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Andrew Fraknoi

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male

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Science

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Andrew Fraknoi is the Chair of the Astronomy Department at Foothill College, where he teaches courses introducing astronomy and physics to non-science majors. In 2007, he was named California Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement & Support of Education.

Fraknoi also serves as an educational consultant for the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Before coming to Foothill in 1992, he served as the Society's Executive Director for 14 years and was the editor of its popular-level astronomy magazine, Mercury.

Fraknoi is author or coauthor of 15 books on astronomy and astronomy education, including The Planets and The Universe, two collections of astronomy and science...more Andrew Fraknoi is the Chair of the Astronomy Department at Foothill College, where he teaches courses introducing astronomy and physics to non-science majors. In 2007, he was named California Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement & Support of Education.

Fraknoi also serves as an educational consultant for the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Before coming to Foothill in 1992, he served as the Society's Executive Director for 14 years and was the editor of its popular-level astronomy magazine, Mercury.

Fraknoi is author or coauthor of 15 books on astronomy and astronomy education, including The Planets and The Universe, two collections of astronomy and science fiction published by Bantam Books. He is the lead author of Voyages through the Universe, a college-level textbook, now in its third edition, which has become one of the leading introductory astronomy texts in the U.S.

At the K-12 level, he has edited two collections of astronomy teaching resources, called "The Universe at Your Fingertips" and "More Universe at Your Fingertips", available through the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. His astronomy book for children, Wonderful World of Space, was published by Disney in 2007.

Fraknoi has written many dozens of articles and resource guides for those learning or teaching astronomy.

Radio listeners know him as a regular guest on local and national radio programs, explaining astronomical developments in everyday language. In Northern California, he is an ongoing guest on both the The Gil Gross Show on KGO and Michael Krasny's Forum Program on KQED. He is the “astronomer-in-residence” for the Mark and Brian Morning Show, syndicated out of Los Angeles. Nationally, he has been heard on Science Friday and Weekend All Things Considered on National Public Radio. His TV appearances include The Today Show, CBS Morning News, and Larry King Live.

Fraknoi is a popular lecturer around the country, and has given over 450 public talks on topics ranging from “Why Falling into a Black Hole is a Once-in-a-Lifetime Experience” to “Are There Real-Estate Agents on Other Worlds?”

Fraknoi serves on the Board of Trustees of the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute, a scientific and educational organization dedicated to the quest for life among the stars. He is also a Fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, specializing in debunking astrology. In 2003, he became the first community-college instructor to be elected a Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences.

Fraknoi has a strong interest in helping to improve the way science is taught in the nations' schools. For 20 summers he organized and led the national "Universe in the Classroom" workshops on teaching astronomy in grades 3-12. He also moderates the "Cosmos in the Classroom" symposia, held every three years, on teaching introductory astronomy at the college level. He was the founder and director of Project ASTRO (a program to bring volunteer astronomers into 4th through 9th grade classrooms on an ongoing basis) that now operates in 13 regional sites around the country. A branch of this project, called Family ASTRO, has developed games, activities, and workshops to help families enjoy doing astronomy together.

Fraknoi was educated at Harvard and the University of California at Berkeley, and has taught astronomy and physics at San Francisco State University, City College of San Francisco, Canada College, and the College of San Mateo, as well as the University of California Extension Division.

In 1994, he received the Annenberg Foundation Prize of the American Astronomical Society (the highest honor in the field of astronomy education) and the Klumpke-Roberts Prize of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (given for a lifetime of contributions to popularizing astronomy.) His Physics 12 cours(less)

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Books by Andrew Fraknoi

Average rating: 4.08 · 13 ratings · 5 reviews · 33 distinct works

	Voyages to the Stars and Galaxies (with CD-ROM, Virtual Astronomy Labs, and Infotrac) [With CDROM and Infotrac] by Andrew Fraknoi, David Morrison, Sidney C. Wolff 3.50 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 1999 — 2 editions	My rating:
	Voyages Through The Universe by Andrew Fraknoi, David Morrison, Sidney Wolfe 3.67 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 1996 — 3 editions	My rating:
	Disney Wonderful World of Space 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2007	My rating:
	Voyages to the Planets (with CD-ROM, Virtual Astronomy Labs, and Infotrac) [With CDROM and Infotrac] by Andrew Fraknoi, David Morrison, Sidney C. Wolff 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2003	My rating:
	Freedom LL Version: Voyages to the Stars and Galaxies [With CDROM and Infotrac] by Andrew Fraknoi, Sidney C. Wolff, David Morrison 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	My rating:
	Freedom LL Version: Voyages to the Planets [With CDROM and Infotrac] by Andrew Fraknoi, David Morrison, Sidney C. Wolff 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	My rating:
	VOYAGES: Through the Universe- Stars, Galaxies, and Cosmology, Vol. 2 by Andrew Fraknoi, David Morrison, Sidney Wolff 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 1996	My rating:
	Abell's Realm of the Universe, Vol. 1 by Andrew Fraknoi, David Morrison, Sidney Wolff 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 1996	My rating:
	VOYAGES TO THE PLANETS, Vol. 1 by Andrew Fraknoi, David Morrison, Sidney C. Wolff 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 1999	My rating:
	Voyages to the Planets by Andrew Fraknoi, Sidney Wolff, David Morrison 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2001	My rating: