Along Came Galileo

Jeanne Bendick has a gift for making science, and scientists, lively. And she uses that gift, in this book, to present Galileo as a curious, interesting, normal person -- an excellent role model for little scientists!What made Galileo so normal? Well, he had problems at school -- his father wanted him to study things that didn't interest him. He had money troubles trying to support his family, and he had to relocate for jobs. He got stuck in the middle of a power struggle. He had lots of houseguests, and even took in boarders. He liked to show off (a little). Kids can relate to all of that.What made Galileo extraordinary is the way he never gave up. This book does a fine job demonstrating his pursuit of knowledge, his discoveries, and his inventions.My biggest concern was how the book would treat the church vs. science conflict -- it is so often framed as "backwards, repressive church squashes free-thinking genius." Instead, that conflict is dealt with fairly and honestly. The church was the political power of the day, there were factions, and Galileo was aligned with a faction. The other faction used him as a flashpoint to pick apart the power of his faction, and he was stuck in the middle.I think the most fascinating section of the book dealt with Galileo's telescope and how he used it to study the night skies. I liked the helpful warning on page 52: NEVER NEVER LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN...Throughout the book, Ms. Bendick's illustrations are clear and to-the-point. The map on page 6 is very helpful through the whole book. This book brings science to life, and I can't rate it highly enough.

Jeanne Bendick did it again. This book, along with her other works, hit the spot for my nine year old son. He enjoys learning about science and history. Bendick always does a superb job creating interest, fun, and reality into her bios of great people. Other historical biographies about scientists, mathematicians and the like do not always hold the attention of younger readers, but Bendick always does.

We already read thru Arcimedes and the Door of Science and Galen and the Gateway to Medicine. This follows in their footsteps. Bringing science to life! My daughter and I love learning the history of the people who helped us understand the world. Interesting, engaging, and light.

I have to admit, I was skeptical that Bendick's book would be an orthodox account of Galileo. I thought it would just echo the liberal sentiment about Science at war with Christianity. But I was pleasantly surprised!Bendick presents a pretty balanced view of Galileo when it comes to his religious faith versus his scientific doctrine. She gets into the details of the story such as the Pope's political motivations, his relationship with Galileo, Galileo's pride, and other things which complicate the story more than we're usually told. She does a good job of explaining that Galileo was not some atheist crusader or even a Deist, but a faithful Catholic who had no intention of besmirching God or the Bible. I really appreciate that. (Rodney Stark does a great job of explaining the entire affair for adults in "For the Glory of God").I do think she could have gone a little farther in distinguishing the difference between Aristotle/Ptolemy and the Catholic Church. At that time, all scholars were enthralled with the exodus of Greek manuscripts from the East, which hindered astronomy. It had not been hindered earlier in the Middle Ages when Catholic scholastics were studying the stars without them. It's an important nuance which she mentions only one time.But overall I think she gets points for not making the Pope or the Catholic church out to be the Big Bad Wolf in the story, and Galileo a martyr for his cause (as the lovely illustrated "Starry Messenger" does, by Peter Sis). She instead paints him as a crusader for the cause of empirical science in the middle of a politically difficult time. She comes out ultimately on his side as an iconoclast, but still deserves kudos for the effort to be balanced.

Very enjoyable account of Galileo's life and times. Teaches history in a story telling kind of way. My 9 year old daughter enjoyed it, even when I thought it might be a little to much information...."Keep reading!"

I bought this for my homeschooled ten year old to go with our astronomy unit. I will say he doesn't like to be assigned books to read without picking them out, so I was quite impressed when he flew through this book. Not only did he enjoy it, but he was able to demonstrate what he learned through various projects,

I'm doing a presentation on the life of Galileo and this was very helpful and condenses much of the information.There is so much that can be said about the subject and this little book helps.

Great book & great info! Very detailed and interesting.