of professional astronomers led by Dr. Alan Stern, Principal Investigator of NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto. Stern and like-minded scientists as well as lay people are even now working to overturn the demotion or are ignoring it altogether.
Feel free to visit my Pluto blog, chronicling efforts by me and others to overturn the demotion, at http://laurele.livejournal.com
Thanks for your input Laurel, I like the way you think my friend, I will be over to your awesome Pluto saving site.\m/\m/
I like the pictures, especially your animated lunar picture. Still, a space book filled with pretty pictures, I'm sold.
Thanks for the review.
Thanks Stephanie,lol you'll like it.\m/\m/.
Nice write up Bob. It is indeed a freaky cool eye! I wonder what they are actually teaching in grade school science now? Have curriculum adopted the 8 planet solar system?
The whole 2012 thing has to do with the Mayan calendar stopping at that point, I think. They probably just figured they had gone far enough into the future with it and stopped there. As it turned out, thanks to the Spanish conquerors, the Mayan were being overly optimistic at that.
i love your animated lunar picture, you seem to be very good in animating your pictures and of course in taking lunar images. Thanks for sharing the book, for some reason, if there are pictures with glossy pages, I am more drawn to reading :)
I think Pluto should still be a planet. I with you on that one. It looks like it is a really good book.
I just wanted to let you know that I make a mistake on my videos, I didn't realize they were both the same so I corrected it by changing it to the right one if you want to come by and see it. I thought you should be the first to know that I have blond hair, I think that is what happened. LOL!
Love and Blessings,
AngelBaby
Thanks Will, I really don't know about what the schools are teaching since my kids are out of it right now, I would think they are teaching 9 planets with Pluto being a dwarf planet, it still may change.
It talks about the Mayan calendar as well, the planet X or Nibiru happens at the same time,gets too close to the Earth causing a catastrophic pole shift supposeidly that is why the calendar stops.\m/\m/
Thanks betchai, me too I like lots of images, if the book is about space and has Illustrated in the title, I own it,lol.\m/\m/
Thanks AngelBaby, I was going to mention it to you but totally forgot, I will come back thanks, lol about the blond part,lol.\m/\m/
What's being taught in classrooms really depends on the individual teachers. There are ways to teach the debate and have kids read both sides and make their own decision. Many teachers are still including Pluto. There are a few cases where kids were given lower grades for including Pluto with the planets and then having their grades reinstated once they provided links showing many astronomers do still consider Pluto a planet. It's important for parents who care about this to be on top of the issue. On my blog, I put a link to an award-winning NASA module for teaching the controversy at the high school level.
Sounds like a very interesting book, Bob. About the poles switching... isn't that suppose to happen anyway? I mean, isn't the magnetism naturally swapping ends? So why would it be catastrophic? This isn't the first time it's happened.
That book sounds like a collection of "Blackholes and Astrostuff" posts.
I heard that Pluto was not considered a planet in other countries. Is that true?
Thanks Moonshadow, good point, although I'm pretty sure they meet the physical poles, not magnetic poles, even if it was magnetic, the sudden change as opposed to over many 1,000s of years would be very bad too.\m/\m/
Thanks for your input Laurel, your knowledge about Pluto is greatly appreciated here, so glad I found another Pluto person,lol.
Thanks for the great compliment Ruth, Pluto is no longer technically a planet anywhere, now classified as a dwarf planet, which may change in August in Rio at the next IAU meeting.\m/\m/
Hey Lord of the Astropics :D!
Cool eye indeed! I believe it is the moon, right?
Anyway, I have done a couple of book reviews on my Portuguese blog, and I can tell you that it is nice.
"The Hunt for Planet X" sounds like my kind of book: I love stories that depict human nature (envy, intrigue, ambition, backstabbing...oh yeah).
Oh my, I don't know the name of that Astronomer...but his story is intriguing me: son of a convicted witch, eh? Perhaps she wasn't even a witch (in those days they'd accuse someone of witchery if that person didn't strike their fancy).
I must agree with you when you say that it has beautiful picture (I am guessing the images in your post, were taken from the book): they are indeed gorgeous!
In Maxland, Pluto is still a planet as well...so we are on the same side, brother *high five*!
My, my, my...Bob, what a great lunar image, man! Absolutely beautiful! :D
I wish you a superb week, Bob!
Cheers
Excellent Review! I want to go out and buy the book. I never heard of it, but you have introduced it and I am sure there are others out there that would not have known about if it was not for this review.
Bob:
Thank s for the great review. I saw this book in our bookstore, and I usually read these things when they come out. But I have been busy with other books, so I decided to put it off for a while. I am concerned about the 2012 destruction theory. Are they talkking about Mother Earth? Yikes.
A nervous happy trails
Hmmm, sounds like more conspiracy theory stuff. Its funny cause I like a little bit of that, but it seems the world is going crazy over it! I would read the book for our good friend Pluto though!
Also cool nuke moon pics!
\m/
Thanks Max, glad you are a Pluto person as well,lol. I think the image of the eye might be the next planet X, just guessing. Some of the images are from the book, others I just used for the post, the pics in the book are way better anyways.
I'm sure she wasn't a witch, like you said they convicted everyone of witchcraft back then, what a fun time it must have been,lol.
Thanks for dropping by Max and have yourself a great week too.\m/\m/
Super Mike, I'm sure you will like it.\m/\m/
Thanks swubird, the only bad point about this book is they never sent me a signed one,lol, Govert has been out and around to various locations signing them, not in Saskatoon though,:(.
I am not into the destruction of the Earth in 2012, I think we are going to be around for awhile yet, but it is still fun to read about it,lol.\m/\m/
Hey Jesse thanks for dropping by, I'm sure Pluto will appreciate it,lol.
I like reading about these kinds of things like the end of the world and such but don't put much if any weight to them, still fun, like a sci-fi story.\m/\m/
Looks like a good book Bob, cool cover! If I run across it I will give'er a gander!
Thanks Roger, sure you'll like it.\m/\m/
Yup, Pluto will always be a planet in my book. I cannot believe they demoted that "little boy" like that (in Prague!). I'm going to check out that vote linky. Have a wonderful Tuesday!
Hey Bob!
"what a fun time it must have been,lol." - LOL LOL you know?
You are welcome, man...it is my pleasure :D!
Cheers
Thanks Ivanhoe, vote for Pluto!!
Lol, thanks again Max.\m/\m/
I agree, Pluto was shafted. ;-)
For someone who doesn't normally do reviews you gave us an excellent account of this book.
It sounds very interesting and I too like pictures, history and glossary pages.
I wish I had it here right now while my PC speed is still down.
I hope to be back 100% by Friday!!
Happy week Bob,
Jackie:-)
Thanks Marvin, another Pluto person,lol.\m/\m/
Thanks a lot Jackie, good luck with your PC speed.\m/\m/
I'll have to check this book out.
All astro books should have a high picture to print ratio. It should be like a rule!!
Sounds interesting, Bob. Part of me likes anything related to the cosmos. Even stuff about quantum theory and relativity, though it can be a bit hard to navigate...
Your review, on the other hand, is very readable and informative. I like the cover on the book, too.
Is it snowing on your page, or raining meteorites, lol? I find the effect very relaxing...
Have you read the book THE MIND OF GOD, by Paul Davies? It's about the size, shape, evolution, etc., of the cosmos.
Lol OldWestMom, I totally agree!!\m/\m/
Thanks Lynda, glad you like those type of books me too, even the quantum theory books even though they generally have a low PTPR,lol.
It is snow and I have been keeping it on my blog because it is still snowing here and probably will for at least 2 more months, plus it is relaxing and they look like meteorites.
You are the second person that has mentioned that book to me, I will have to take a look at it as it seems like something I would enjoy, thanks for mentioning it.\m/\m/
Bob, an AMAZING post and photos. Looove the book review!!!
Pluto should keep its name. Period.
Hopping over to the link you provided for the vote casting.
Hugs, JJ...still haven't updated my blog...will do in a couple of days. I have a 70-300mm telephoto lens now that is distracting me. :D
Thanks a lot JJ, great that you are going to vote, woo hoo, and great you got your 70-300 mm lens, you're going to have a lot of fun with it.\m/\m/
Hey Bob did any body answer your question yet, was it Johannes Kepler? But I am number fifty FIRST, LOL. So Bob you actually have time to read books, lol, on top of blogging and other posts, wow, Super Astro Bob. Sounds interesting, may be I will pick it up when I finish reading my Da Vinci Code, lol, its been about 7 months now. Thanks for sharing this is really cool stuff! Anna :)
Thanks Anna, and you win the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus 3D glasses!! You just have to email me your address again since I can't seem to find it,lol. I read quite a few books, that is with a high PTPR,lol.\m/\m/
It is incorrect to say that Pluto is not considered a planet in any country. Please do not give four percent of the IAU that much power. There are two legitimate views in this ongoing debate, that of the dynamicists, which states that dwarf planets are not planets, and that of the planetary scientists, which states that dwarf planets are a subclass of planets. Neither view is more correct than the other. The IAU definition may very well end up simply being ignored by many scientists and lay people alike.
Its a very scientific book and hope it will go forward.
Excellent stuff. I am sure all the astronomy lovers would enjoy it alot....
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