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

I would have liked a little more information and background in the beginning of the book, instead of wondering until the end about some unexplained details, but I have always had this problem with books and movies. For example, how did Galileo's daughter come to be so literate and so well educated if she was put in a convent at age 13? Why were his bastard daughters ineligible for marriage and sentenced to a life of poverty and hard work when his bastard son enjoyed a life of privilege?
Here and now I would like to propose a new genre: Historical Retrieval. Working with a researcher who writes book-length papers, I know there is not a label that describes the sifting through old documents to bring to life an acurate and factual picture show more of one life, a few generations, or in this case, two lives with their numerous supporters and adversaries.
I loved the detail, loved the well-organized time line, and the very personal letters, although Galileo's oldest daughter fawns over him, while (dare I suggest it?) his other daughter might be resentful of her lot in life thanks to her father.
I thought it was a pretty good book until the very end when I knew it was a truly great book. As pertinent to our current time and place as it was in the 1600s, we can only hope the lesson will not be lost on us, that history will judge the outcome of the battle between scientific inquiry and the retention of ignorance (often by force) from a few bullies at the expense of good people. The many who came to Galileo's aid to publish his works, even after his being cut off from most human contact, his blindness, and eventual death, indicate there is a desire among mankind to search for the truth, no matter what the obstacles. show less

I can understand why Dava Sobel's "Longitude" was an absolute commercial smash: it made the stakes involved in finding an accurate way of measuring longitude clear to the reader and then, in language that might suit a thriller, set about describing the race to come up with a reliable solution to this problem. "Galileo's Daughter" is, in many ways, a more difficult proposition. It's longer, slower, and features the complete text of the letters that Suor Maria Celeste, Galileo's favorite daughter, wrote to him. While "Galileo's Daughter" is still a work of popular fiction — most of this won't be news to readers deeply invested in Renaissance history or the history of science — this one can sometimes be a struggle to read.

Which isn't show more to say that it doesn't have its charms. As a person who, shamefully enough, knew Galileo as the guy proved that a feather doesn't fall faster than a ball of lead and who insisted, after being convicted by the Catholic Church, that it yet moved, Sobel does a good job of explaining to readers exactly why Galileo's methods and ideas were so revolutionary. This is especially since he certainly wasn't the first to propose that the Sun, and not the Earth, was the center of our solar system, an idea that thinkers from Pythagoras to Aristarchus to Copernicus had, each in their own time, advocated for. The author makes it clear that in a age in which Aristotle's opinions trumped empirical observation both for the Catholic Church and for many scientists, Galileo's insistence on the paramount importance of observational and experimental science seems truly revolutionary. I came away from this book understanding exactly why Galileo's name is synonymous with scientific brilliance.

Of course, there are probably lots of books out there that will describe Galileo's place in the history of science to their readers. The real attraction of "Galileo's Daughter" — and the aspect of it that I enjoyed the most — was its meticulous description of life in seventeenth century Italy. Sobel's narrative encompasses numerous aspects of the Italy of Galileo's time, from its patronage system to its byzantine papal intrigues to its medical and agricultural practices to the complexity of family life during this period. Sobel, in other words, does a good job of describing the texture of this particular place at this particular time. Even if you aren't particularly interested in science — and, honestly, I prefer other subjects myself — this book's varied perspectives make it worth a read.

The real heart of this book, though, is the great man's relationship with his favorite daughter whose letters paint of a picture of a woman with a sharp mind who, despite living a highly restricted life as a cloistered nun took initiative and expressed her opinions where and when she could. Her letters will likely strike modern readers as too flowery, too self-abnegating, and too excessively deferential, but Suor Maria Celeste's love for her father — and for the God and the religious tradition to which she devoted her life— cannot be denied. Readers will also likely be appalled at the living conditions in the convent in which Maria Celeste lived. The food that the "Poor Clares" ate barely sustained them, their living conditions were wretched, and they worked, prayed, and observed their religious practice with such intensity that they hardly had a moment to themselves. Today, it would be easy to compare this sort of lifestyle to that of a cult. But Maria Celeste's love for her fellow sisters, for her God, and for her father shines through: she seems, during her life, to have achieved a sort of hard-won grace. This can also be seen in the many favors she did for her father and in the gifts that she gave him, from mending an sewing clothes and sheets to sending him his favorite foods. Galileo was, if you hadn't heard, very fond of candied fruits. In her letters, she constantly worries about his health and counsels him to take care of himself. While we do not have Galileo's half of this correspondence, their mutual affection is obvious. And this, in its way, is important. Even history's giants have personal lives, and "Galileo's Daughter" is, in a sense a portrait of the sort of emotionally sustaining relationship that everyone, even geniuses, need to make it through life. This one is perhaps too long and is far from an easy read, but it's recommended to those readers with a special interest in the more personal and cultural aspects of history. show less

At its surface a history lesson, Galileo's Daughter is also a very personal peek into the dynamics of a relationship between a now-infamous scientist and his illegitimate but clearly cherished daughter. Although Galileo's side of the conversation is lost to history, the letters to him from his daughter, Florentine nun Suor Maria Celeste, survive and abound with concerns for his health, political cautions, local news, and humble appeals for goods or funds benefiting the convent. The exceedingly submissive tone of Maria Celeste's letters can feel a bit unsettling to 21st-century sensibilities, though it's important to remember it was not only a different time, but the lifestyle and comportment of a 17th-century nun is also virtually show more foreign to today's reader. It's incredible to me that the correspondence between Galileo and Maria Celeste survives to the present when one considers the extent to which Galileo's contributions to science weren't appreciated fully during his own time. show less

This is a fabulous and engaging book about Galileo and his daughter, Suor Maria Celeste. Sobel provides a window into convent life, the power of the Catholic Church, and the emotional relationship between father and daughter. Reads like a novel, but is well-researched and beautifully executed.

A very readable and human account, effectively a double biography of the great astronomer and mathematician and of his daughter, a nun, much of the human colour being told though her letters to him that show the depths of her devotion and solicitude for him even from within the confines of the monastery that she never left between her taking vows at age 16 and her death of dysentery at 33. Very moving and revealing and tragic, depicting Galileo's ordeal sympathetically, while at the same time avoiding generalised sweeping comments posited from a solely modern viewpoint on the science v faith relationship. Just half a point docked for the rather poor quality black and white illustrations.

The world was a much different place a scant handful of centuries ago. Well, maybe not the physical world. It's the same shape, and all the continents and oceans and islands are pretty much where they were back then, but people and how they see the world have changed significantly. Sobel's Galileo's Daughter demonstrates this using letters to the great astronomer from his loving daughter Maria Celeste, a cloistered nun. Since Galileo and her mother never wed, she was judged unmarriageable, so her father, in a sincere act of paternal care, arranged for her and her younger sister to be sent to a convent when Celeste (then Virginia) was 13. Neither daughter ever ventured outside its walls again. In our culture, which views individual show more freedom and personal choice as inherent rights, this might seem harsh treatment, but Maria Celeste doesn't consider herself imprisoned or unfortunate in any way. Her father, conversely, when he is sentenced to what amounts to house arrest by the Inquisition for holding the belief that the Earth moves around the Sun, does feel unjustly put upon, even though he is no more confined at the end of his life than his daughters have been most of theirs. How they see their situations is determined by how they see the world, which is quite different from how most people in Western society now see it. Galileo is one of the reasons why.

Sadly, only half of the long correspondence between father and daughter has been preserved. Galileo saved his daughter's letters. Celeste saved his to her as well, but they were apparently destroyed by an overzealous of fearful mother abbess after Celeste's untimely death (age 34) from dysentery. But from Celeste's letters and other accounts of the time, we can learn a lot about the life and times of Galileo. I think most of us today would see his world as harsh, oppressive, a place where everything you do, even your thoughts, are subject to judgement and punishment by established authorities. I am often struck by how subservient, how obsequious, the tone of letters are from this time. Today, sucking up to the boss is viewed as demeaning. In the 16th and 17th centuries, it was apparently not only expected but necessary. It is only by viewing Galileo's accomplishments in this context that we can fully appreciate his bravery and his contribution to shaping our world today. It's a better place because of him. show less

A fascinating exploration of not only Galileo's struggles to publish and make known his agreement - with theoretical and mathematical evidence - that Copernicus was correct in his belief that the Earth revolves around the Sun and not the other way around, and how the Church was determined that Copernicus was wrong as it countered what was spelled out in the Scriptures. Anyone who stayed awake during history and science classes while in school will know a fair bit about Galileo, his writings and his battles with the Catholic church, but I will admit to having no knowledge of his family life before reading Sobel's book. Being able to read the text of his daughter Suor Maria Celeste's letters and the context Sobel provides them in really show more helped to bring not only Galileo, but also the time period into clear resolution for me. The paternal love and respect Galileo had for his daughter and her intellect, and her unwavering devotion to her father, shines here. Some memoirs come across as rather dry reading for me, because I am usually not interested in the minutia of famous or historical figures. Being able to read about Galileo through his daughter's letters to him was anything but boring, even when she talks about the minutia of her cloistered life. That was very interesting!

Overall, a different approach to a memoir that I felt really works well and presents the details of Galileo's thoughts, beliefs and struggles in a manner that would have been a welcome replacement to any school textbook I had to slog through, back in the days. show less