The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favorite Planet

Neil DeGrasse Tyson

ISBN 10: 1433244098 ISBN 13: 9781433244094

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc., 2009

Synopsis

In August 2006, the International Astronomical Union voted Pluto out of planethood. Far from the sun, tiny, and eccentric in orbit, it's a wonder Pluto has any fans. Yet during the mounting debate over Pluto's status, Americans rallied behind this extraterrestrial underdog. The year of Pluto's discovery, Disney created an irresistible pup by the same name, and, as one NASA scientist put it, Pluto was "discovered by an American for America." Pluto is entrenched in our cultural, patriotic view of the cosmos, and Neil deGrasse Tyson is on a quest to discover why. Since he was involved in the first exhibits to demote Pluto, Tyson has received plenty of freely shared opinions from Pluto lovers, including endless hate mail from third graders. In his typically witty way, Tyson explores the history of planet classification and America's obsession with the status of Pluto.

About this title

About the Authors

Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist, author, and science communicator. In 2017 he became the first American to win the prestigious Stephen Hawking Medal for science communication. He is the Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History and a research associate in its Department of Astrophysics. From 2006 to 2011 he hosted the educational science television show NOVA ScienceNow on PBS, and in 2014 and 2020 he hosted the television series Cosmos, updates of Carl Sagan's landmark series. Tyson has written multiple New York Times bestselling books.

Mirron Willis--actor of film, stage, and television--is the winner of the prestigious Audie Award for best narration in 2012 and a finalist for the Audie in 2015, as well as the winner of four AudioFile Earphones Awards for his audiobook recordings. He has worked extensively in film and television and on stage with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Houston Shakespeare Festival, and the Ensemble Theatre, among others. He has recorded some 150 audiobooks, including the Smokey Dalton series by Kris Nelscott and My Song by Harry Belafonte. He resides and records audiobooks on his family's historic ranch in East Texas.

Reviews

When astronomers stripped Pluto of its "planethood" in 2006, it set off a surprisingly passionate debate. As director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City, Neil deGrasse Tyson was at the center of the dispute, and he tells his side of the story with wit and humility in this audio. Mirron Willis doesn't sound entirely comfortable with the scientific language (despite a number of credits as an actor and narrator in sci-fi), but he does a fine job conveying the audiobook's humor, including the letters from children who are angry that Tyson helped to demote their favorite planet. It's unclear why the publisher elected to include the glossary and the other appendices that don't work well in audio, except perhaps to pad out a very brief recording. D.B. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

Edition details

• Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1433244098
• ISBN 13: 9781433244094
• Binding: Audio CD