Blog Entry

What’s the good of blogging if you can’t brag once in a while.

My book Beyond Jupiter: The Story of Planetary Astronomer Heidi Hammel is the current featured book on the Astronomical Society of the Pacific’s web site.

To those who accuse me of having a particular bias on the issue of anthropogenic global warming, I offer the following, sent my way by planetary astronomer Heidi Hammel, the subject of a recent children’s book I wrote in the “Women’s Adventures of Science” series.

Science thrives on questions that challenge the consensus view. In this case, the analysis of changes in Neptune’s brightness suggest that a solar component may be in play. If further research bears out Heidi’s hypothesis, then our understanding of Earth’s recent warming may need to be refined to include a greater role for solar phenomena than are included in the current consensus view.

I recently posted some news about to my Science Shelf Book Review site including a look ahead at two upcoming books about global warming and politics.

Click the link above or the “Read More” link below for details.

My blog has been on hiatus, and that will continue because I am directing my energies elsewhere — in my community. You can do the same in yours.

In my book reviews, I avoid becoming partisan, but when it comes to voting, I am passionate about electing leaders who understand science, who support science, and who avoid the temptation to misconstrue science for their political advantage.

Many of my young readers are disappointed that Pluto is no longer a planet. I think its important for them to realize that the body is as interesting as ever. That’s why I revised an old “Ask Dr. Fred” question on my website for children’s science and retitled it “Why Isn’t Pluto a Planet Anymore?”

It says, in part:

August 24, 2006, was a significant day in the history of planetary science. If you read the newspaper headlines, you might think it was famous as the day that Pluto was thrown out of the planetary family. But if you read more about the 2006 meeting of the International Astronomical Union, you will discover that the story is a bit different than that. August 24, 2006, was really the first day that there was an official scientific definition of the word “planet.”

Read more by clicking the title of this blog entry or the link below.

It’s been quite a while since I posted an update about my Science Shelf book review site. This blog entry includes excerpts of the latest reviews, recommendations of two children’s science books, and information about upcoming personal appearances.

A JPL scientist who just read my latest book, Beyond Jupiter: The Story of Planetary Astronomer Heidi Hammel, thinks we should do more to bring it to the attention of scientists.

I’ve decided he’s right! What good is having a blog if I can’t toot my own horn once in a while.

Even though I’ve been busy with my own manuscripts for the past two months, and even though I expect to do more of the same in July, I have still found time to update the Science Shelf web site.

My latest published book review takes you to “Cloud 9,” among other wonderful places. If you appreciate great prose, great stories, and great science, you can’t go wrong with The Cloudspotter’s Guide: The Science, History, and Culture of Clouds by Gavin Pretor-Pinney.