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| Galileo Galilei (Wikipedia) |
Note: Though the theory wasn't his, by championing the idea of the sun-centered solar system, Galileo advanced science and changed the way we see ourselves in the cosmos.
Get Ready: The earth goes around the sun, and not vice versa. Does it really matter? Does it change anything to know this? How?
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| Ernest Hemingway (Wikipedia) |
Note: The wimpy, bespectacled writer hunched over his keyboard was transformed by Ernest Hemingway into the robust, manly man we picture writers to be today.
Get Ready: Do you prefer books where the heroes are men or women of action , or do you like the more introspective kind?
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| Aaron Copland (Wikipedia) |
Note: Born in humble circumstances in an immigrant community, Aaron Copland became the most American of composers. Follow his path to success.
Get Ready: Which do you prefer, "serious" music or pop music? Or is there a proper time for each?
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| Linus Pauling (Wikipedia) |
Note: One Nobel prize is amazing, but TWO?! And in entirely different fields: chemistry and peace activism. Come meet this amazing man.
Get Ready: Which do you think is a greater achievement: discovering knowledge that leads to cures for major diseases, or using your influence to bring about a more peaceful world? Why?
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| Edouard Manet (Wikipedia) |
Note: Edouard Manet was a painter ahead of his time, the forerunner to the tradition-smashing movement known as "Impressionism."
Get Ready: Do you prefer paintings to look more realistic, like photographs, or should they be more impressionistic?
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| Victor Hugo (Wikipedia) |
Note: From miserable Jean Valjean to the pathetic hunchback Quasimodo, Victor Hugo peopled his beloved Paris with anti-heroes we still love and admire today.
Get Ready: Is it possible for the setting of a book--in Hugo's case, the city of Paris--to become as important as any of the characters? Try to think of some examples.
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| Louis Pasteur (Wikipedia) |
Note: If your milk isn't "Pasteurized," you'd probably be better off not drinking it! Learn about the French scientist who lent his name to the process.
Get Ready: Do you think much about germs--bacteria and viruses and the like? How important are they?
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| John Milton (Wikipedia) |
Note: John Milton was a genius with languages, which earned him the reputation of being second only to Shakespeare as an English poet. Let's look at his career in literature and civil service.
Get Ready: Can you ever imagine Satan (the Devil) as a sympathetic figure? Why or why not?
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| George Frideric Handel (Wikipedia) |
Note: Though he was born in what is now Germany, George Frideric Handel rose to fame in England. Learn how he entertained two English kings with his compositions.
Get Ready: What do you think composition entitled Music for the Royal Fireworks might sound like? Hum it!
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| Sir Isaac Newton (Wikipedia) |
Note: What keeps us stuck to the earth? Sir Isaac Newton figured out exactly how this "glue" works! Find out what else he did!
Get Ready: If you hold something in mid-air and let go, which way will it probably travel? Why?
