Hello Solar System - What on Earth Are They Doing to Poor Pluto? - and welcome to Episode 17 of Light On Light Through, where we consider the semantic fate of Pluto, standing vigil at the edge of our solar system, recently demoted to dwarf-planet status by the International Astronomical Union... Who should decide the status of Pluto: scientists in disagreement among themselves, or humanity?

Michael Burstein joins me for an interview. He is an award-winning short story science fiction writer, a former secondary school science teacher, and head of the Pluto Is A Planet organization.

You'll also hear a few bars of Alpha Centauri, a song written in March 2000 by Pete Rosenthal and me.

Helpful links:

1. http://www.plutoisaplanet.org/ and http://mabfan.livejournal.com/ (Michael Burstein's journal)
2. http://www.claycenter.org/astro February 4th live debate about Pluto at the Clay Center in Boston
3. Is Pluto a Planet? Historical Journey Through the Solar System - good background reading by David Weintraub
4. Neil deGrasse Tyson's 1999 plea for "demoting" Pluto

Enjoy!

Paul

web: http://paullevinson.infoblog: http://paullevinson.blogspot.com

videoclips: http://www.youtube.com/user/PLev20062006Light On Light Through podcast: http://paullev.libsyn.com

Ask Lev 2-5 min pieces of advice on writing, succeeding, and tea

The Plot to Save Socrates - my latest novel"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly"Da Vinci-esque thriller - New York Daily News