About the Author

Mike Brown is the Richard and Barbara Rosenberg Professor of Planetary Astronomy at the California Institute of Technology. In 2006 he was named one of "Time" magazine's 100 People Who Shape Our World as well as one of "Los Angeles" magazine's Most Influential People in L.A. He lives in Southern California with his wife and daughter.

Reviews

Praise for "How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming"
"Brown's brisk, enjoyable "How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming "chronicles the whole saga [of the demotion of Pluto] and, in the process, makes Pluto's sad fate easier to take. If we've lost a planet, we've gained a sprightly new voice for popular science...Writing with an appealing wit, Mr. Brown resists the glibness to which science popularizations sometimes fall prey. Instead he leavens his scientific account with a memoir of how he discovered the joys of becoming a husband and a father during the same period that he thought he was discovering planets. It's a refreshing twist on stereotype: the scientist neither as madman nor mystic, but mensch...The cheerful, unaffected tone makes it hard not to like Mr. Brown, and to root for him when he finds himself in the midst of controversy... Amazingly, the author spins these parliamentary proceedings into a nail-biting roller-coaster ride: the skullduggery of secret committees, the raucous debate, the white-knuckle final tally. How many planets will we end up with? Eight? Twelve? Hundreds? Will the astronomers accept a definition that satisfies cultural expectations--but is bad science? Or will they find the courage the kill Pluto?... Brown narrates this entire story with so little rancor and so much generosity to rival astronomers that he can seem too good to be true. He even keeps his cool, and his class, while his research is plundered and his reputation attacked. It turns out you can kill a planet and still be a pretty nice guy."--"The Wall Street Journal
"
"Brown's brilliant scientific memoir brings clarity and elegance to the complexities of planetary science. Brown is also a surprisingly self-effacing and entertaining genius. But what comes through clearest is his uncompromising integrity, his 'take-no-prisoners' belief in science. He puts principle above his own best interest... [An] out-of-this-world science memoir."--"Minneapolis Star