Selected writing for general audiences (for a list of technical papers, see here)
- How We Discovered Planet Nine, Astronomy Magazine. I didn't pick the title: this was written before we had actually discovered Planet Nine!
- The Planet Nine Hypothesis, Physics Today.
- Review of When the Earth had Two Moons, by Eric Asphaug, Wall Street Journal
- Review of Five Billion Years of Solitude, by Lee Billings, Washington Post
- A Break from the Bench, Nature. A (very short) recommendation for some inspiring and terrifying summer reading.
- War of the Worlds, New York Times. My op-ed as the decision to demote Pluto is being made.
For some years most of my writing appeared in my now-rarely-updated blog. Here are a few of my favorites.
- To the moon (the Apollo program, my father)
- Planetary placemats (understand the solar system in one picture)
- What is a dwarf planet? (it's like a real planet, only dwarfier)
- What's in a name? (who should get to be called a planet?)
- Lilah Brown's Planets (a moment which I liked so much it became the epilogue of my book)
- Haumea (the discovery of and controversy over the dwarf planet)
- Baby pictures (the discovery of Eris and the rest)
- There is something out there (the discovery of Sedna)
- A ghost of Christmas past (Haumea's secrets)
- Free the Dwarf Planets! (there are many many dwarf planets out there, so why do we only talk about 5 of them?)
My memoir of the discovery of Eris, the demotion of Pluto, and all of the real life that happened in between, is called "How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming", but really, it is a love story, to my wife, my daughter, and the solar system. Here are a few reviews
- LA Times
- The Man Who Made A Planet Vanish, Wall Street Journal
- The Man Who Demoted the Planet Pluto, Boston Globe
When his teaching and research schedule permits, Mike Brown is a frequent speaker at public and private events. For inquiries, please contact mbrown@caltech.edu
Upcoming public events
None currently scheduled
Selected online talks
- TED@NAS, November 2019, The search for Planet Nine, in 13 minutes or less
- Planet Nine from Outer Space, Sackler Lecture, UC Berkeley, 2017, The search for Planet Nine, in about an hour
- Pluto is still dead (and other good news), 2013. Pluto and the dwarf planets.
A few of my favorite pieces in the media:
- The Hunt for Planet Nine, 2019, Shannon Stirone, Longreads. Selected for Best American Science and Nature Writing of 2019. A few days at the summit of Mauna Kea with Mike Brown and Konstantin Batygin.
- Inside the Search for Planet Nine (video), Nova/PBS, 2019
- The Hunt for Planet Nine, 60 Minutes/CBS, 2018
- Discovering Planet Nine, Alan Burdick, New Yorker, 2016
- The man who killed Pluto searches for new worlds to conquer, Tom Curwen, 2014, Los Angeles Times.
- 10 Planets? Why not 11? New York Times, August 23, 2005, Kenneth Chang. Selected for Best Science Writing 2006. A profile of Mike Brown shortly after the discovery of Eris.
- The Tenth Planet The New Yorker, July 24, 2006, Alec Wilkinson.
An extended profile of Mike Brown and the discovery of 2003 UB313 written shortly before the IAU vote on dwarf planets. - Time Magazine 100 Most Influential People of 2006 Time Magazine, April 30, 2006, Michael D. Lemonick.
Includes a rather frightening looking illustration of me holding a planet. - The Man Who Finds Planets Discover Magazine, cover story, June 2006, Cal Fussman.
The story of the discovery of Eris. - Beyond Pluto Discover Magazine, cover story, May 2004, Kathy Svitil.
A discussion of the discovery of Sedna and the implications for the outer solar system. - Sexiest Geeks of 2006 Wired Online, December 13, 2006.
It's too late to vote in the poll by now, but it still amuses my wife.
