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

The Curious Science Quest #3

by Julia Golding

Join Harriet, Darwin's pet tortoise, and Milton, Schrodinger's indecisive cat on a time-travelling quest of discovery, unravelling scientific exploration and religious beliefs and how they fit together. Throughout the centuries humans have been looking for answers to BIG questions - how did the universe start? Is there a God behind it? Has science explained away the need for a God, or can faith enhance scientific discovery? On this adventure Harriet and Milton are investigating our place in the universe. Step into Harriet and Milton's time machine, bring some snacks, and enjoy this curious quest of discovery - from the Islamic Golden Age to the Renaissance, and meet Galileo! Written by Julia Golding, winner of the Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2006, and the Nestle Smarties Book Prize 2006.

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

My journey to becoming an author has been a roundabout one, taking in many other careers. I grew up on the edge of Epping Forest and was that dreamy kind of child who was always writing stories. After reading English at Cambridge, I decided to find out as much as I could about the wider world so joined the Foreign Office and served in Poland. My work as a diplomat took me from the high point of town twinning in the Tatra Mountains to the low of inspecting the bottom of a Silesian coal mine.

On leaving Poland, I exchanged diplomacy for academia and took a doctorate in the literature of the English Romantic Period at Oxford. I then joined Oxfam as a lobbyist on conflict issues, campaigning at the UN and with governments to lessen the impact of conflict on civilians living in war zones - a cause about which I still feel very passionate.

Married with three children, I now live in Oxford between two rivers, surrounded by gargoyles, beautiful sandstone buildings and ancient trees.

My first novel, 'The Diamond of Drury Lane', won the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize 2006 and the Nestle Children's Book Prize 2006 (formerly known as the Smarties Prize). I was also chosen by Waterstone's in 2007 as one of their 'Twenty-five authors for the future'. In the US, 'Secret of the Sirens' won the honor book medal of the Green Earth Book Award.

My latest series, which starts with Mel Foster and the Demon Butler, about an intrepid Victorian orphan who lives in a household of monsters, won Bronze in the Primary Teacher awards in 2015. The next part, Mel Foster and the Time Machine, has set the time-dial to arrive in 2016.

Reviews

[Lghiggins · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Theediscerning · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

[Teresa Grabs · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Rebecca Batley · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.