Picture biography, 40 pages. Venetia Burney studied the solar system, as well as Greek and Roman mythology at school when she suggested Pluto as a name for the recently discovered Planet X. And she became the only child who has named a planet! Published in 2019 by Schwartz and Wade Books.
Imagination
Burney went on to become an accountant and, later, a math and economics teacher after her childhood endeavor in naming a new planet. But it is her imagination which makes her heroic. Burney thought about how cold and dark and lifeless the new planet must be so far from the sun, like the underworld in the Roman mythology she learned in school. And she thought Pluto, the god of the underworld and Neptune's brother, would be an apt name.
Imagination, the ability to form new ideas or concepts from current knowledge, is a powerful attribute we must encourage in our kiddos! NASA and Documentary
NASA interviewed Burney just before the 2006 launch of the New Horizon Mission to explore Pluto and the Kuiper Belt: The Girl Who Named Pluto.
You can also watch a short documentary - less than a minute - featuring Burney. Comments are closed.
|