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Title: We're the Center of the Universe!
Subtitle: Science's Biggest Mistakes About Astronomy and Physics
Author: Christine Zuchora-Walske
Narrator: Intuitive
Format: Unabridged
Length: 34 mins
Language: English
Release date: 06-28-17
Publisher: Lerner Publishing Group
Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 1 votes
Genres: Kids, Ages 8-10

Publisher's Summary:
Does the universe circle around Earth? Do creatures live on the sun? Can you tell the future by looking at the stars? At one time science supported wild notions like these! But later studies proved these ideas were nonsense. Discover science's biggest mistakes and oddest assumptions about physics and astronomy, and see how scientific thought changed over time.

Members Reviews:
A book on errors that doesn't get it quite right
I have some qualms with this book. Some are questions of presentation, others are errors of fact. I consider these issues to be of particular significance because this book is intended to draw a child's attention to errors of science past.
For example, the author says the planets move in oval paths. While I accept the concern with expecting a child to understand the concept of an ellipse, the problem is that a child may have a sense of the word "oval" that is inaccurate for the case of planetary orbits, which are very close to circular. Perhaps something like "the orbits of the planets are not quite circles, being stretched slightly into ovals" would have been better.
The author uses the term "optical illusion" to describe the apparent motion of planets. But their apparent motion is not an optical illusion, it is exactly as seen. And it is easily understood in a heliocentric, but not in a geocentric, solar system.
This book asserts that "First, people sent spacecraft to orbit Mars." The first Mars probes were flybys, which sent back the first pictures showing Mars as a cratered planet.
It is noted that "wobble" (which I consider a poor choice of term) of another planet's orbit led to the discovery of Pluto. While having some historical truth, the book fails to note that the calculations that inspired the discovery of Pluto were in error. Instead, it leaves the issue open.
The author mentions the legend of Galileo dropping objects off of the Tower of Pisa. It didn't happen, but the author could have devoted a paragraph or two to the experiments Galileo actually did.
While many of these are nits, taken together this isn't as good a book as the concept would have allowed for.
I was provided a copy for review by the publisher.
Note: At the time of posting this review Amazon has separate and unlinked listings for the paperback and library bindings of this book. I have, therefore, posted this review to both.

Use in your classroom with caution...
While most of the information in the book is accurate, there are some things that are not. The author also describes some events in incorrect terms.
When she describes the apparent motion of the planets, the author says that they move in ovals. As a science teacher, I'm not happy about her using that term. She could have said that the planets move in an elliptical orbit and then described what that meant. I don't want to students to say the planets move in an oval shaped pattern...
When talking about the mission to Mars, the author states that the first pictures of Mars were taken by an orbiter. It was in fact a flyby, the Mariner 4 (US), that returned with 21 images according to the NASA website.
Having said all that, the book does contain a lot of good information.