Points of View: Research in Real Time.

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:43:09 GMT

Scott, Elaine (author).
K-Grade 5.
FEATURE. First published March 1, 2008 (Booklist Online).

I love research, which is fortunate, since I also love writing children’s books on all kinds of topics. From 1995 onward, however, my books have focused on science, and no one is more surprised at this turn of events than I. When my undergraduate lab class on dissection proved a tad overwhelming, I quickly abandoned any notion of being pre-med and became an English major instead. And since I’ve always loved all forms of the arts, when my writing career began it seemed natural enough to concentrate on movies, television, comics, and the various other subjects I’ve tackled, because I either knew something or wanted to learn something about each of them. But science? Science conjured up distant memories of dissecting trays and formaldehyde.

Getting Hooked on Science

I never thought I would write about science, until close friends who were associated with NASA asked if I was interested in writing a book about the first attempt to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. This invitation was accompanied by the assurance that I would have complete access to the crew of STS 61 and the run of the Johnson Space Center, so any questions about firsthand research were quickly laid aside. Nevertheless, I was terrified at the prospect. I consider myself a communicator, not a scientist, so the idea of explaining a NASA mission and its science payload in language understandable to elementary-age readers daunted me. And yet it intrigued me, too. Surely, I thought, I can take a deep breath, listen carefully, watch closely, ask good questions, and come up with a grasp of how a space mission goes together. I would be able to do the primary research I love, and I would have a front-row seat at one of the most dramatic missions of the decade. Who wouldn’t jump at this opportunity?

I accepted the invitation, and Adventure in Space: The Flight to Fix the Hubble was the result. It was published almost immediately after the mission was complete. With the publication of that book, I was hooked on writing about science in general and planetary astronomy in particular.

What Is a Planet?

My latest science book, When Is a Planet Not a Planet? The Story of Pluto, was another title where the science was being conducted as I wrote the text—a far different approach than I usually take when writing my books. Under most circumstances, I gather my research at a reasonable pace, then spend a glorious six to nine months in my study—just me and my book. During that period, I make follow-up phone calls, do additional reading on the topic, locate the photos, clear the permissions, and polish the prose. But that schedule didn’t work for Planet.

When Is a Planet Not a Planet? is the first book of mine that Clarion has published, but it is not the first one they acquired. Several months earlier my agent had placed Mars and the Search for Life with senior editor Jennifer Greene. I was deep into the research for that title when I ran across the work of Dr. Michael Brown of Caltech. Mike is a planetary astronomer. He, along with Chad Trujillo from the Gemini Observatory and David Rabinowitz from Yale, are planet hunters. In 2005 they announced their discovery of what could be the tenth planet in our solar system—Eris, as it is now called.

Wow! A possibility of a brand-new planet! I knew immediately that kids would be as intrigued as I was, and so with plenty of time before my deadline for Mars, I took a few precious days to do some preliminary research on this new planetary possibility. However, as I read more, a question formed in my mind. Exactly what is a planet? My Webster’s Dictionary for Young Readers said “Any of the large heavenly bodies that revolve around the sun . . .” The definition made sense, but it also raised the question of what is large? Jupiter is 88,700 miles in diameter, and it’s a planet. Pluto is only 1,440 miles in diameter, and it was a planet, too. Eris was bigger than Pluto; therefore, it seemed obvious (to me) that Eris had its status assured. I felt certain that the solar system had its tenth planet, and I proposed another book to my Clarion editor. I would call it What Is a Planet?, and it would begin with the planets of history, and move right through to the discovery of Eris. I wanted readers to become as intrigued with planet hunting as I was. And I wanted them to see how scientific decisions are made—and unmade. (At the time, I was thinking of Ceres, which at the beginning of the nineteenth century enjoyed its own brief shining moment as the ninth planet in our solar system—until it was declared an asteroid, and demoted.)

Research and More Research

The historical research went easily enough. There were many sources on my different topics, and it was relatively easy to check and recheck information. The picture research, on the other hand, proved more difficult—especially when it came to the images of the early astronomers. Giuseppe Piazzi was my most difficult challenge. A painting of him appears on several Web sites, including NASA’s. No one, however, seemed to know who owned the rights to the image. A few claimed it was public domain, but the Library of Congress couldn’t affirm that fact. The research librarians there had no idea who owned the original painting, and to complicate matters further, this was the only image of Piazzi that I had been able to find. I was saved by Antoinette Beiser of the Lowell Observatory, who put me in touch with the librarian at the Palermo Observatory in Italy. Yes, the original painting belonged to them, and yes, I could purchase the rights to reproduce it in the book. Whew! By the time that permission came in, I felt like an aged Nancy Drew, honing my sleuthing skills.

As the historical research fell into place, Eris continued to make news—most of it in scholarly publications that were dense and, at times, difficult for a nonscientist to fully comprehend. However, Mike Brown was gracious, and his explanations helped enormously. Finally, after parsing sentences and talking with various astronomers, I thought I understood the process of planet hunting well enough to describe it to young readers.

Not Planets after All

As I organized my material and began to draft the manuscript, controversy began to swirl around Eris. Despite the fact that Mike Brown and his team had demonstrated that Eris was in orbit around the sun, was round, and was larger than Pluto, many in the astronomical community were raising questions about its status as a planet. In turn, their questions were bringing Pluto into the controversy. At first, I attempted to cover all of those arguments in my text, but the clarity was slipping away—and one of my mantras as I write is “faith, hope, and clarity.” My text was becoming as fuzzy as some of the astronomers’ arguments.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) wrestled with the question of Eris and Pluto throughout the summer of 2006, and I wrestled with my manuscript. However, most of that summer the IAU seemed to be leaning toward affirming Pluto’s status. If Pluto’s status was affirmed, then the larger body, Eris, would surely be affirmed as well. I wrote with that assumption in mind and toward a conclusion that would affirm 10 planets in our solar system. And then, on August 26, 2006, the announcement came from IAU. Eris was not a planet, and neither was Pluto. While I wouldn’t say I was back to the beginning, I was certainly back to restructuring the text.

Revising and Recasting

Just as scientists must be willing to revise their hypotheses if new information becomes available, so must writers. I returned to the computer, eager to revise and recast the manuscript. The title changed to When Is a Planet Not a Planet? The Story of Pluto. I added an entire chapter called “Pluto’s Problems.” And the former title—What Is a Planet?—became a chapter of its own in the book, because at last IAU had offered a scientific definition of “planethood.”

Because of all the breaking news around Pluto, researching and writing When Is a Planet Not a Planet? was not the most relaxing experience I’ve ever had as an author, but it was one of the most exhilarating. Science is dynamic, and I wanted readers to get a sense of that. It is full of excitement—and sometimes tediousness. It is full of passion—and sometimes argument. Discovery can be exhilarating—and it can be disappointing. Young people were disappointed that Pluto was demoted, but I hoped that by understanding the reasoning behind that decision, they might find it easier to accept. And as I point out, Pluto hasn’t gone away. It’s still there, awaiting the arrival of the New Horizons space craft in 2015. Perhaps some of the students who read When Is a Planet Not a Planet? today will become the planetary astronomers who interpret the New Horizons data tomorrow. I hope so. That’s why I write these books.

Sampling Scott

Adventure in Space: The Flight to Fix the Hubble. Photos by Margaret Miller. 1995. 64p. Hyperion, o.p. Gr. 5–9.

Close Encounters: Exploring the Universe with the Hubble Space Telescope. 1998. 64p. Hyperion, o.p. Gr. 5–9.

Poles Apart: Why Penguins and Polar Bears Will Never Be Neighbors. 2004. 64p. Viking, $17.99 (9780670059256). Gr. 4–8.

When Is a Planet Not a Planet? The Story of Pluto. 2007. 48p. Clarion, $17 (9780618898329). Gr. 3–6.

Elaine Scott is an award-winning author of nonfiction for young people. For more information, visit her Web site at http://www.elainescott.com.

From Book Links, March 2008