SOCIAL: Neil deGrasse Tyson: The Pluto Files

[Adrian Cotter]

For any of you who saw John Stewart last week, Neil Tyson is going to
be at the Commonwealth Club on Thursday

http://tickets.commonwealthclub.org/auto_choose_ga.asp?area=1
(it can sometimes be best to get your tickets in advance)

Neil deGrasse Tyson: The Pluto Files
when: 	Thursday Feb 5 (5:30–8pm)
	  	talk starts at 6pm
where: 	Commonwealth Club (595 Market St, 2nd Fl, 415.597.6700) map
price: 	$18

	  	If you're a proud member of the Facebook group "When I was your
age, Pluto was a planet," Neil deGrasse Tyson may be your greatest
nemesis. The director of the Hayden Planetarium at New York's Museum
of Natural History, Dr. Tyson led the movement to demote Pluto's
status from planet to an object in the Kuiper Belt. Tonight, he
discusses his new book, The Pluto Files; from the geeky minutiae of
the International Astronomical Union (which voted to change Pluto's
status in 2006) to the threats and protests from elementary-school
children (some of them quite chilling), Tyson traces Pluto's
reassessment, along with its influence on American culture and modern
scientific mythology. - Connie Hwong

Note: A wine-and-cheese reception precedes the discussion and book-signing.