Beyond Pluto

In this book John Davies describes the search for Kuiper Belt Objects, from the early days when a few dedicated astronomers struggled to find these elusive objects, to the successes of 1990's when it became a hot topic. Davies also presents us with the model of how our solar system is presently understood to have been created, and why KBOs may represent the most pristine remnants from that event. The book is easy to follow and will appeal both for the human story, and for the science generated by the birth of this new area of study.

This is a new field of study, and many controversies and arguments are raised in the book, not the least of which is the thorny issue of naming. Should they be called Edgeworth-Kuiper Objects? Is Pluto a KBO (or EKO) rather than a planet? The book also goes into a great deal of fascinating detail about the orbital dynamics of KBOs; including how orbital resonances can propel them further into the solar system. Note that the book was written during 2000, and inevitably the pace of change is extremely rapid in this area, so for more up to date information you would need to consult the scientific literature