Book 1 Post 2

I finished How I Killed Pluto a few weeks ago so it’s not as fresh in my mind, but I really did enjoy reading the book. Although this book is technically an autobiography, I enjoyed reading a more science-y book. My genre of choice is generally suspense/thriller so it was nice to read something outside of that. While I did get to learn about Brown’s personal life, it didn’t feel sappy like I feel most autobiographies are. I feel like autobiographies are usually like “omg listen to my sob story and how I overcame so much adversity”, but How I Killed Pluto was more educational. Not only did you learn about someone’s life, but you learned about why his studies and work were actually influential in academia.

Brown takes you along for the ride throughout his time searching for planets. You feel as though you are there with him during his sleepless nights of searching for moving “specks” in the sky. You can also see the dedication and commitment to his craft. Brown talks about meticulously looking through several images from several different nights in hopes of making a discovery.  He would search through hundreds of images of the sky and was often left disappointed when no discoveries were made. To enhance his discovery process, Brown writes his own computer programs and his time goes from staring at the sky to staring at a screen. Yet, despite his many busy nights working, he is able to balance his personal life as he expects the birth of his first child. We see both side of Brown’s life in which not only is he a great astrologist, but also a great father.

Another interesting aspect was when Brown did make his discovery of a planet beyond Pluto, which he called Xena. But another Spanish astronomer happened to make the same discovery, and unfortunately made the announcement to the scientific community before Brown could himself. Brown explained in the book that although he found it first, the other astronomer stated its existence first, so they are the rightful discoverers. Or not! As it turned out that the Spanish astronomer was following Brown's telescope observations and stole the discovery from him. In the end we see how Brown is the true discoverer but ultimately the space committee doesn't give him full recognition for his non-planet planet.