Why Pluto Matters

The most interesting class I took in school was called Science, Knowledge and Technology and it covered different theories about how new ideas are created and diffused. I wrote a paper for that class looking at why Pluto’s status as a planet was being challenged and why so much attention was being focused on the subject. This was written last year right at the time that the International Astronomical Union ruled that there were only 8 planets and Pluto was not one of them.

I wanted to try to get the paper published somewhere, but never had the time to devote to it during school. Now that I’ve graduated and have some time, I think the subject might not be so relevant anymore. I would be interested in getting people’s thoughts and comments on what I’ve written though, so I’m posting it here if anyone is interested.

• Why Pluto Matters (PDF file)

The first half of the paper covers how the number, and even the order, of the planets has changed numerous times before. The last part explains how this scientific issue doesn’t have a scientific solution. Basically, Pluto is whatever astronomers decide to call it and there is no scientific test that can be applied to resolve the dispute.

I started thinking of this paper again recently when I read an article about a new book on Pluto that argued the exact opposite position: the issue is a scientific question, not a matter of public opinion or a decision to be made by NASA or a panel of distinguished astronomers. I clearly don’t agree with this point of view, but what do you think?

Hoenikker, Pilgrim and Campbell

Now that I’m done with school I’m looking forward to being able to read for fun again. I enjoyed a lot of what I had to read for classes, but I wouldn’t want to find a relaxing place to sit and read a novel-length version of articles like “Technology Policy for a World of Skew-Distributed Outcomes.”

I just finished reading three Kurt Vonnegut books — Cat’s Cradle, Slaughterhouse-Five and Mother Night (those are the last names of the three main characters in the title of this post (it also sounds like the name of a reputable law firm)). I had read several of his books in college, but wanted to go back and read them again after he died a few weeks ago.

Reading these in a row really brought out how many of the same characters, ideas, places and story lines show up in his different books. Just to pick one example, in two of the books there were detached fathers who had wives that were injured in car accidents and then their daughters took over caring for them. I’m not trying to make a particular point about this, but it was something I noticed and found interesting.

And next for something completely different — Ruling the Later Roman Empire.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I just took my last exam a couple of days ago and now I’m done with graduate school. The last two years have been very interesting, but they have also been very hectic. In addition to school, my wife and I also had a baby and I had an internship, a part-time job and I continued volunteering at mozdev (there was also a death in the family, but that’s for another post).

At school I took non-profit management and science and technology policy courses (among other things) and I am looking for a job that will mix these topics with my earlier experiences with Internet development and open source software. I’m starting this blog to write down thoughts about how all of these ideas fit together and to get ideas and thoughts from other
people who are interested in similar topics.