The Mail‘s Science Editor Michael Hanlon can be relied upon to recruit even the most obscure and disinterested branch of science to the cause of rampant political correctness. Today he takes on the ‘loony’ planetary scientists who want to ‘demote’ poor Pluto, removing the plucky planetoid from the list of proper planets all together. He provides a reasonable summary of the science but manages to sign off: “There are few enough certainties in life. Please, let’s keep little Pluto as one of them.” Brilliant. Quite brilliant.
To be fair it’s a nice piece, reasonably entertaining that makes some good points. But does anyone really believe the name came from an eleven year old with a knowledge of Greek mythology?
An eleven year old yes, but one who had just read about the new Disney film, not with a knowledge of Greek mythology. I heard her on the radio the other day.