Heaven on Earth, L. S. Fauber
Heaven on Earth, L. S. Fauber
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Heaven on Earth
How Copernicus, Brahe, Kepler, and Galileo Discovered the Modern World

Author: L. S. Fauber

Narrator: Stephen Bowlby

Unabridged: 10 hr 35 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 12/03/2019

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

A vivid narrative that connects the lives off our great astronomers as they discovered, refined, and popularized the first major scientific discovery of the modern era: that the earth moves around the sunToday we take for granted that a telescope allows us to see galaxies millions of light years away. But before its invention, people used nothing more than their naked eye to fathom what took place in the visible sky. So how did four men in the 1500s—of different nationality, age, religion, and class—collaborate to discover that the earth revolved around the sun? With this radical discovery that went against the Church, they created our contemporary world—and with it, the uneasy conditions of modern life.Heaven on Earth is an intimate examination of this scientific family—that of Nicolaus Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler, and Galileo Galilei. Fauber juxtaposes their scientific work with insight into their personal lives and political considerations, which shaped their pursuit of knowledge. Uniquely, he shows how their intergenerational collaboration was actually what made the scientific revolution possible.Ranging from the birth of astronomy and the methods of early scientific research, Fauber reveals the human story that underlies this civilization altering discovery. And, contrary to the competitive nature of research today, collaboration was key to early scientific discovery. Before the rise of university research institutions, deep thinkers only had each other. They created a kind of family, related to each other via intellectual pursuit rather than blood.Filled with rich characters and sweeping historical scope, Heaven on Earth reveals how the strong connections between these pillars of intellectual history moved science forward—and how, without them, we might have waited a long time for a heliocentric model of the universe.

About L. S. Fauber

L. S. Fauber attended Bard College and is completing a PhD in Computer Science at University of California–Riverside. Fauber teaches Computer Science and Physics and lives in Riverside, California.

About Stephen Bowlby

Stephen Bowlby, a lifelong performer and filmmaker, loves bringing ideas to life in ways that entertain, inviting both action and reflection. With a career in writing, directing, and film editing, he infuses his narration with a strong sense of story.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jason

This book very much aims to be in the same vein as Owen Gingerich and Dava Sobel, popularizing and sharing the work of early modern astronomers. In some areas it succeeds, and in others it falls far short. According to the synopsis, the reader should learn about Nicholaus Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Joh......more

Goodreads review by Daniel

A very strange book. There is much to enjoy here and much that is informative...but there is also a very strange, soap-opera-ish lamentation narrative that begins to drive me more and more crazy. I'm not sure what the author was aiming for, but it feels like this was originally a novel, transformed......more

Goodreads review by Paul

“As much as I can, I want to avoid offending good people,” Nicolaus Copernicus demurred when a correspondent urged him to publish his scientific work. As L.S. Fauber recounts in the sweeping and evocative “Heaven on Earth: How Copernicus, Brahe, Kepler, and Galileo Discovered the Modern World,” the......more

“Science, my lad, is made up of mistakes, but they are mistakes which it is useful to make, because they lead little by little to the truth.” ― Jules Verne, A Journey to the Center of the Earth Before telescopes (Galileo was the first to use a primitive form of telescope), before being able to see be......more

Goodreads review by Ben

Pretty interesting but the language the author uses is a bit too poetic and flowery for a non-fiction book. It distracts from the information and confuses the narrative a lot of the time.......more


Quotes

“Rich with detail, this is an extraordinary saga of stubborn scientific curiosity, and of the first inklings of this planet’s true place in the universe.” Publishers Weekly (starred review)