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daisy123622's review against another edition
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
5.0
This book had no business being this good. I might yap about it for a while
miss_majuu's review against another edition
2.0
Oh boyyyyyy was this disappointing.
I went into this expecting a fun science non fiction. In reality this book is a biography/memoir and it's absolutely boring.
Neither was I interested in Mike Browns life story nor did I like him, and you kinda have to like the people you're reading a memoir of....
As he presented himself in this book he came off as privileged, narcissistic, intrusive and unlikeable.
It may sound harsh but if I ever have to hear about the spanish astronomers or the collection of some random data again, I might scream.
In general was the entire middle section so incredibly repetitive: we look forever for a planet, one night we saw a possible light, now we did math, we named it, it's actually smaller than Pluto, what a bummer, we look at the sky again.
Additionally this didn't do a good job of explaining the field of expertise and, for being so much memoir, how the author was able to do any of his projects. Like where was he getting the money to chart the sky for 2 years?
I went into this expecting a fun science non fiction. In reality this book is a biography/memoir and it's absolutely boring.
Neither was I interested in Mike Browns life story nor did I like him, and you kinda have to like the people you're reading a memoir of....
As he presented himself in this book he came off as privileged, narcissistic, intrusive and unlikeable.
It may sound harsh but if I ever have to hear about the spanish astronomers or the collection of some random data again, I might scream.
In general was the entire middle section so incredibly repetitive: we look forever for a planet, one night we saw a possible light, now we did math, we named it, it's actually smaller than Pluto, what a bummer, we look at the sky again.
Additionally this didn't do a good job of explaining the field of expertise and, for being so much memoir, how the author was able to do any of his projects. Like where was he getting the money to chart the sky for 2 years?
nickscoby's review against another edition
4.0
I am almost ashamed to admit how much I enjoyed this book. I tend to get turned off by overly mathematical and scientific explanations, but while reading Mike Brown's book, I was transported back to 5th grade when I was truly fascinated by planets (Saturn was always my favorite). I am mightily impressed with Brown's thoughtfulness (others may say obsession); if nothing else, he truly cares about doing the right thing. Another lesson: words do matter. A good quarter of the book is dedicated to the definition of a planet, and why scientists should be clear about what they mean.
I am a college academic administrator and I *highly* recommend How I Killed Pluto as a Common Read.
I am a college academic administrator and I *highly* recommend How I Killed Pluto as a Common Read.
chuskeyreads's review against another edition
2.0
I'm from Huntsville, and I'd never heard of this guy until I picked up this book. What an ego this guy has! The discoveries were made by a team that included Mike Brown, but his account reads more like he had a couple of guys who helped a little. Not to mention his arrogance to take sole credit for Pluto's demotion. Seriously?! He isn't even a member of the IAU, so he had no say in the vote nor the revised definition of the term "planet." But he attempts to persuade the reader that he alone created the final outcome and relishes in Pluto's demise. This guy evens goes as far to say that there's really only four planets - Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus - and Pluto is just "insignificant debris."