Dava Sobel | A More Perfect Heaven: How Copernicus Revolutionized the Cosmos
Saturday, April 21, 2012 at 1:00 p.m., FREE 
Award-winning science writer Dava Sobel's bestselling books include Longitude, Galileo's Daughter, and The Planets. In the elegant Longitude, Sobel relayed the dramatic human story behind the invention of the chronometer, which revolutionized naval navigation. With Galileo's Daughter she infused the father of modern science with expressions of character and everyday details, bringing his enveloping struggle to life. A freelance writer for twenty years, Sobel was a staff reporter in the Science News department at the New York Times. She is also the co-author of The Illustrated Longitude and the editor of Letters to Father. A More Perfect Heaven merges her Copernicus-inspired play And the Sun Stood Still with the nonfiction narrative of Copernicus's life, seminal text, and revolutionary ideas.

In what Psychology Today called the "remedy for the modern glut of frivolous self-help literature," award-winning psychologist Jonathan Haidt's The Happiness Hypothesis was a widely praised demystification of life. Citing Plato, Buddha, and modern brain science, Haidt sifted Eastern and Western maxims for nuggets of modern wisdom. A social psychology professor at the University of Virginia, Haidt is an active exponent in the "positive psychology" movement, and has published an abundance of research articles and political essays in Psychological Review, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and other publications. He also co-edited Flourishing, a collection of essays on well-being, and has given major talks for TED and Edge.org, as well as a panel discussion with the Dalai Lama at the University of Southern California. The Righteous Mind is an exploration into the origins of morality and its role as the foundation of politics and religion.

In The Sounding of the Whale, D. Graham Burnett provides a comprehensive study of cetacean science, history, and policy. Called "the definitive account of whalekind's transformation from cipher to signifier" in Paul Greenberg's New York Times review, the book details the activities of the Discovery Investigations, the International Whaling Commission, and the save-the-whale movement--showing how science, politics, conservation, and the counterculture intertwine to transform the way whales are regarded. A professor at Princeton University, Burnett is the author of the books A Trial by Jury, Trying Leviathan, and Masters of All They Surveyed. Hehas written essays and reviews for a variety of publications, including The New Yorker, Harpers, and the New York Times, and serves as editor of the art magazine Cabinet.  

This year's Storybook Parade will feature fan favorites Madeline, Toot and Puddle, Clifford, the Berenstain Bear Kids, Lyle Lyle Crocodile, Curious George, and Ladybug Girl. Storybook friends will meet fans and pose for photos.

The Cat's Pajamas combine high energy children's music with engaging dance routines, costumes, props, and puppetry, for a performance that entertains kids and parents alike.  

Join the Berenstain Bears Kids for songs, stories, and a snack!