Franklyn M. Branley

5 June 1915 – 5 May 2002

100 works on record

Biography

Franklyn Mansfield Branley was born in New Rochelle, New York, the child of an insurance salesman and his wife. While he was still a toddler, Branley's mother died of influenza, and he and his two brothers went to live with a farm family near Newburgh, New York. His father visited them on the weekends. Branley contracted polio at a young age. After graduating from the New Paltz Normal School (now SUNY), he married Margaret Lemon, who became a grade school teacher. He became a science teacher educator at the New Jersey State Teachers College. In 1956, he joined the American Museum-Hayden Planetarium to run the Planetariums education program. While working there, he also earned a Masters degree from New York University, followed by an Ed.D. from Columbia Teachers College. In 1968, he became the chairman of the Hayden Planetarium, where he served until his retirement in 1972. Over the course of his career, Branley was a prolific writer, specializing in books that make science accessible to grade-school children. He wrote over 200 books.

Works

Venus

1994

Neptune

1992

Earthquakes

1990

Eclipse

1988

Uranus

1988

It's Raining Cats and Dogs

1987

Is there life in outer space?

1984

Comets

1984

Saturn

1983

Halley, comet 1986

1983

The Planets in Our Solar System

1983

Space colony

1982

The sky is full of stars

1981

Sun dogs and shooting stars

1980

Columbia and beyond

1979

Astronomy

1975

Measure with metric

1975

Sunshine makes the seasons

1974

The beginning of the earth

1972

Gravity is a Mystery

1970

A book of Mars for you

1968

High Sounds, Low Sounds

1967

Floating and sinking

1967

The Christmas sky

1966

North, South, East, West

1966

The sun

1964

Flash, crash, rumble, and roll

1964

Rain and hail

1963

Snow is falling

1963

What the moon is like

1963

Mars, planet number four

1962

The Big Dipper

1962

Air is all around you

1962

A book of planets for you

1961

Rockets and satellites

1961

what makes day and night

1961

Big Tracks, Little Tracks

1960

The moon, earth's natural satellite

1960

The moon seems to change

1960

A book of moon rockets for you

1959

Experiments in sky watching

1959

The nine planets

1958

A book of satellites for you

1958

Solar energy

1957

Mickey's magnet

1956

Experiments in the principles of space travel

1955

What Makes a Magnet?

Keeping time

Energy for the 21st century

A Book of Outer Space For You

The earth, planet number three

Roots are food finders

Light and darkness

Feast or famine?

Jupiter

The moon: Jack and Jill and other legends

Reader's Digest Science Reader

Age of Aquarius

Superstar

Exploring by astronaut

Man in Space to the Moon

Hurricane watch

Shivers and goose bumps

Oxygen keeps you alive

Black holes, white dwarfs, and superstars

Journey into a black hole

Dinosaurs, asteroids, & superstars

A book of Venus for you

Think metric!

The Mysteries of Planet Earth

Comets, meteoroids, and asteroids

From Sputnik to space shuttles

Mysteries of life on earth and beyond

Shooting stars

The end of the world

Mysteries of the universe

Pieces of another world

Weight and weightlessness

Water for the world

A book of stars for you

Space telescope

A book of flying saucers for you

Shakes, quakes, and shifts: earth tectonics

Guide to outer space

Mysteries of Outer Space

1984

Book of the Milky Way Galaxy for You

1965

Exploration of the moon

1963

Tornado warning

Science

Mysteries of the planets

Astronomy Set 1

The world of life (Science horizons)

Mysteries of the satellites

Lodestar, rocket ship to Mars

Star guide

The Great moon hoax

Owlie Skywarn's lightning book

A book of planet Earth for you

Apollo and the moon

Rusty Rings a Bell