Theme of the Week
Natural History/Science
Reader: Cindy Parkhurst
Author: Dava Sobel
Title: Galileo’s Daughter
Call Number: QB36.G2 S65 1999
Rating: 5
Summary: I am a complete sucker for books about the history of science and for memoirs. This book tells the story of Galileo and his life watching the planets and inventing technologies to better observe the universe through the eyes of his daughter Sister Marie Celeste. The author uses the still existing letters of Galileo’s daughter along with church records to explore Galileo’s relationship with family, his work as a scientist and his troubled relationship with the Catholic Church.
Both of Galileo’s daughters were nuns in a very old and respected convent in Italy. While the letters to Galileo from his daughter were preserved, his letters back to her have not been found. It is amazing how the author was able to help the reader see a very personal side to this great man of science. It is obvious that Galileo had a very loving relationship with his daughters and that he took very good care of his family - sometimes at great expense.
For me, the most interesting part of the book dealt with Galileo’s relationship to the church. In some biographical accounts I have read, Galileo comes off as quite arrogant and confrontational with the church leaders. His theories about the movement of the planets, based on the work of Copernicus were widely read by the educated church leaders and eventually, for political reasons, were considered heretical. Rather than portraying Galileo as antagonistic to the Vatican because of their reaction to his work, this book shows a more conciliatory Galileo. While not abandoning his work, he is seen as desperately trying to accommodate the church hierarchy and his pledges of faith are portrayed as more sincere than I had originally thought.
I enjoyed this book and got a very different perspective on Galileo as a person and as a father.
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