Kepler’s Witch: An Astronomer's Discovery of Cosmic Order Amid Religious War, Political Intrigue, and the Heresy Trial of His Mother by James A. Connor, 402 pages

  I read this book immediately after reading Galileo’s Daughter to round out my understanding of the times and world re-centering observations of two mathematicians whose work inspired each other during the early 17^th Century.

  Johannes Kepler was a devout German Lutheran whose free-thinking, stubborn and conceited ways got him ex-communicated from the Lutheran church but respected (albeit with little pay and exiled from the country by the Catholic church) as a court expert. As the title alludes to, his intelligent hard-headedness likely came from his mother who was tried as a witch in spite of opportunities to apologize and potentially remove herself from harm. His mother, in spite of the book title, is a fairly minor character in this account.

  The biography was written well and kept my interest as the pages of Kepler’s life unfolded. I would have liked a little more straight chronology rather than the time-jumping and doubling back done by the narration, but perhaps the repetition required by the non-linear narration made me notice and better remember some of the more important aspects of Kepler’s influence on our understanding of cosmic order today.

  I’m glad I took the time to read and learn.

Galileo’s Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love by Dava Sobel--420 pages

  I thought that, perhaps, reading a historical fiction account of Galileo’s daughter might be a not-too-dull way to trick myself into learning about a world-view-changing 17^th Century scientist.

  I’m smarter now than I when I made the commitment to open to the first page if only because I know how wrong my initial impressions and lack of enthusiasm about this book were. First of all, Galileo considered himself to be a mathematician. Secondly, this book is non-fiction. Thirdly, the title is a ruse; the book is totally a biography of Galileo in which his daughter is but a character.
  Galileo lived in Italy, and I really like Italy and peeking into the religious/political landscape of different time periods. And best of all, I read through the book quickly, with excitement, frustration, anger, and fear based on what my now favorite mathematician was going through . Before reading this book, I had no idea how much Galileo Galilei happened upon, observed, and understood in ways no one else ever had. And I had no idea how difficult it was for him to make sure that the truth he saw didn’t die with him.

  My husband will not have to read this book because I couldn’t keep it to myself. Without his even asking, I gave him thorough and energetic reports of pretty much every chapter. Lucky man!

Hidden Figures: The Untold True Story of Four African American Women Who Helped Launch Our Nation into Space by Margo Lee Shetterly, 240 pages

The hit movie "Hidden Figures" is based on the book "Hidden Figures" and I listened to the Young Readers Edition because that is what we had available through MissouriLibraries2Go.

A little known fact is that the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics based in Langley, Virginia recruited women during WWII to work as mathematicians, known as computers.  NACA also recruited black women to be computers.

This is the true story of four of those black women, who were all brilliant mathematicians, and their journey at NACA, which became NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer L. Holm 208 pages

 Ellie is not fond of change. She misses how things were when she was in fifth grade, like her best friend who is more focused on joining the volleyball team. She even misses her goldfish that she thought was special when he survived a lot longer than anyone else’s. When her grandfather Melvin comes home with her mother one night, things are about to change in Ellie’s life.

Grandpa Melvin, a scientist, has been obsessed with immortality. When he is shipped a unique jellyfish, he just might have found an answer. He ends up turning himself into a thirteen-year-old, pimply boy, who comes to live with Ellie and her mom after he gets in trouble with the police. After spending time with her grandfather, Ellie’s interest in science increases as well as her knowledge of Melvin. 

This was read by Georgette Perna and is a preliminary nominee for the Mark Twain Award.

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert, 504 pages

Elizabeth Gilbert is known for her memoir "Eat, Pray, Love."  This is is a very readable and enjoyable, epic novel about the life of character, Alma Whittaker, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1800.

Her father, Henry Whittaker, was a self-made millionaire who was born to a poor family in England.  The novel goes from Pennsylvania to England to Peru, to Tahiti to Holland and spans the lifetimes of Alma and Henry.

I wouldn't call it a fast paced novel, but it was engrossing and intelligent and I'm happy I read it.

Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation by Bill Nye 309 pages

I love books about evolution.  I love Bill Nye.  So, I was a very happy girl when I saw that Bill Nye had written a book about evolution!  I was not disappointed.  It is a real gift to be able to present very heady information in a clear and easy to understand fashion.  I remember semesters of biology and chemistry trying to grasp a concept that Mr. Nye explained in the span of a page and a half and I understood better than I ever had before.  It is important that we continue to push ourselves to understand more about our world and ourselves.  We can make much better plans if we understand patterns, we can make smarter choices when we understand the impact of those decisions.  To close oneself off to evolution completely is irresponsible.  Many people of faith have no more trouble accepting evolution than they have trouble accepting gravity or sound waves.  If the acceptance of evolution makes people afraid of their own mortality, then perhaps we should begin focusing on making the most of the time here on this plane, in this life and less about what may come after.  I don't know.  However, I think that this is an excellent piece of reading for everyone.  Maybe it will change someone's mind, maybe not, but it will be educational one way or another.  There were plenty of chapters that were just really fun science, but evolution was definitely a running theme through the book.

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert. 488 pages

Elizabeth Gilbert, famous for her bestseller “Eat Pray Love” has hit another one out of the ballpark with this new novel. “Eat” was autobiography, and “Signature” is historical fiction, but under Gilbert’s pen, the characters are so well drawn, you’d swear it was biography.

The story centers on Alma Whitacker, the fiercely intelligent only daughter of Henry Whitacker, a young  man born to poverty, who pulls himself up by his wits to become the richest man in Philadelphia during the 1800s. Alma, homeschooled by her equally intelligent Dutch mother, is fluent in seven languages at a young age but her passion is her lifelong study of mosses. Her academic achievement becomes intertwined with romance, exotic adventures and rivalry with an adopted sister. Gilbert not only writes remarkable prose within a tight storyline, but also offers great quotes such as this one from Henry Whitacker commenting to Alma about marriage: “Poorly matched pairings are as thick as flies in this world.” A feast of a book.