One of my favorite activities of childhood was laying
outside on my front lawn after dark and just looking up at the night sky. The
street light in front of my house was only a minor distraction. Even better,
though, was spending a week in Vermont with my grandparents and being able to
see the stars from their front yard, in a town without a single street light. I
have always enjoyed trying to find constellations and wondering how anyone
could make pictures by connecting star dots. Except the dippers; I’m pretty
good at finding those.
That’s as far as my love of astronomy goes. And aside from
admiring pictures taken in space, my curiosity for things astronomical just
doesn’t exist. I think the idea of space and an ever-expanding universe is
slightly terrifying. The idea of space travel and colonization of other planets
practically gives me hives. I don’t know if it’s my fear of heights or the idea
of the vast and overwhelming aloneness or a combination of the two, but
whatever it is, it’s a visceral fear. I don’t even like sci-fi movies that deal
with space travel. For some reason, I love Doctor Who. Not sure what the
difference is, but it is what it is!
So, I’m not sure what it was that drew me to Star Struck:Seeing the Creator in the Wonders of Our Cosmos by Dr. David Bradstreet &Steve Rabey. You’d think that would be the last book I’d want to read, but
something about it was just intriguing to me.
I have to admit, I thoroughly enjoyed this book in a way I
never could have predicted. I liked the author’s style as much as I enjoyed the
book’s information. Dr. Bradstreet has a very personal writing style. It’s
almost as if you are sitting down to talk with a friend who just happens to
know a lot about space. His enthusiasm for his subject is contagious. He really
does see God in the universe and he gives the reader a better understanding of
how to see Him in ways we might not otherwise.
This book is an informative look at the history of the
earth, along with its place in the galaxy and the universe. Dr. Bradstreet
takes us back in human history and discusses our fascination with space through
the eyes of early astronomers right up through the current status of the
Voyager spacecraft. These stories are told with warmth, humor and insight. Even
as someone who does not have a particular love of space, I truly did like this
book. The authors did a great job in conveying what they find so wondrous about
our cosmos.