Retelling: This book highlights the relationship between Galileo and the church, beginning with his discoveries and publications, and ending with his eventual exile and censorship.

Thoughts and Feelings: I chose to read this book because of one of my favorite plays, "Galileo" by Bertolt Brecht. I enjoyed the way Brecht portrayed him as hesitant about contesting traditional understanding. There was a scene where he screamed at his assistant that he wasn't trying to prove the Copernican idea that the earth was not the center of the universe, but that he was trying to prove the opposite, and only, when it was impossible for him to do so using the measurements and observations that he made of the universe, could he claim otherwise.

This book was more factually driven and did very little to illuminate the character and personality of Galileo, allowing his actions to speak for themselves. If you only look at Galileo's publications and the public's reaction to them, Galileo seems like a social mavric. I wonder if he was really mavric, or if he was more like Brecht portrayed him, a reluctant servant of observations and measurement, contesting the popular understanding of things only when it was impossible not to.

Galileo Galilet was a great scientist and this book is a wonderful example of showing how great he was. This is great for younger students, you can read this to them in little bits in pieces so they don’t get bored or side-tracked. It reads as a story which makes it even more interesting. I give it a 4/5 for its great information and interesting pictures, but the length is a little long. ( )

This is a good book for students to look at if they were learning about scientist. Its a biography that has just enough information that students can learn from, but not too much that its an over load of information. This book encourages students to learn about Galileo, it doesn't turn them away becasue of an over abundance of information. ( )