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Summary
Summary
Some people used to think that Earth was smack-dab in the middle of the universe, with all the stars and planets held in the sky by giant glass balls. Boy, were they wrong! In this follow-up to the award-winning Boy, Were We Wrong About Dinosaurs! , Kathleen Kudlinski and John Rocco look at the mistakes, mishaps, and creativity that are part of scientific discovery. From the first humans wondering about the night sky to the demotion of Pluto to dwarf planet status, this book is an entertaining and informative look at how scientific theories change over time.
Author Notes
Kathleen Kudlinksi the award-winning author of more than forty books for children, including the Boy, Were We Wrong series. She lives in Connecticut and Vermont.
Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 2-3-Rocco's gentle caricatures and visual gags further brighten this wry follow-up to the author's Boy, Were We Wrong About Dinosaurs! (Dutton, 2005). Showing how widely held preconceptions about nature are slowly, stumblingly tested by scientific study, Kudlinski traces our view of the universe from flat earth to the reclassification of Pluto as a dwarf planet. Effectively giving readers the big picture first, she places most of the significant specific terms and names in a time line at the end, and in the main narrative focuses on concepts: "A new idea came to an astronomer. He said that the sun was in the center of the [solar] system, not the Earth. That would mean that we were not so important. He had no proof, so most people just laughed.." Though itself a little "wrong" as Pluto and its more distant mates have very recently been RE-reclassified as "Plutoids," this breezy account will be as equally effective in demonstrating how science works as it will be in bringing young readers up to speed on the structure of this and other solar systems.-John Peters, New York Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
The author of Boy, Were We Wrong About Dinosaurs! (2005) returns with the story of humankind's changing understanding of outer space. Beginning with the premise that the Earth was flat, Kudlinski shows how early Greek astronomers came to realize it was round. But they thought Earth was suspended in the skyuntil the invention of telescopes showed that it revolved around the Sun. Each new discovery seemed to prove old beliefs wrong, right up to Pluto's recent demotion. Science marches forward, with new information superseding the oldand the book ends with the thrilling conclusion that one of its readers may someday disprove the information it contains. Eschewing such potentially confusing details as names and dates (both provided in a timeline in the backmatter), the narrative provides just enough information to keep young readers and listeners engaged. Rocco's illustrations grow more colorful and realistic as the story moves into the modern age, matching the text's smooth flow and sense of progress. A super introduction not only to the solar system, but to the scientific method in action. (further reading, bibliography) (Informational picture book. 6-9) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
The opening page to this lighthearted science picture book shows a ship sailing off the edge of the ocean; the next shows a vast spread of our galaxy, with Earth a tiny dot in the corner. The disconnect between reality and these two images is explained by the history of humankind's often wrongheaded notions about the cosmos. Major players in this drama such as Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton pop up here, but only as unnamed astronomers or scientists who provided great leaps of thought contrary to the prevailing wisdom of their times. Cartoonish illustrations range from ancient Greeks studying the moon to a board of white-coated eggheads deciding no on the question of Pluto's planetary identity (much to the dejected orb's dismay). Young readers will come away with a rudimentary knowledge of our relationship with the universe, but, more importantly, they'll learn that even today much of what we know about the solar system could be wrong. A brisk, cheerful introduction to the mixed-up history of cosmology.--Chipman, Ian Copyright 2008 Booklist
