Bradstreet | faithcounts

Star Struck

by Janet from FL

This is my book review of “Star Struck” by Dr. David Bradstreet.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I learned so much!

So that you understand the caliber of the information in “Star Struck”, you should know more about the author —

Dr. David Bradstreet is a professor of Eastern University in PA, a Christian university, and he is chair of the Astronomy and Physics Department, as well as the director of the David H. Bradstreet Observatory and Julia Fowler Planetarium. Dr. Bradstreet earned an MS and PhD in astronomy and astrophysics from the University of Pennsylvania and has worked with NASA, and the National Science Foundation. In 2014 the International Astronomical Union named the asteroid 5826 Bradstreet in honor of Dr. Bradstreet’s work in binary stars. So this guy knows a lot about stars and space! That’s why this book is so interesting!

I learned a lot about space, and planets and stars, but I also learned about the history of how we saw the universe across time, and how far we have come in space travel. For instance, I did not know that we had sent so many satellites and rockets into space. There are hundreds of satellites orbiting in space, providing weather reports, transmitting TV shows, and connecting cell phones. Did you know that NASA has a rover on Mars, collecting and analyzing rocks in its chemical lab?

Voyager 1 left Florida in 1977, and took 35 years to travel past our solar system, and now will travel through our Milky Way galaxy for the rest of its life, never reaching the end. The universe has more left for us to investigate, than the total of everything we already know about it!

What makes this book more than a lesson in astronomy, is how Dr. Bradstreet relates what he knows about astronomy with God.

The author is a Christian who believes that learning about science, tells us about God. After all, God created the universe!

Are you familiar with this song? “O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds thy hands have made; I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, thy power throughout the universe displayed.” (How Great Thou Art) (English Translation by Stuart K. Hine, 1899 – 1989)(Copyright © 1953 The Stuart Hine Trust) This is how Dr. Bradstreet sees the universe. He sees the beauty and intricate design of God’s creation.

Dr. Bradstreet believes that God created the heavens and the earth. He believes that God created time and space and everything, from nothingness! He quotes Psalm 19:1, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.”

Yes, Dr. Bradstreet is a scientist and a Christian and he blends together these two studies of astronomy and God quite well. I will be reading this book again so I can savor the relationship between God’s creation, and God Himself.