Starry Messenger: Galileo Galilei

A dreamlike book that captures perfectly the starry eyed drreamer that was Galileo Galilei, the story traces his life from birth to death and is full of interesting facts and information. I found myself wanting to know more once the book was over.

This book by one of my favorite children's authors is a visual feast of intricate drawings and details on the life of Galileo Galilei. Sis incorporates primary and secondary sources in sharing sometimes very difficult to understand knowledge on the life of Galilei with fluid and detailed drawings.

Show More

My personal favorite part of the book was incorporating the physical layout of the book into a visceral learning experience by moving the book in a circle to read the inscriptions, hunting for key characters in pictures, and the symbolism in his unique drawing elements. The author does an amazing job of incorporating Galileo's real writings into a fun and interactive book that can engage children's imaginations while also teaching them a good bit of science!

Show Less

An excellent way to introduce science, mathematics, and psychics to students. The main text is simple enough for young students and the pictures bright and enganging. The additional text provides more indepth information including facts about Galileo's life, his discoveries, and actual quotes from

Show More

his life and time.

Show Less

Very nice pictures that hold true to Galileo, it is hard to read some of the writing. Very nice pictures that help show his work about the stars and the world moving around the sun.

From dust jacket notes: "In every age there are courageous people who break with tradition to explore new ideas and challenge accepted truths. Galileo Galilei was just such a man - a genius - and the first to turn the telescope to the skies to map the heavens. In doing so, he offered objective

Show More

evidence that the earth was not the fixed center of the universe but that it and all the other planets revolved around the sun....In his amazing new book, Peter Sis employs the artist's lens to give us an extraordinary view of the life of Galileo Galilei. Sis tells his story in language as simple as a fairy tale, in pictures as rich and tightly woven as a tapestry, an in Galileo's own words, written more than 350 years ago and still resonant with truth."

Show Less

The Starry Messenger is a biography of Galileo Galilei. This book does a good job explaining the extraordinary life of Galilei. However, the small print about the wording can be difficult to read. It wouldmost likely be too difficult for basic readers. The book does have artisticly detailed

Show More

illustrations. Overall, this book had good information, but it may need to be read aloud to students because of the difficulty in the small print.

Show Less

Very simplistic writing coupled with greatly detailed drawings left us feeling gypped. This book was written to a much younger audience then the illustrations or even the subject would suggest. Thankfully this was a supplement to other reading about Galileo because we gleaned nothing from this book.

Another beautiful book by Sís, this time profiling physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher Galileo, who dared defy the long-held belief that the earth was the centre of the universe, and basing himself on observations through a telescope he had build and improved upon himself, proved

Show More

that the earth actually orbited the sun. Filled with details about his life and times, from his birth in 1564 (the same year as Shakespeare's own birth and Michelangelo's death), with notes from his journals and his famous treatise from 1610, The Starry Messenger (Sidereus Nuncius), the first scientific treatise to be published based on observations made through a telescope, until his final days, which he spent under house arrest following an church inquisition which found him "vehemently suspect of heresy". Fans of Sís will love this, and it's a good starting point for those not yet familiar with his work.

Show Less

A wonderful tale of Galileo. Filled with beautiful illustrations and various side notes, we learn about the life of Galileo and his struggles to gain a knowledge beyond him. We learn what a huge impact Galileo had on astronomy, even with his limitations. He pursued his passion, and although it

Show More

imprisoned him, he always kept his love for stars alive. As the book states, no one can take away your thoughts or keep you from thinking about something. It's a powerful lesson for students to learn.

Show Less

Summary: Starry Messenger discusses the life of Galileo including his discoveries, triumphs, and hardships.
Reading Level: Intermediate
Genre: Biography

This book could be used in a discussion on the difference between the Ptolemaic System and the Copernican System. For thousands of years the world

Show More

believed that the earth was at the center of the solar system. Galileo believed Copernicus was right and found proof that this was so. Galileo was punished by the Catholic Church and sentenced to house arrest and exile until his death. Years later, his discoveries helped astronomers confirm that he was right. It is important that students learn this history because it has shaped what we know of the universe today.

Show Less

Beautiful illustrations. Great biography for kids.

"I do not feel obligated to believe that the same God who has endowed us with senses, reason, and intellect has intended to forgo their use... He would not require us to deny sense and reason in physical matters which are set before our eyes and

Show More

minds by direct experience or necessary demonstrations."

Show Less