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

I ordered _Galileo's Daughter_ on a whim. Wow. It was really, really good. The story is the story of the life of Galileo, and especially of his relationship with his older daughter, who is a nun with the convent name of Maria Celeste. The time period featured here is not one that I've ever been especially interested in. Nor did I know anything about Galileo, (beyond that Indigo Girls song and a conspiracy theory that someone told me when I was a teenager, that the Church actually knew already that the earth went around the sun, they just weren't ready for the public to know) or think that it was a lack in my life not to, but this book was riveting. Sobel did a great job of keeping you interested with the narrative and the letters from Maria Celeste to her father, without neglecting contextual information about the politics and church doctrine of the time. This book transformed my understanding of this period of Italian history. The idea of being arrested, tortured, or even executed for disagreeing with church doctrine is chilling. If you are interested in science, history, or the relationship between church and state, then order _Galileo's Daughter_ right away. Dava Sobel also wrote a similar book which I plan to investigate: _Longitude:The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time_. Five stars.

Family history interwoven with scientific theories being discovered and lots of religious politics. One of those books everyone tells you to read...and they are right!

This book is a great combination of biography and memoir, and is told using a unique construction. The author has researched well the later life of Gallileo, and presents his story of experimentation, mathematics and presentation of Copernicus' earth-centric theory of the solar system and surrounding uproar in great detail, but interlaces those factual episodes with one half of a set of correspondence. She uses the surviving letters of his daughter to him during the latter half of his life to add to the dry facts the daily routine of his life and his concerns on more mundane things. Truly a unique combination of factual history and daily life.

I have to say that I read about 2/3 and then found it a little boring

I read this book after viewing a PBS special about Galileo, his troubles with the church, and his daughter. I knew his daughter was a nun and to support your father when your own "boss" is against him was mighty brave. I enjoyed this book. Very in-depth or what others might call tedious. Good read.

loved this book. Fascinating account of Galileo's life and times.

"Sobel is a master storyteller...What she has done, with her choice of excerpts and her strong sense of story, is bring a great scientist to life. Reading GALILEO'S DAUGHTER, we hear Galileo's voice, we sense his pain and share his excitement, and every once again we marvel at how the human mind, and heart, can lift so much."--The New York Times

This is fiction but it gives great insight into Galileo life, the church, and the role of women during 17 century.

Absolutely top notch. Galileo's life history, in part told through decades of survivng letters from his daughter who was in a convent. These letters humanize the man who was a genius

This book is beautifully written. I had a hard time getting through the technical scientific stuff.

I loved this book - it gave insight not only into the life of Galileo but into the life of women of his era.

A dry recap of galileo's struggles and discoveries with little to say about his most interesting 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 surviving letters to the scientist from the nun, whom Galileo described as "a woman of exquisite mind, singular goodness, and tenderly attached to me."
Their loving correspondence revealed much about their world..." amazon

Loved the reimagining of these personalities. Learned a lot!

I was expecting historical fiction and got more like a documentary. Still a very good book!

Galileo was a man ahead of his time---I was glad that he ahd kept his letters form his daughter and upset that his letters were destroyed by his daughters convent. An amazing story! Made me glad to be alive today--our hardships are NOTHIGN when compared to the times fo the Great Inquisition--or to the lives of women centuries ago!
If you love history you will love this book---plus you look really intelligent carrying it around! LOL

This biography on Gallileo is based on the 124 letters he saved from his daughter. However, the author expands on them putting the letters and Gallileo's troubles in historical perspective. The book's comprehensive index includes events and people. We also learn about the life of a num in the 1600's.

A historical memoir of Science, Faith, and Love.

This is really a biograpy of Galileo; the 'daughter' part is something of an artifice to give it a more human touch. That said, I think it's a pretty good biography. Galileo has always been one of my heroes, and this book did not disappoint.

Until I read this book, I had no idea that Galileo had a beloved daughter who was a nun. In addition to narrative, the book contains a number of interesting pictures and diagrams, but at the center of it all is the letters. I have to agree with the blurb on the back cover, which says, "Deftly weaving historical detail with the warm, earnest, and solicitous writings of a loving daughter, Sobel does for 17th-century technology and religion what she did for the science of navigation in the 1995 bestseller, Longitude..."

Good condition. Front cover is a little bent on the corners from wear.

Excellent story.

Interesting historical novel.

Fascinating historical novel!

This is an excellent read!

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