I, Galileo
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DOGE — The elected leader of the former Republic of Venice.
GEOCENTRIC THEORY — The theory that Earth is the center of the universe. This view was originated by Aristotle, refined by Ptolemy, and upheld by the Catholic Church.
HELIOCENTRIC THEORY — The theory that the sun is the center of the universe, a concept first proposed by Nicolaus Copernicus in 1543.
HERETIC — A person who holds beliefs that are different from the established teachings of the Church.
POPE — The head of the Catholic Church.
PTOLEMY — A Roman citizen (AD 90–AD 168) who lived in Egypt and wrote in Greek. Ptolemy was an astronomer, mathematician, and geographer who developed complex mathematic models to support the idea of an Earth-centered universe.
SOLAR SYSTEM — The sun with planets and satellites revolving around it. This phrase did not exist until Copernicus’s heliocentric theory was accepted. Before that, what we now call the solar system was described as the universe.
Heilbron, J. L. Galileo. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.
Panchyk, Richard. Galileo for Kids. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2005.
Reston, James Jr. Galileo, a Life. New York: HarperCollins, 1994.
Sís, Peter. Starry Messenger. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1996.
Sobel, Dava. Galileo’s Daughter. New York: Walker and Company, 1999.
Galileo’s Battle for the Heavens. NOVA. pbs.org/wgbh/nova/galileo
Galileo Portal. brunelleschi.imss.fi.it/portalegalileo/index.html
The Galileo Project. Rice University. galileo.rice.edu
Museo Galileo. www.museogalileo.it/en/index.html
Bonnie Christensen is the author-illustrator of many acclaimed picture books, including Woody Guthrie: Poet of the People, a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book, an ALA Notable Book, and a New York Times Notable Book; The Daring Nellie Bly: America’s Star Reporter, a Booklist Top 10 Biography for Youth, an NCTE Orbis Pictus Recommended Book, and an NCSS-CBC Notable Children’s Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies; Django: World’s Greatest Guitarist; and Fabulous: A Portrait of Andy Warhol.
Bonnie has always been a fan of independent and rebellious thinkers like Galileo. They appeal to her artist’s inclination to continually reexamine and reenvision the world. On a recent stay in Venice as an artist in residence, Bonnie discovered that she was living in a palazzo built by the very doge who received Galileo’s first telescope. Che Bello!
Bonnie Christensen lives in Wilson, North Carolina, and teaches writing at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. To learn more about her and her work, visit bonniechristensen.com.