People have been staring at the stars for millennia, marveling at the beauties of the night sky. This book explores how ancient peoples attached meaning to the stars, developed superstitions around horoscopes to gain a sense of control in their world, and studied science and mathematics to understand how the solar system works. The stars have influenced artists and photographers. Today we have a vast amount of information from space probes that tell us about our solar system. From Aristotle to Armstrong, the stars inspire us to keep looking up.

In this book, we learn about the Greek and Roman gods, from whom we derive the names of the planets. There are many chapters about famous astronomers like Galileo, Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, and Newton. We learn about the development of instruments like the astrolabe and telescope which allowed scientists to accurately measure and predict the movements of planets and comets.

This is such a cool way to view history through this lens of the stars, focusing on how the skies have connected people throughout time.

I especially liked the chapter about Galileo and his troubles with the Catholic Church. It showed how both sides were grasping for power and ignoring the truth. I really liked that this book gave a balanced view, instead of framing everything as a battle between God and science.

There is a really cool chapter all about comets (especially the discovery of Halley's comet) that I found fascinating! Another great chapter was about the discovery of Pluto and it's recent demotion to dwarf planet. There is also a special chapter honoring the contributions of women to scientific discoveries over the centuries.

It was so interesting to learn all the these cool snippets of history, and be able to see how humanity has developed over the centuries!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher/author in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.