On 26 Aug 2006 at 9:20, Rick Froman wrote: >> > 1) If the known size of Pluto fluctuated over the years and that is > actually what caused it to be removed from classification as a planet, > it is a pretty big coincidence that they realized how small it > actually > was on the same day that the definition of a planet was revised to > remove Pluto from consideration.
No coincidence. The meeting was called because the weight of new discoveries, in particular the recent discovery of Xena, made it impossible to ignore the problem of Pluto. They didn't realize how small it was on the same day. The shrinking Pluto problem (not fluctuating Pluto) dates back many years. But I believe it was the discovery of Xena that made some sort of immediate decision imperative. Its discovery meant that the old imprecise understanding of what a planet was had to be revised. If all animals had four legs, and all humans had two, then defining the difference is easy. But what do you do when you then discover a stork? You have to refine your definition. The decision to boot Pluto was most definitely data-driven. Over the years they acquired much new data about the kinds of rocks out there. That data made Pluto's status unclear. They could re-define a planet to include Pluto, but then be required to also admit to the club many other Pluto-like objects since discovered, or they could boot Pluto. They chose the latter, and sentiment be damned. That admirable source Wikipedia tends to support my version. Check it out. So all your base is still belong to me. Stephen ----------------------------------------------------------------- Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. Department of Psychology Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 2600 College St. Sherbrooke QC J1M 0C8 Canada Dept web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy TIPS discussion list for psychology teachers at http://faculty.frostburg.edu/psyc/southerly/tips/index.htm ----------------------------------------------------------------------- --- To make changes to your subscription go to: http://acsun.frostburg.edu/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=tips&text_mode=0&lang=english
