Rocky Road to Galileo: What is Our Place in the Solar System?

by Julia Golding with Andrew Briggs and Roger Wagner
Illustrated by Brett Hudson

In a previous book, Harriet, a time traveling tortoise, was “tortoisenapped”
by an Alexandrian scientist. As Rocky Road to Galileo opens, Milton, her feline time traveling companion, sets about to rescue her using the time machine. He discovers a Muslim invasion of Egypt has caused a dispersion of scientists, and with them Harriet.

There is a discussion of the Islamic Golden Age extending into Spain, a timeline of science in medieval Europe, and a look at the development of the scientific method along with a number of new technologies. Featured in this book is “Milton’s Notebook” in which the cat records some of his thoughts about what he is seeing and learning on their time travels.

The time traveling duo visit Friar Roger Bacon who emphasizes experimentation over reasoning and debate. Most of the scientists, both Muslim and Christian, had ideas about science and its relationship to religion. The cat and tortoise continue to jump about in time and land in Germany in time to see the first book printed on the Gutenberg press. They later go to Poland in 1510 to meet Copernicus who challenges rational earth-centered thinking. Other thinkers visited along the way are Martin Luther, William Shakespeare, and Galileo.

I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Lion Hudson Limited for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 4/5

Category: Children’s Nonfiction

Notes: 1. Includes website suggestions for more information
2. Part of a series: The Curious Space Quest

Publication: February 1, 2019—Lion Hudson Limited

This book is the third in a series but can be read/looked at alone. The story is sweet and there’s a surprising amount of detail and information packed in.
A great starting point for children who are interested in Galileo or the Islamic golden age....it will inevitably whet their appetite for more on the subject. I plan to advise that this would be appropriate for an educational setting.
I was given a ARC by NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

Rocky Road to Galileo is third in a series of stories that tell of Harriet, a tortoise, and Milton, a cat, as they journey in a time machine to "see all the important events in the history of science." This book covers the period between the Islamic Golden Age and Galileo. This book reminds me very much of the old Mr. Peabody and Sherman cartoon show. Rather than being told in straight literary form, the story is told both through story and through informational sheets about famous scientists and what they are known for. This is a cute series that provides just enough to get a young reader interested enough to ask more questions.

Thank you NetGalley and Lion Children's for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy.

Full of fantastic facts and information that will engage children from beginning to end. Colorful images bring alive science and introduce Galileo to a younger audience.

Hmmm… I love the way the author's biography pretends this is non-fiction, for I don't think we ever will see Schroedinger's Cat and Darwin's favourite Galapagos tortoise together in a time machine, exploring the history of science. This is part three of at least four, and sweeps us from the Islamic scholars who invented much of modern-day maths, through the debating big-heads (and brass heads) of the middle ages, to the printing press and the problems writing against orthodoxy presented Galileo's way. All that is well enough, if you have a child inquisitive enough about such things – but if they are, what are they still doing reading books about talking, time-travelling animal friends? I don't think the two work, and while I know this is a third book in a series, there's nothing here to either explain the circumstances of the 'quest', nor to make us care a fig for the creatures. The heavy discussion of religion and church attitude to science, and the funding of this by a religious trust show an ulterior motive, too. This isn't great, and does capture some facts relevant to some young scholars, but I still doubt its use and appeal. I didn't fall for its intended charms.