Finding the Speed of Light: The 1676 Discovery that Dazzled the World

Finding the Speed of Light: The 1676 Discovery that Dazzled the World

Mark Weston’s high-interest story and Rebecca Evans’s colorful graphics make scientific discovery the coolest thing this side of Jupiter.

Kirkus Star
2019 Junior Library Guild Gold Selection

More than two centuries before Einstein, using a crude telescope and a mechanical timepiece, Dutch astronomer Ole Romer measured the speed of light with astounding accuracy. How was he able to do this when most scientists didn’t even believe that light traveled? 

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About the Book

Mark Weston’s high-interest story and Rebecca Evans’s colorful graphics make scientific discovery the coolest thing this side of Jupiter.

More than two centuries before Einstein, using a crude telescope and a mechanical timepiece, Dutch astronomer Ole Romer measured the speed of light with astounding accuracy. How was he able to do this when most scientists didn’t even believe that light traveled? Like many paradigm-shattering discoveries, Romer’s was accidental. Night after night he was timing the disappearance and reappearance of Jupiter’s moon Io behind the huge, distant planet. Eventually he realized that the discrepancies in his measurements could have only one explanation: Light had a speed, and it took longer to reach Earth when Earth was farther from Jupiter. All he needed then to calculate light’s speed was some fancy geometry. 

Visit the Finding the Speed of Light parent and teacher resource page to find crafts, lesson plan ideas, free coloring pages and more!

Kirkus Star
Junior Library Guild Gold Selection

Details
Author:
Genres: Educational, graphic novel, Non-Fiction, Picture Books
Tags: educational, non-fiction, Picture Book, Recommended Books, STEM
Publisher: Tilbury House Publishers
Publication Year: 2019
Illustrator: Rebecca Evans
ASIN: 0884485455
ISBN: 9780884485452
Parent and Teacher Resources
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About the Author
Mark Weston

Mark Weston grew up in Armonk, New York and worked as a lawyer for ABC Television and as a journalist for ABC News before writing six books, including Prophets and Princes: Saudi Arabia from Muhammad to the Present, and Giants of Japan: The Lives of Japan’s Greatest Men and Women. His latest book, The Runner-Up President takes a timely look at America's Electoral College.

Weston has written articles for The New York Times, The Washington Post and TIME, and has appeared on CNN, MSBNC, and PBS. He has also written a play, Meet George Orwell, and just published a children's book, Finding the Speed of Light - The 1676 Discovery that Dazzled the World.

A graduate of Brown University and the University of Texas Law School, he lives in Sarasota, Florida, with his wife, painter Linda Richichi.

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