Born on February 15, 1564, Galileo Galilei, Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher, has often been called the man responsible for the birth of modern science. Even his name indicates his rock star status in the scientific world—he’s known by a single name only, just like Cher or Madonna. In 1996, Peter Sís, an artist […]
Astronomy, Award Winning, Caldecott, History, Politics, ScienceToday is the birthday of Charles Darwin. He has the distinction of being not only one of the most controversial figures of his era but also someone who still causes discord two hundred years later. Or more accurately, his theories have been controversial—often obscuring Darwin the human being. Around Darwin’s 200th birthday some excellent books began […]
19th century, History, Religion/Spirituality, Science, ZoologyIn February of 1896 the Massachusetts Audubon Society was founded, the beginning of the current national organization. It was established to protect birds and to discourage the women of the era from wearing bird plumes in their hats. The man honored by the name of the organization, John J. Audubon, has been the focus of […]
19th century, Animals, Art, History, Mice, Nature, Science, ZoologyOn February 9, 1865, close to the end of the Civil War, Wilson Bentley was born in Jericho, Vermont. As a young boy he loved snow and began to keep a record of the weather. Studying snow crystals under a microscope, he discovered that each one was unique, with its own shape and design. He […]
Award Winning, Caldecott, Nature, Science, Seasons, WinterToday marks a relatively new holiday on the calendar, National Bird Day–set aside to think about the birds people keep as pets and how owning them affects the bird population on earth. Our attitudes toward animals and birds and how we treat them has changed dramatically over time. No one has ever captured the changing mores […]
Animals, Birds, History, Nature, Science, Social Conscience, ZoologyOn December 20, 1606, three small ships—Godspeed, Susan Constant, and Discovery—departed London, England for Virginia. In May of the next year the men and boys on this ship founded the first permanent English settlement in America, Jamestown. Other colonists, including women, joined them in James Fort in 1608. In recent years members of the Jamestown […]
Archeology, Colonial America, History, Science