Always Looking Up: Nancy Grace Roman, Astronomer

Always Looking Up is an excellent biography of an excellent woman. Roman was remarkable for overcoming sexism to become an astronomer and for her pioneering research, for starters. However, as the book makes clear, her greatest accomplishments were in the realm of service to the astronomy community, and I don’t believe I’ve read a children’s book about that before. It talks about her traveling to the Soviet Union for scientific exchange during the Cold War, about becoming the chief of astronomy at NASA, and of course, about her role as the mother of the Hubble Space Telescope. “Nancy Grace’s passion shone as she spoke,” Gehl writes. “She had seen and learned so much in her career already. Now she could share that knowledge show more with others.” show less

We have established previously that I am not really a big fan of picture book biographies. However, I am always open to change and I have more homeschooling families asking for picture book biographies now than in the past - plus I've had some new teacher requests, especially for biographies featuring women. So, I'm looking at some new titles. This has been on my to read pile for a while, but no other libraries purchased it, so I figured I'd take a chance.

It's a simple story of a white girl, Nancy Grace Roman, who was fascinated by the night sky, as her family moved across the United States. She formed an astronomy club and introduced other girls to her passion. She persevered despite weak eyesight and limitations placed on female show more students and eventually finished graduate school and became an astronomer. She began to give lectures on astronomy, she met with scientists from the Soviet Union, and she eventually became chief of astronomy for NASA.

Working with NASA, Congress, and the public, she was a prime mover behind the Hubble Space Telescope, including the additional fixes needed to correct a faulty mirror.

An author's note and timeline give more information about Nancy Roman's life and work, from her birth in 1925 to her death in 2018, as well as her encouragement to students. The author personally interviewed her before her death and incorporated her inquiring spirit and lifelong love of science and learning into the story.

The images of Nancy as a young women show men of different races and nationalities which I think is inaccurate for the time period, but I could be wrong. Adults looking at the illustrations will be able to guess the time period, but it's not mentioned and there aren't really any historical details that give context until the end. However, the kids that are likely to be reading and listening to this won't know that anyhow, so it doesn't matter.

Verdict: This is a serviceable biography of a female scientist that will interest reading who enjoy astronomy and may inspire some to pursue a career in science.

ISBN: 9780807502969; Published 2019 by Albert Whitman; Purchased for the library show less