NOVA: The Pluto Files

Great documentary
This is a great short documentary explaining the controversy over the Pluto demotion. Neil deGrasse Tyson was part of the conflict and does a great job keeping the documentary entertaining enough for children while being very informative at the same time for the adults.

A superb addition to any school or public library collection
A new episode of the award-winning science documentary "NOVA", originally broadcast on public television, is now available on DVD. "The Pluto Files" (56 min.) is based on Neil deGrasse Tyson's book of the same name, and features a commentary from Tyson himself. "The Pluto Files" explains the controversy about Pluto, and why the American Museum of Natural History's Hayden Planetarium ceased to call Pluto a planet. Yet the concept of Pluto as a planet has captured so many hearts and minds - why is Pluto so cherished in the public's imagination? Could more Pluto-like celestial bodies exist within the Kuiper belt? A superb addition to any school or public library collection, enthusiastically recommended for its fascinating presentation as well as for its educational value.

Lighthearted and User-friendly
A scientific curator fails to place Pluto in a model of the solar system and it challenges laypeople's ideas about the last planet. This work explores why he made the decision and why it upset so many. This would be a very good documentary to show in junior high school science classes.

Mankind only knew of Pluto's existence since the 1930s. This work does bring up Disney's Pluto, if you were wondering. Issues of nationalism arise as well. Since an American found Pluto, that may play a role in living Americans' demanding that the mass be deemed a planet.

I loathe science, and especially the ogres and gnomes who taught it to me. This documentary can be embraced by people like me who usually want nothing to do with the subject. This shows famous news reporters and a Disney descendant. It includes Harvard scholars, but it shows them on Harvard's football field, rather than in a lecture hall.

What I love about this work is how it discusses category...

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