Good biographies of Ptolemy, Copernicus, & Galileo?

[FairProspects]

Are there good biographies or documentaries that compare the discoveries and change over time in astronomer's models? Ds really wants to know more about the how the geo-centric paradigm came to be and then how it came to be shattered by later discoveries. I know very little about the history of science other than the major players. What should I hand him to learn more?

[beaners]

I have a book on my shelf called The Sleepwalkers by Arthur Koestler that includes an incredible amount of detail on the individuals who made these discoveries. I'm not sure what level your child is reading at or how much background knowledge he has, but the combination of the writing and material requires me to attend closely.

 

I don't know that I'd hand it to a child without previewing, depending on the age of the child and your family's beliefs. Off the top of my head I recall mention of mistresses and maybe discussion of the sexuality of a few individuals? There may have been more than that that I'm not thinking of right now. One of the main themes of the book is the role of religion in these discoveries and models, so I would definitely look it over if that is something you are concerned about.

 

It's a really amazing book to read though. I was happy to discover it when it was mentioned several times in another interesting book called Einstein's Mistakes.

[dbmamaz]

Check out Joy Hakim's Story of Science. She traces mathematicians, astronomers and physicists from earliest times through modern particle physics. its very readable. but the level of the modern physics book is quite high - its hard to make that stuff really simple

[FairProspects]

Thanks! I'll look into both of these suggestions and do some pre-reading.