Pluto and Beyond: A Story of Discovery, Adversity, and Ongoing Exploration

By Anne Minard

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0873589157
• ISBN13: 9780873589154
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: Cooper Square Publishing Llc
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.1" x 0.6" x 6.1"

Customer Reviews

Review published in The New Mexican magazine 7/15/07

"Anne Minard doesn't hold much back. Jealousy, back-stabbing, ineptitude and bureaucratic snarls are bared. The good stuff is here, too: The discoveries, the brilliant thinking, the dedication, the cool technologies... Minard does discuss the controversy surrounding Pluto's downgrading, but she also points to an optimistic future for the observatory built on the obsession of one man, an obsession that left a great legacy for astronomy."

From the History to the Future of Astronomy

You gotta feel sorry for poor Pluto. If, of course, you thought that a frozen planet so far away from things could have any feelings. On the other hand, as the book says, the continuing change that is the hallmark of science is good. As we progress, as we learn more, we change the basic definitions. And as we learn more about the objects in the Kuiper Belt we found bigger objects that couldn't really be called planets. So poor Pluto. This book is basically a history of Lowell observatory in (well 12 miles outside of) Flagstaff, Arizona. The title is suitable for a book on Lowell, because it was at Lowell that Pluto was discovered in 1930. It was also at Lowell that the second and third moons of Pluto (Nix and Hydra) were discovered in 2005. Also 2005 saw the groundbreaking for the new Discovery Channel Telescope, the fifth largest telescope in the United States. By no means a technical book, this is a good general description of the work being done in astronomy today.

A recommended pick for any library strong in modern astronomy.

PLUTO AND BEYOND: A STORY OF DISCOVERY, ADVERSITY, AND ONGOING EXPLORATION tells not only of Pluto but of the Lowell Observatory, one of the few remaining privately-owned observatories and home to the discoverer of Pluto over seventy years ago. In pairing the story of the discovery of Pluto with the evolution of Lowell, PLUTO AND BEYOND examines both history and key, evolving astronomical ideas in a survey exploring the cutting edge of space research. A recommended pick for any library strong in modern astronomy.

Amazing Science and Writing!

This book is interesting and accessible. Brings Lowell Observatory to Life! Great Read!