QQC 10/28/2010

"As for Pluto itself, nobody is quite sure how big it is, or what it is made of, what kind of atmosphere it has, or even what it really is"



Pluto is definitely the underdog planet. In the introduction the author was saying that astronomers can tell you almost anything about any planet millions of light years outside of our galaxy, but it seems like nobody really cares to learn about Pluto. Everybody wants to get to know the exotic new stars and planets, but they're all pretty bored with poor Pluto.

In this same paragraph the author goes on to explain that astronomers believe it's not a planet, while most believe otherwise, so I'm wondering when exactly this was written. I was under the impression that Pluto was confirmed to be a star or asteroid of some sort, not a planet; then again i may very well have my facts wrong.

QQC 10/21/2010

I really enjoyed this article from the very beginning. The introduction had a great hook, and got me thinking right away, which leads me to my favorite quote:

"For the next many years (we hope) these tiny particles will uncomplainingly engage in all the billions of deft, cooperative efforts necessary to keep you intact and let you experience the supremely agreeable but generally underappreciated state known as existence."

Here Bryson is talking about the atoms that piece together to make up a person. I actually think that I enjoyed the introduction more than the actual chapter. It got me questioning my reality and existence, and was completely mind-blowing. It's such a simple concept, we're all made up of tiny particles, but to think of it in the context of our life and our purpose is really crazy. My very broad subject of wondering is why we're here, and why these tiny particles make us. Why aren't we just tiny particles? Are tiny particles made up of tiny particles? In the context of the universe, are we just tiny particles? This quote was an excellent start to the book, but almost a little distracting. Nonetheless, it got me thinking, and was very interesting.