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The planet Pluto
224
BOOK
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REVIEWS
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Iq(;. 1. The missing photograph. Left to right: D. Morrison. C. B. Pilcher, and D. P. Cruikshank in the Cassegrain observing cage of the Kitt Peak National O b s e r v a t o r y 4-m Mayall telescope, photographed on 17 March 1976, the day after they found photometric evidence for m e t h a n e frost on Pluto. The infrared p h o t o m e t e r is s u s p e n d e d from the mirror cell in the top of the picture.
a m o m e n t a r y lapse of m o d e s t y , ! will suggest that one photograph is missing from his book" that of a scene at the Kitt Peak 4-m telescope at the time in 1976 when the m e t h a n e frost absorptions were found in Pluto's s p e c t r u m (Fig. I). D A l E P. CRUIKSHANK
Institute .]or Astronomy University o f Hawaii Honolulu, Hawaii 96822 The Planet Pluto. A. J. Whyte. Pergamon, New York, 1980. 145 pp. $17.50. The year 1980, as the 50th anniversary o f the discovery of Pluto, h a s seen two books devoted to this little planet, and it has been promised one more. It is also two years since the m ~ o r breakthrough in our understanding of this planet was made possible by the discovery of its satellite and the s u b s e q u e n t determination of its m a s s (and, independently, its diameter). It is unfortunate that these books, designed to appear for the 50th a n n i v e r s a r y , had to go to p r e s s at such a time that reference is made to the ,satellite but the follow-up d e v e l o p m e n t s are not yet digested. The Planet Photo is the second o f the above-mentioned books, and, since it hopes to be the definitive reference on the subject, it suffers more from the limitation just mentioned. Indeed, it even refers to the special Pluto meeting in Las C r u c e s , but it could not include the results (see h'arus 43, No. 3) from that meeting.
T h e development of the subject is fairly standard, starting with the discovery of U r a n u s lwhy no one starts with the first historical planetary d i s c o v e r y - that of the Earth by C o p e r n i c u s - - i s o f s o m e interest). and going through the prediction and discovery of N e p t u n e , followed by all of the predictions of yet another planet, and the ultimate search for and final discovery of Pluto. To this point the book is fine, if perhaps a bit brief: it is nice to have the complete material (and references) presented in some detail all in one place. The second half of the book covers the development o f our understanding of this planet since its discovery. Unfortunately, the format is primarily a concatenation o f short s u m m a r i e s o f each of the papers that have been published in the last half c e n t u r y , with little effort to tie t h e m logically together or to present a comprehensive picture. All papers seem to have been included, independent of w h e t h e r they are now considered correct or even relevant, and the order is primarily chronological. T h u s . as a thorough literature search (complete to s o m e point in 1979), and therefore a historical perspective, the book is very valuable and should be , o n the shelf of any serious worker in planetary science. However, as a general presentation o f what is now u n d e r s t o o d or is significant about Pluto, the book is lacking, and therefore it probably is of less interest to the casual reader than s o m e of the other new books on this topic. ROBERI S. HARRIN(;ION
U.S. Naval Observatory. Washington, D.C. 20390
BOOK
..
REVIEWS
..,:
Iq(;. 1. The missing photograph. Left to right: D. Morrison. C. B. Pilcher, and D. P. Cruikshank in the Cassegrain observing cage of the Kitt Peak National O b s e r v a t o r y 4-m Mayall telescope, photographed on 17 March 1976, the day after they found photometric evidence for m e t h a n e frost on Pluto. The infrared p h o t o m e t e r is s u s p e n d e d from the mirror cell in the top of the picture.
a m o m e n t a r y lapse of m o d e s t y , ! will suggest that one photograph is missing from his book" that of a scene at the Kitt Peak 4-m telescope at the time in 1976 when the m e t h a n e frost absorptions were found in Pluto's s p e c t r u m (Fig. I). D A l E P. CRUIKSHANK
Institute .]or Astronomy University o f Hawaii Honolulu, Hawaii 96822 The Planet Pluto. A. J. Whyte. Pergamon, New York, 1980. 145 pp. $17.50. The year 1980, as the 50th anniversary o f the discovery of Pluto, h a s seen two books devoted to this little planet, and it has been promised one more. It is also two years since the m ~ o r breakthrough in our understanding of this planet was made possible by the discovery of its satellite and the s u b s e q u e n t determination of its m a s s (and, independently, its diameter). It is unfortunate that these books, designed to appear for the 50th a n n i v e r s a r y , had to go to p r e s s at such a time that reference is made to the ,satellite but the follow-up d e v e l o p m e n t s are not yet digested. The Planet Photo is the second o f the above-mentioned books, and, since it hopes to be the definitive reference on the subject, it suffers more from the limitation just mentioned. Indeed, it even refers to the special Pluto meeting in Las C r u c e s , but it could not include the results (see h'arus 43, No. 3) from that meeting.
T h e development of the subject is fairly standard, starting with the discovery of U r a n u s lwhy no one starts with the first historical planetary d i s c o v e r y - that of the Earth by C o p e r n i c u s - - i s o f s o m e interest). and going through the prediction and discovery of N e p t u n e , followed by all of the predictions of yet another planet, and the ultimate search for and final discovery of Pluto. To this point the book is fine, if perhaps a bit brief: it is nice to have the complete material (and references) presented in some detail all in one place. The second half of the book covers the development o f our understanding of this planet since its discovery. Unfortunately, the format is primarily a concatenation o f short s u m m a r i e s o f each of the papers that have been published in the last half c e n t u r y , with little effort to tie t h e m logically together or to present a comprehensive picture. All papers seem to have been included, independent of w h e t h e r they are now considered correct or even relevant, and the order is primarily chronological. T h u s . as a thorough literature search (complete to s o m e point in 1979), and therefore a historical perspective, the book is very valuable and should be , o n the shelf of any serious worker in planetary science. However, as a general presentation o f what is now u n d e r s t o o d or is significant about Pluto, the book is lacking, and therefore it probably is of less interest to the casual reader than s o m e of the other new books on this topic. ROBERI S. HARRIN(;ION
U.S. Naval Observatory. Washington, D.C. 20390