Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love

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Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love

3.67 of 5 stars 3.67 · rating details · 10,881 ratings · 905 reviews

Inspired by long fascination with Galileo and the surviving letters of his daughter, a cloistered nun, Sobel has written a biography of the one Einstein called "the father of modern physics--indeed of modern science altogether." Galileo's Daughter presents a portrait of a person hitherto lost to history, described by Galileo as "a woman of exquisite mind, singular goodness...more Inspired by long fascination with Galileo and the surviving letters of his daughter, a cloistered nun, Sobel has written a biography of the one Einstein called "the father of modern physics--indeed of modern science altogether." Galileo's Daughter presents a portrait of a person hitherto lost to history, described by Galileo as "a woman of exquisite mind, singular goodness, and most tenderly attached to me."
Son of a musician, Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) tried at first to enter a monastery before engaging the skills that made him the foremost scientist of his day. Tho he never left Italy, his inventions and discoveries were heralded round the world. Most sensationally, his telescopes allowed him to reveal a new reality in the heavens and to reinforce the argument that the Earth moves round the Sun. For this belief, he was brought before the Holy Office of the Inquisition, accused of heresy and forced to spend his last years under house arrest.
Of Galileo's three illegitimate children, the eldest best mirrored his own brilliance, industry, and sensibility, and by virtue of such qualities became his confidante. Born Virginia in 1600, she was 13 when Galileo placed her in a convent near him in Florence, where she took the most appropriate name of Suor Maria Celeste. Her loving support, which Galileo repaid in kind, proved to be her father's greatest source of strength through his most productive and tumultuous years. Her presence, through letters which Sobel has translated from their original Italian and woven into the narrative, graces her father's life now as it did then.
Galileo's Daughter dramatically recolors the personality and accomplishment of a mythic figure whose 17th-century clash with Catholic doctrine continues to define the schism between science and religion. Moving between Galileo's grand public life and Maria Celeste's sequestered world, Sobel illuminates the Florence of the Medicis and the papal court in Rome during the pivotal era when humanity's perception of its place in the cosmos was about to be overturned. In that same time, while the bubonic plague wreaked its terrible devastation and the Thirty Years' War tipped fortunes across Europe, one man sought to reconcile the Heaven he revered as a good Catholic with the heavens he revealed through a telescope.
With all the drama and scientific adventure that distinguished Dava Sobel's previous book Longitude, Galileo's Daughter is an unforgettable story.(less)

Paperback, 368 pages

Published November 1st 2000 by Penguin Books (NYC) (first published 1999)

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Apr 24, 2008 Brad rated it 5 of 5 stars

What a spectacular book! My advice to you is to violently discard the grossly inferior book you are currently wasting your time with for this one instead. Toss it aside like the trash it is. This is a far better substitute. Do yourself some good instead.

The mythology of Galileo, as truly the first modern scientist, is, of course, both revered and legendary. His condemnation by the Church, his cannon-balls from Pisa Tower and his ingenious improvements on the telescope--well known stories, to be...more What a spectacular book! My advice to you is to violently discard the grossly inferior book you are currently wasting your time with for this one instead. Toss it aside like the trash it is. This is a far better substitute. Do yourself some good instead.

The mythology of Galileo, as truly the first modern scientist, is, of course, both revered and legendary. His condemnation by the Church, his cannon-balls from Pisa Tower and his ingenious improvements on the telescope--well known stories, to be sure--are re-told here with fresh insight and clarity. Importantly, though, is that I felt that one can not help but be struck by the contemporary relevance in these stories. The truths that science reveals and the unwillingness that a particular ideology or political group exhibits towards accepting those truths are just as damaging today as they were 400 years ago. Consider Galileo’s cannon-balls: the thinking at the time was that the speed of an object in free-fall was proportional to its weight. Galileo reasoned that it was intuitively wrong to suggest that, from a height of 100 feet, a 100 pound ball would hit the ground, while a 1 pound ball, dropped at the same time, would have only traveled one foot. When he tried the experiment, the discrepancy between the two weights was merely a few inches. As I read of how some of Galileo’s contemporaries’ refused to accept these discoveries, I couldn’t help but draw parallels to the animosity displayed by some toward climate change. Just as some are willing to disregard the overwhelming support of whole hypothesis because of a few findings to the contrary, so too were Galileo critics willing to disregard his whole hypothesis because of those two inches. His response was that they ignored the ninety foot discrepancy the old dogma suggested, to focus instead on his two inches. Yet today so many are comfortable ignoring the facts of climate change, focusing instead on those two inches of debate. And just as Galileo’s two inch discrepancy was due to air resistance, so too will science address all the complex facets inherent in the vigorous and healthy debate of climate change. If it is evolution, stem cell therapies, projected water shortages or the impending energy crisis, so many today are willing to disregard science when it interferes with their comfort. We have not only forgotten Galileo, we have reduced him to a myth, a story only. Someone who played with a telescope instead of someone who changed the world.

But, in addition to all this, perhaps even above all of this, the book is a beautiful story of the love between a father and his daughter. Through the surviving correspondence of Galileo’s daughter, a bright yet reclusive nun, we see the esteemed scientist in a whole new way. As a person, a father, rather than an obscure legend. Moving and simple and powerful. All told, this was beautifully done.
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Feb 17, 2009 Black Elephants rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

I don't normally read non-fiction, but for the last few months, I've found myself in a fiction funk. I can't finish any fiction. I wonder if it's because I've hit a point where all prose, themes, motifs, etc., seem the same and are, therefore, uninteresting to me. For someone who has relied exclusively upon fiction to add zest to her literary life, this turn of events is really distressing.

However, my non-fiction choice turned out to be quite fun. Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel was surprising,...more I don't normally read non-fiction, but for the last few months, I've found myself in a fiction funk. I can't finish any fiction. I wonder if it's because I've hit a point where all prose, themes, motifs, etc., seem the same and are, therefore, uninteresting to me. For someone who has relied exclusively upon fiction to add zest to her literary life, this turn of events is really distressing.

However, my non-fiction choice turned out to be quite fun. Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel was surprising, enlightening and extremely well-written. Usually, I find that non-fiction (though granted my last non-fiction was Hirohito and the Modern-Making of Japan) moves too slowly for me. I wonder if it's because I've trained my mind to pick up the pieces of a narrative rather than the foundations of fact and history. But Sobel's history of Galileo's unpublicized relationship with his daughter is a narrative and thus moves along more like a stream in spring than its waters in winter.

True to medival perceptions of women, Sobel relegates Suor Maria Celeste, Galileo's daughter, into the background of the narrative. The first half of the book is really Galileo's story and how he became a famous guy. As the narrative progresses, Suor Maria Celeste quietly makes her presence known to us and Galileo's friends. History has saved her letters to Galileo, and Sobel, while letting Galileo move the narrative, let's Suor Maria use her own voice to say her own thoughts.

What I loved about this book was how Sobel made the period come to life. Suor Maria's letters of her convent life, her daily housekeeping transactions and solicitations to and on behalf of her father and relatives during this backwater time period seem so normal. I also didn't realize that the Black Death and Galileo existed around the same time, or that at that time in Italy, philosophers were paid more and were more respected than scientists. To the people of then, philosophers dealt in the tangible while mathematicians dealt in the intangible. Apparently, Galileo was one of the first scientists to write the world in terms of numbers. The story also succinctly lays out Galileo's trial and even provides tidbits of the actual literary work that brought about the whole mess with the church.

I loved how even back then, works of literature (for it was Galileo's scientific treatise on the position of the sun in literary and fictional form that brought all the trouble) could cause such a scandal. I love how Suor Maria's language brings her personality and intelligence to life. I love how words gave her access outside of the cloistered walls of her convent and how words connected her with her father's deepest and most famous thoughts.

Fiction funk or not, the freedom of expression and the fight for free thought and expression in Sobel's book are excellent fun. I highly recommend this read.

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Apr 25, 2008 Becky rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: those interested in science and history

As the daughter of a physicist, I couldn't resist this book. It is a biography of both Galileo and his older daughter, who was a nun in a local monastery. Her letters to Galileo are the foundation of the book. I enjoyed reading the history of Galileo's trial for heresy and also the day-to-day events that mostly comprise his daughter's letters. A fascinating look into the life of Galileo and 17th-century Italy.

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Feb 04, 2012 Pallavi rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: People interested in lives of great scientists, astronomy, historical non-fiction

"Galileo's daughter" is the biography of the great philosopher and astronomer, with some loving letters by his daughter interspersed throughout the narrative. I have been reading a lot of biographies lately (something I had sworn, I would never have an interest in), and this one is unique because it primarily focuses on the relationship between Galileo and his daughter and is essentially a biography of both of them.
Sobel presents a very vivid description of Galileo's life, his trials and tribu...more "Galileo's daughter" is the biography of the great philosopher and astronomer, with some loving letters by his daughter interspersed throughout the narrative. I have been reading a lot of biographies lately (something I had sworn, I would never have an interest in), and this one is unique because it primarily focuses on the relationship between Galileo and his daughter and is essentially a biography of both of them.
Sobel presents a very vivid description of Galileo's life, his trials and tribulations, the consolations his daughter provided through his tough times and very often,a claustrophobic view of Maria Celeste's life as a cloistered nun. The letters by themselves aren't extremely interesting (except for Suor Maria Celeste's acknowledgement of Galileo as "Most illustrious Father" or "Most beloved and illustrious Father"! I mean how many of us refer to our dear dad this way anymore!). They present the day to day banality of the convent life, her hardships, her constant demands for material and monetary support from her father, her resignation at not being as intelligent as her father and lauding his merits, while constantly asking for advice (That is extremely modest of her, considering it was she who finished his final manuscripts for him). While the letters brought a relatively unknown person to life, and showed Galileo as a loving father, they did break up the narrative often enough to annoy me after a certain point.
Galileo placed his two young daughters at the San Mateo convent, where they devoted themselves to the lives of cloistered nuns and lived their lives in abject poverty, despite the loving financial and emotional support of their father. The older daughter took upon the name 'Maria Celeste' as an ode to her father's devotion to celestial objects and it is through her letters that we get a glimpse of a daughter's relationship with her famous father, and their loving support to each other.
Unfortunately for us,Galileo's replies to his daughter were never found. Therefore,what could have been a incredible dialogue between the two, is reduced to a disparate monologue of letters, in which a daughter keeps asking her father for financial help and in return provides him with love and unconditional support in the light of his run-ins with the Church. It made me think of( and be thankful for) the ease with which the world communicates now, and it was rather unnerving to think of the number of days (or even weeks) Galileo and Suor Maria Celeste must have waited to get their letters. It also made me lament the lost art of writing such long heartfelt letters what with modern communication lingo that includes abbreviations such as "XOXO", "<3", "Waddup" in the interest of time. People keep in touch often and therefore have the liberty to shorten their communication! (Frequency is inversely proportional to wavelength, anyone?)
Anyway,I thought "Galileo's daughter" was an interesting, well researched book that portrayed Galileo as a man of science who defied the Church, while being deeply religious at the same time and who tried to reconcile the two all his life. At the end of it, you might notice that people have been struggling for the same things through the centuries. Unrighteous censorship, religious freedom and the right to free speech to name a few. (less)

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Feb 12, 2013 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Lisa (Harmonybites) by: Ultimate Reading List - History

Shelves: 2013-around-the-world, biography, history, non-fiction, science, ultimate-reading-list

So, given the title you'd think this would be about Galileo's daughter, Sister Maria Celeste, who he called "a woman of exquisite mind, singular goodness, and most tenderly attached to me." Perhaps you might have thought that through her eyes--this account is partly based upon and includes several of her letters--you might gain insight into the mind of the man Einstein called "the father of modern physics--indeed of modern science altogether." Given she's described of "exquisite mind" perhaps yo...more So, given the title you'd think this would be about Galileo's daughter, Sister Maria Celeste, who he called "a woman of exquisite mind, singular goodness, and most tenderly attached to me." Perhaps you might have thought that through her eyes--this account is partly based upon and includes several of her letters--you might gain insight into the mind of the man Einstein called "the father of modern physics--indeed of modern science altogether." Given she's described of "exquisite mind" perhaps you thought she might have contributed to his experiments or thinking. If you're expecting any of that, you're going to be disappointed. Really, this is a quick-reading biography of Galileo, and there are several chapters that deal with his life before his daughter enters into the story. And given she was a cloistered nun from her teenage years, hers was not a life of wide scope or interest aside from her being the daughter of a famous father. Her letters, though they show a loving daughter who had no doubts about her father's faith, don't reveal a remarkable intelligence--though that would be hard given the letters in the book are filled with little more than such mundane details as grocery and laundry lists and asking Galileo to fix a broken clock.

What seemed to have animated the book is Sobel's desire to argue there there is no reason to see science and faith as opposed, and to present Galileo as a devout and obedient son of the Catholic Church, particularly as demonstrated through his loving relationship with a supportive, devout daughter dedicated to the religious life. The Catholic Church both revered shouldn't be slurred with condemning Galileo according to Sobel:

"Technically, however, the anti-Copernican Edict of 1616 was issued by the Congregation of the Index, not by the Church. Similarly, in 1633, Galileo was tried and sentenced by the Holy Office of the Inquisition, not by the Church.”

Moreover, Sobel related, the Catholic pontiffs who condoned both rulings didn't "invoke papal infallibility." Alrighty then, that must have consoled Galileo: who was forced to renounce the Copernican theory, found his books banned, was put under house arrest for the rest of his life--after dealing with the Inquisition and the threat of being put under torture or even burned at the stake--as the Astronomer Bruno had been in 1600 by the Inquisition just decades before. The sad thing to me is as Sobel presented it Galileo had done everything he could to follow Church teaching and rulings. He submitted his book on Copernican theory to the Church's censor--told them to change whatever they wanted to, got a license to print it and the Church's imprimatur. But the Pope was convinced that Galileo was mocking him personally in the book, had him prosecuted, and the book appeared in the next Index of Proscribed Books where it would stay for 200 years. But we shouldn't blame the Catholic Church. Nope, it was all just a "tragic mutual misunderstanding." That all reads to me not so much as apologia as satire, yet Sobel does convince me that Galileo truly didn't want a breach with the Church and was a man of faith and science. But for me that just makes more poignant, and more disgraceful, the bullying of an elderly old man by the machinery of the Church.

If the book had a strength though, it was how lucidly it explained the science and Galileo's discoveries--just why he can right be called a father of modern science. And after reading some very dense histories lately, it was something of a relief to read something easier that you could cut through like a heated knife through butter. But I didn't think I got more than a rather superficial gloss on Galileo's life and times.(less)

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Jul 18, 2010 Silvana rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Silvana by: Capitu

Shelves: bookmooch, own, biography

Galileo had a daughter? So what? That question may be raised, which is understandable. Besides, all famous people do procreate, right? What makes Galileo’s Daughter so significant anyway? Well, if you read this book, you surely will change your mind.

Dava Sobel again amazed me with her skill in combining history, science and human relations into one book. Not many authors could do such thing, I daresay. She successfully wove this story of a brave, intelligent, resourceful young woman, who had a g...more Galileo had a daughter? So what? That question may be raised, which is understandable. Besides, all famous people do procreate, right? What makes Galileo’s Daughter so significant anyway? Well, if you read this book, you surely will change your mind.

Dava Sobel again amazed me with her skill in combining history, science and human relations into one book. Not many authors could do such thing, I daresay. She successfully wove this story of a brave, intelligent, resourceful young woman, who had a genius as her father and how both of them relied on each other to live in difficult times. By the way, his daughter was a cloistered nun with the name Maria Celeste. But that did not stop her from being her father’s rock. Her surviving correspondence with Galileo is the main ingredient used by Sobel to describe the dynamics of this unique father-daughter relationship. The contents varied; from her request to Galileo to buy her things such as herbs and linens, the news update on what was going on in her convent, to her consolation for Galileo when he was facing trials in Rome. Not only letters apparently, but she also made him clothes and medicines. It was as though she lived in the same house with him and took care of him. Walls and distance were not barriers. Imagine if they both had Blackberrys.

This book elaborates much about his works, including the scandalous Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, which upholds Copernicus’ theory that the earth revolves around the sun, which is also a book that required almost two centuries (!) to be dropped from the list of banned books by the Congregation of the Holy Office.

Nevertheless, although they did not have rapidshare/mirc/torrent those days, it did not stop the book from being distributed in Italy and beyond. Couriers and diplomatic missions were walking around bringing a copy of Dialogue as they please. Galileo was lucky to have so many admirers in Europe, including even a few high ranking cardinals who felt enlightened when reading his works.

One thing that bothers me was that Galileo did his best to ensure that Dialogue would not cause any ruckus. He used the proper channels, consulted to the relevant officials, gathered sufficient supports from prominent nobles and even sought an audience with the Pope to discuss the book! Nevertheless, one could always find a tiny bit of something to be used as incriminating evidence. Galileo finally admitted guilty and let himself (a frail 69 year old then) to be punished. Anyway, IMHO his punishment was not too depressing. House arrest in the residence of a Sienese cardinal who was one of his strong supporters? He could still write, received some guests (some with the permission from the Papal Office) and had correspondence with fellow scientists and family. C’mon, ‘twas not too bad, right?

Seriously now, I understand that it was still hard for him. He had lots of enemies who would love to see him rot miserably. The pressure he had to face must have been horrendous. Having your ultimate work - which took decades in the making – banned and that you could not publish anything ever again, must be frustrating as hell. For future readers, please do not be disheartened from reading the scientific explanation in this book. First, there are lots of them anyway (haha). Secondly, they would give the readers insight on Galileo’s personal thinking, which sometimes could be so intriguing and cheeky at the same time.

The historical account in this book, describing the flow of events and characters in that illustrious Renaissance era, is truly mesmerizing. The interaction between the states and duchies, the politics inside the Papal court and even the bubonic plague present a thrilling read.

Back to Suor Maria Celeste, Galileo described her as a woman of exquisite mind, singular goodness and most tenderly attached to him. I guess he realized that she was his greatest treasure and would be thankful if people could pay her a proper homage when thinking about how great a scientist he was. The Father of modern physics would not ‘exist’ without her, period. This is true testament to the adage “Behind a great man, there's a great woman”, am I correct? ;)(less)

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Dec 20, 2008 Brian Steed added it

Although I understand the need to give a lot of page-space to the life of Galileo’s daughter, whose letters contribute much of the narrative of the book, I was still a little annoyed whenever Sobel sidetracked from the more interesting Galileo story to give us more detail regarding the life of his daughter. Still a wealth of info about the man's life and times, much of it about the nature of the scientific world in the 17th century and the struggles of the papacy to reconcile scientific discover...more

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Jul 27, 2007 Anne rated it 2 of 5 stars

This is a biography of Galileo, told in part through letters written to him by his illegitimate daughter, a cloistered nun and Galileo's confidante. Over 125 letters written by her survive, though all of the letters from Galileo to his daughter have reportedly been lost or destroyed. While the familial relationship was interesting, I didn't feel as if the correspondence added much to the narrative, and it seemed as if most of the biographical information about Galileo came from other sources. As...more

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Dec 06, 2008 Martha Gimbut rated it 4 of 5 stars

Wonderful book -- especially if one enjoys science and history (non-fiction). I love Dava Sobel -- all her books are enjoyable.

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Apr 10, 2012 Beth Cato rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: in, 2010, nonfiction, history

Every year I like to read at least one nonfiction book that educates me about an era or people I'm otherwise ignorant of. Last year I read Nathaniel's Nutmeg, a book that has forever changed my perspective about paying $2 for a jar of nutmeg at the grocery store. This year I selected Galileo's Daughter. I admit, I didn't know much about the man other than that he was the father of modern sciences and was censored by the Catholic church, but I didn't know the details of that.[return][return]This...more

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Mar 30, 2009 Kaara rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was clearly a labor of love, well researched and with sympathetic, very human depictions of Galileo, his daughter Sister Maria Celeste, and other folks. I learned a lot about Galileo's unbelievable discoveries, his equally important and forward-thinking contributions to the scientific community in terms of process and rigor, his family, and the politics, culture, and technology of the times he lived in. All very interesting. But the angle of this book, of Galileo's life being viewed th...more

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Mar 25, 2013 Justarius rated it 2 of 5 stars

Dava Sobel writes well, but for some reason, Galileo's personal story did not grip me as much as I imagined that it would, despite my love of science. I prefer Sobel's other book "Longitude," and I finally puzzled out why. "Galileo's Daughter," as the title suggests, is more about Galileo the man than his scientific pursuits. And while it was insightful to hear his story and to see him from his daughter's eyes, the letter structure fragmented the narrative somewhat. This structure may have worke...more

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Jan 29, 2013 Kathleen rated it 3 of 5 stars

I love the following excerpt from a letter written by Sister Maria Celeste (of the title) to her father : “If you would teach me the secret you yourself employ, Sire, for getting by on so little sleep, I would be most grateful, because in the end the seven hours that I waste sleeping seem far too many to me.” I can certainly identify with that! Alas, Galileo’s response was not shared with us, if indeed he ever gave one.

Now on to my primary criticism of the book: why is it called Galileo’s Daught...more

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Jul 13, 2012 Sandie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, 2008-books

A violent and unruly age is the setting for this story of the relationship between Galileo and his illegitimate daughter Maria Celestes (born Virginia). Placed in a convent at the age of thirteen, she spent her remaining years loyal to the hard life of her order, the Poor Clares, and to her infamous father. While not engaged in a "typical" father daughter relationship, the 124 letters written by Marie Celestes to her father offers the reader an insight into the intense personal devotion that dev...more

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May 24, 2012 Bart Breen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Galileo the Mythic figure, made Human

I listened to this book on tape.

It has been one of the more enjoyable literary experiences I have had recently. The writing style is excellent. The narration done masterfully with the narrator distinctively creating the voices and personalities of the different characters. I found the experience riviting and entertaining.

As regards the book itself, I was familiar with the story of Galileo but this brought it to life and personalized it so that I now view this...more

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May 09, 2012 Beth rated it 3 of 5 stars

Another book I did not finish. Should I stop reviewing books I started but did not finish? I'll have to think about that.

Again, I thought the premise sounded great. Everyone knows about Galileo, or so they think, but one can find out so much more about a person when looking at him/her through a close relationship.

But this book really was just a biography about Galileo with some letters from his daughter thrown in. The biography part was good, very good. It really brought him alive as a person, s...more

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Apr 17, 2012 Jason Golomb rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: history, italy, non-fiction, renaissance, rome

What Dava Sobel does best is connect world-shattering science with the individuals who brought that discipline or discovery to light. Beyond that, she provides the context of the world in which they lived. In writing about Copernicus and John ‘Longitude’ Harrison, she wrote of worlds on the cusp of modernity, one world much closer to the dark Middle Ages, another in the throes of a technological evolution. In “Galileo’s Daughter”, Sobel introduces us to the scientist as a man, as a father, and a...more

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Nov 30, 2011 Paul rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is an amazing book, and just the thing to cleanse the mental palate after inflicting Nancy Kress' An Alien Light on myself. Galileo's story is really at the crux of the transition from Aristotelian physics to what we now call Newtonian or classical physics. It was Galileo and his contemporaries who finally broke the stranglehold that Aristotle had on philosophy in the West and improved on him. Today we are generally told a very few things about Galileo:

- He was essentially the first to use...more This is an amazing book, and just the thing to cleanse the mental palate after inflicting Nancy Kress' An Alien Light on myself. Galileo's story is really at the crux of the transition from Aristotelian physics to what we now call Newtonian or classical physics. It was Galileo and his contemporaries who finally broke the stranglehold that Aristotle had on philosophy in the West and improved on him. Today we are generally told a very few things about Galileo:

- He was essentially the first to use a telescope on the night sky and observe new phenomena, such as the moons of Jupiter or the roughness of the moon or a dim impression of Saturn's rings.

- He was condemned by the Catholic Church for espousing Copernicus' hypothesis that the Earth circles the Sun and that the daily motion of celestial objects is caused by the Earth's rotation, rather than the motion of Aristotle and Ptolemy's spheres.

That's all I knew about him for many years. I had grasped more details in the last several years before reading this book, but it gives me an overflowing wealth of information about his life and a much better idea of the history and details of the controversy that led to his trial in Rome. Obviously I recommend anyone and everyone read this book for themselves and get these details.

I actually saw this author speak, largely about this book, in Indianapolis in 2008 or 2009, so I snapped the book up right away when I saw it at a used bookstore in Honolulu (overcrowded baggage be damned). What I find most amazing is that this woman is Jewish, yet she sympathetically advances the thesis that Galileo was throughout his life a staunch Catholic who made himself enemies by his sharp wit and criticism of establishment (i.e. Aristotelian, which was nearly everyone at the time) academics, who were able to bring about his condemnation after many years, while he retained many friends, also intellectually committed Catholics, who were convinced of his sincerity and that his interpretations of his discoveries were perfectly reconcilable with the faith.

I will end by noting that Galileo's Daughter is his eldest daughter, an intelligent and committed Poor Clare with whom Galileo corresponded often. Most of the correspondence Dava included in the book is about the daily human affairs of early seventeenth century Italy and gives a comforting picture of the humanity of both Galileo, Suor Maria, and the people around them.(less)

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Jul 05, 2011 Perrie rated it 4 of 5 stars

In this historical memoir by Dana Sobel, we get a glimpse of Galileo's private life. His discoveries, his friendships with princes, popes and other academics are revisited through the writings of his daughter's letters to him. Here we begin to see how Galileo's trial for heresy by the Office of the Holy Inquisition affected those close to him, including his daughter, Suor Maria Celeste, a nun that shared his great mind and passion for science. I found the exerpts from Suor Maria's letters to her...more

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Jul 03, 2011 Anya Yankelevich rated it 5 of 5 stars

I was impressed by the author's empathy for characters that lived centuries ago. The human drama of Galileo's life and times came alive in this book: the pain of rejection and the bitterness of solitude that was foisted on Galileo even after he tried to play by the rules of his society; the physical and historical constraints on day-to-day life. Without ever saying it, the author profoundly illustrates the repressive effects of the church on the burgeoning modern minds of that time. The push/pul...more

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Jul 01, 2011 EmmaLee Pryor rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is a tricky book because it is really more about Galileo and his trials with the Catholic church and his science/philosophizing about physics and astronomy than his relationship with his daughter. The fact that none of his letters to her survived make it hard to show what kind of father he was but reading this book you know that he did love and value her, possibly above any other person in his life. It was hard to let go of my cultural constructs about putting his daughters' in a convent be...more

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Jan 23, 2011 Alex Telander rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-read-in-2002

The small picture of the nun on the front cover of Galileo’s Daughter may well be Suor (Sister) Maria Celeste, Galileo’s daughter, and then again it might not. This stands as a summation of what is within the pages Dava Sobel has strung together.

Suor Maria Celeste begins every single one of her letters to her father, the great scientist Galileo, with “Most Illustrious” or “Most Beloved” or “Most Illustrious and Beloved Lord-Father.” But then she is a nun. Once you get over the astonishing endear...more

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Dec 16, 2010 Blake Spears rated it 4 of 5 stars

It must be said from the beginning that the title of this book is at least misleading and at most a misnomer. The book isn't about the life of Galileo's daughter, Sister Maria Celeste, but is instead about Galileo himself. That isn't to say that the book has absolutely nothing to do with Celeste; in fact, there are several letters she sent to her father that Dava Sobel uses selectively throughout the text. Unfortunately, the dynamic of an exchange between father and daughter is impossible to pub...more It must be said from the beginning that the title of this book is at least misleading and at most a misnomer. The book isn't about the life of Galileo's daughter, Sister Maria Celeste, but is instead about Galileo himself. That isn't to say that the book has absolutely nothing to do with Celeste; in fact, there are several letters she sent to her father that Dava Sobel uses selectively throughout the text. Unfortunately, the dynamic of an exchange between father and daughter is impossible to publish because all of Galileo's letters to Celeste have been destroyed long ago, and this leaves the relationship a bit unilateral and narrow.

However, all of that aside, the book is still a good read. I can't claim to be an expert on Galileo or to have read dozens of books about the man and his work, but I do have to applaud Sobel for making the work accessible and reader-friendly. I'm a fairly scientifically-minded individual, so that has been my primary pursuit in life. Therefore, I'm already familiar with Copernicus and Galileo endorsing the heliocentric theory, but I didn't know much of the man. This book gave me a lot of information that was previously unknown to yours truly.

The book offers a tale of two men: 1)the scientist with a quest for knowledge and truth, and 2) the 16th century Italian living in a time where the Church was the most powerful organization. I know what you're thinking, "oh... more about him being prosecuted for his scientific ideas," and to an extent that does exist in Sobel's book. However, the majority of page-space is devoted to Galileo's personal endeavors and circumstances. For those already familiar with his scientific works (like me) there is a great deal to be learned about the man himself. For those already familiar with the man himself there may be a great deal to be learned about his scientific pursuits. For instance (and I hope not to give anything away here), I knew that he supported the Copernican model with his own findings, and I knew that he was placed on house arrest for promoting the heliocentric theory. However, I did not know that he was afraid of what his findings might imply. He truly did struggle with undermining Catholic dogma of the time.

At the end of the day, if you're not an expert on Galileo or the heliocentric theory then this book may be for you. It is a very good primer, well-written, and easily accessible. That is to say, it is not written in a highly stylized scientific jargon, and it isn't written with the initial assumption that the reader is an idiot.

Happy reading.(less)

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Oct 27, 2010 Ted rated it 4 of 5 stars

What a fine story, and what an education. When I started the book I had only the vaguest outline in my head of Galileo's life and accomplishments, the scandals with the church and his contributions to science. While the book thoroughly covers his achievements in math, physics and astronomy, it is the view of daily life that is far more fascinating, and that's where the title character of his daughter comes in, telling us about the world of the early 17th century.

This was a world where it was dan...more

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Sep 09, 2010 Carol rated it 5 of 5 stars

Sobel writes a wonderful memoir of the life of Galileo Galilei and his daughter, Nun Suor Maria Celeste, based on the 100+ letters that she wrote to him during her convent years. Galileo's 3 children were illegitimate (he never married); and because of this, the two daughters were not marriageable (he could buy his son a legitimate life but not the daughters). It was the custom to put daughters in a convent and his firstborn daughter was a very happy, very pious, very intelligent woman who dearl...more

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Aug 22, 2010 Ross rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is an interesting biography of the the great man told with the reading of the letters he received over many years from his eldest daughter. Sadly the letters he sent to her were lost. She was a nun in a convnent in Florence. Her letters are very touching and tell of life in the convent and her great love for her father, and are a testament to Galileo's love for her.
The important part of the book, however, is about Galileo himself and his discoveries and his battles with the church over the...more

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May 24, 2010 Ruth rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

420 pages. Donated 2010 May.

Everyone knows that Galileo Galilei dropped cannonballs off the leaning tower of Pisa, developed the first reliable telescope, and was convicted by the Inquisition for holding a heretical belief—that the earth revolved around the sun. But did you know he had a daughter? In Galileo's Daughter, Dava Sobel (author of the bestselling Longitude) tells the story of the famous scientist and his illegitimate daughter, Sister Maria Celeste. Sobel bases her book on 124 survivin...more

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Mar 21, 2010 Carol rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: biography, science

A biography of Galileo as revealed in letters from his beloved daughter, a cloistered nun. Suor Maria Celeste was highly intellegent (Galileo entrusted her to make the final copy of his manuscript), an efficient manager (she managed the affairs of her father's household from within the confines of the convent while he was being tried by the inquisition), and selfless (she was apocathary for the convent, nursing not only the other nuns but also her father and members of his household.) As well as...more

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Mar 14, 2010 Robert Chen rated it 4 of 5 stars

I found interest in Galileo when I was in 4th grade, and his story has always intrigued me. It was very interesting to read this book, which gives a history of Galileo's life in context with the events that we occurring at the time (Inquisition, plague, 30 years war). In this book, you learn why Galileo is often considered to be the "father of modern science" as stated by Einstein and other esteemed scientists.

While Galileo's daughter may have been a large part of his life, I feel that very litt...more

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Oct 25, 2009 Lori rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is an outstanding novel about the legendary Galileo and his life. Not having a passion for Galileo and knowledge limited to what I had learned in high school prior to this reading, I chose this book solely on the basis of the human interest element. I had never heard that he had a daughter much less an enduring record of such a relationship.
What I found most fascinating was the brilliance of Galileo and his inventions. Although he was criticized and later penalized by the Catholic Church he...more

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About Dava Sobel

Dava Sobel is an accomplished writer of popular expositions of scientific topics. A 1964 graduate of the Bronx High School of Science, Ms. Sobel attended Antioch College and the City College of New York before receiving her bachelor of arts degree from the State University of New York at Binghamton in 1969. She holds honorary doctor of letters degrees from the University of Bath, in England, and M...more

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Books by Dava Sobel

Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of his Time

A More Perfect Heaven: How Copernicus Revolutionized the Cosmos

The Incredible Planets: New Views of the Solar Family

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