Snag Your Copy She Caught The Light: Williamina Stevens Fleming: Astronomer Scripted By Kathryn Lasky Distributed As Digital Format
Mina was a bright child who ended up having to leave school and go to work when her father died
When her husband disappeared, Mina, then pregnant, found a job working as a maid for Professor Pickering, director of the Harvard college observatory, and his wife Elizabeth.
Both of them
recognized her intelligence and eventually Mrs, Pickering urged her husband to hire Mina, Because she was a woman, Mina wasnt allowed to look through a telescope, What she saw were the glass plates that recorded what men saw through them,
William Mina Patton Stevens Fleming was the first woman to be appointed to a titled position at Harvard University, In her lifetime she classified the spectra of over,and created the classification system that helped map the universe,
Julianna Swaney used watercolor, gouache, colour pencil and Photoshop to create these illustrations, I loved the illustrations and color choices in this biography of Williamina Stevens Fleming, Born in Scotland, Mina was curious and intelligent, When her father dies, she and her siblings take jobs to support their family, At age, she moves to Boston, only to be abandoned by her new husband, After taking a job at the Harvard College Observatory as a house cleaner, Mina finds a way to prove her mathematical and scientific skills, She also pushes for more women to be hired and to be paid a fair wage, The scientific explanations in this book are clear but best for older elementary students,
Recommended for grades, Beautifully illustrated. Interesting story. But too dry and technical for the grandchildren, More of a children's picture book for adults, From Newbery Honorwinning author Kathryn Lasky comes a nonfiction picture book about the! Lasky tells the inspiring true story of astronomer Williamina Fleming, who helped lay the foundations for modern astronomy and overcame impossible odds as an immigrant and a woman.
For stargazers and trailblazers everywhere!
Ever since Williamina Fleming was little she was curious, and her childhood fascination with light inspired her lifes work.
Mina became an astronomer in a time when women were discouraged from even looking through telescopes, Yet Mina believed that the universe, with its billions of, was a riddleand she wanted to help solve it,
Mina ultimately helped to create a map of the universe that paved the way for astronomers, Newbery Honorwinning Kathryn Lasky shares her incredible true story,
Use this book to encourage conversation at home and the classroom about women and STEM, This is a captivating picture book that centers around women and empowerment, perfect for Women's History Month and to be shared alongside such powerful titles as Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly and She Persisted by Chelsea Clinton.
Kathryn Laskys nonfiction book Sugaring Time was a Newbery Honor Book, and the books she authored in the Dear America and Royal Diaries series have sold overmillion copies.
Julianna Swaney is the illustrator of the New York Times bestselling We Are the Gardeners by Joanna Gaines, This seemed lacking, not what I was hoping for given what Lasky can do, . . I personally felt it was too preachy about women not being considered equal in the time period , which I personally felt took the focus away from the character of Mina.
But a nice introduction to this woman astronomer for young readers, Author Kathryn Lasky and illustrator Julianna Swaney join forces in this picturebook biography of Williamina "Mina" Stevens Fleming, a selfeducated Scotswoman who emigrated to the United States, eventually becoming an astronomer, and the first woman to hold an official position at Harvard University.
It was largely through her relationship with Professor Edward Pickering, for whom she worked as a maid when she first came to Boston, that Mina gained access to her first position in the field of astronomy, becoming the first of the "human computers" women who made calculations based on astronomical observations whose work would become an important cornerstone of scientific endeavor in the field.
Mina classified the spectra of over,stars, discovered the Horsehead Nebula, and was appointed curator of astronomical photography at Harvard, This despite having had no formal education, and raising her son on her own, . .
Published earlier this year, She Caught the Light: Williamina Stevens Fleming: Astronomer is the latest in a recent spate of picturebook biographies of women scientists whose accomplishments have been hitherto overlooked.
Picking it up, I was reminded of such titles as Robert Burleigh and Raúl Colón's sitelinkLook Up!: Henrietta Leavitt, Pioneering Woman Astronomer, or Emily Arnold McCully's sitelinkCaroline's Comets: A True Story, both of which tell the story of woman astronomers who were ahead of their time.
I found Lasky's narrative here engaging, and appreciated learning a little bit more about Fleming, whose accomplishments have been largely overlooked, Although Fleming's story is included in Dava Sobel's sitelinkThe Glass Universe: How the Ladies of the Harvard Observatory Took the Measure of the Stars, published for adults, this picturebook appears to be the first title for any audience devoted specifically to her.
I find it valuable, for that reason, and I appreciated the back matter timeline, glossary, author's note, bibliography included at the rear, The illustrations from Julianna Swaney, whose credits includes the artwork in another picturebook biography of a woman scientist sitelinkDr, Jo: How Sara Josephine Baker Saved the Lives of America's Children are done in watercolor, gouache and colored pencil, and are quite sweet,
All in all, an informative and engaging title, one I would recommend to picturebook readers who enjoy biography, or are interested in science, astronomy, or groundbreaking women.
A wonderful picture book biography celebrating the contributions of astronomer Williamina Fleming, At a time when women were hardly allowed in the science realm weren't allowed to look through telescopes she proved that her curiosity and hard work could compete with any man.
She discovered the Horsehead Nebula, Back matter provides a timeline and additional resources, An important biography of an important woman in astronomy, While I appreciate the authors efforts to break down the science for elementary students, it gets a little too bogged down in those details, I did like the pointedly feminist text, Little Mina's father was a photographer, She was curious and had lots of questions about how everything worked, She taught school and atmarried and moved to Boston, She got a job working for the director of the Harvard College Observatory, She was his maid, but again was full of questions, Soon she was working for him as a calculator, creating a map of the Universe, Wow, oh wow. She wasn't allowed to look through a telescope!
The things we learn about women in these wonderful picture book biographies are remarkable insights into theth century.
I had to reread parts several times and am still not sure I understood exactly what she was doing, it's a bit technical, Kids who are into this will really love learning about Williamina Stevens Fleming,
Cross posted to sitelink blogspot. com.