Galileo homepage

Dear Librarian,

Science is born out of curiosity, and thrives on the persistence and determination of its creators. On October 29, NOVA showcases "Galileo's Battle for the Heavens," a story in which a scientist breathes life into a controversial theory that results in a new way of understanding the universe, and our place within it.

With his new instrument, the telescope, Galileo Galilei found evidence for a Sun-centered universe. This flew in the face of religious teachings that, in Renaissance Italy, held that Earth was the center of all things. Eventually, Galileo was brought before the Inquisition and forced to recant. But his legacy survived and his ideas laid the foundation for modern physics and astronomy.

With generous support from the National Science Foundation, we've produced a library resource kit to accompany this program. We hope you'll use this kit to create displays, conduct science activities, and plan community events. The kit, which has been reviewed by a national board of public librarians, includes:

• 4-page tip sheet with library programming and display ideas

• 4-page bibliography of Galileo, astronomy, career resources, and more

• 4-page reproducible handout with hands-on activities and information on present-day astronomers

• 4-page science lesson for middle and high school teachers

We hope you will be able to use these resources to enhance your library programs.

We would love to hear how this kit works for you; please send your comments to NOVA_librarykits at wgbh.org. Your feedback will help ensure that future projects like this one are interesting and useful to all librarians.

Paula S. Apsell
NOVA Executive Producer

Program Information

The two-hour NOVA special, "Galileo's Battle for the Heavens," airs on PBS October 29, 2002. You may tape the program and make it available for educational use for up to one year after the broadcast date. If you would like to add the program to your video collection, you can purchase the program for $19.95 by calling WGBH Boston Video at 1-800-949-8670. For more information about Galileo, visit NOVA Online at:
www.pbs.org/nova/galileo/

Credits

The "Galileo's Battle for the Heavens" Library Resource Kit is produced by the Educational Programming and Outreach Department of the WGBH Educational Foundation.

Director of Educational Print and Outreach
Karen Barss

Manager of Educational Print
Sonja Latimore

Project Director
Karen Hartley

Associate Editor
Erica Thrall

Designers
Elles Gianacostas
Peter Lyons

Photo Researcher
Debby Paddock

Illustrator
Hannah Bonner

Print Production
Lenore Lanier Gibson

Advisory Board
Frances L. Ashburn
North Carolina Center for the Book
State Library of North Carolina
Raleigh, North Carolina

Josephine Caisse
Deschutes Public Library
Bend, Oregon

Jana R. Fine
Clearwater Public Library
Clearwater, Florida

Bonnie Herrage
Parma Regional Library
Parma, Ohio

Carla Hopkins
La Pine Public Library
La Pine, Oregon

Deb Robertson
American Library Association
Chicago, Illinois

Shauna Yusko
Bellevue Regional Library
Bellevue, Washington

"Galileo's Battle for the Heavens" is a production by Green Umbrella, Ltd., for WGBH/Boston in association with Channel 4.

Major funding for "Galileo's Battle for the Heavens" provided by the National Science Foundation. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Major funding for NOVA is provided by the Park Foundation, Sprint, and the Northwestern Mutual Foundation. Additional funding is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and public television viewers.

NOVA is closed captioned and described by the Media Access Group at WGBH for viewers who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, and visually impaired.

© 2002 WGBH Educational Foundation