Yes, galileo had a daughter, in fact two daughters and a son, the illegitimate offspring of a liaison with a venetian beauty. His telescopes allowed him to reveal the heavens and enforce the astounding argument that the earth moves around the sun. A historical memoir of science, faith, and love, brings the famous scientist vividly to life while offering a unique perspective on his trial for heresy and subsequent years under house arrest. Throughout the book, doyle remains open and candid, whether shes admitting to rigging a. She is a most original writer, with a reverence for history and storytelling. A historical memoir of science, faith, and love is a 1999 nonfiction book by dava sobel.
Oct 01, 1999 this book, entitled galileo s daughter is a dual biography, both of galileo and of his eldest daughter, a cloistered nun of the poor clares. There were many good books about galileo for children at that time, but they were all written in the third person. Sobel, author of the bestselling longitude 1995, has elegantly translated the letters galileo s eldest child, virginia, wrote to him and uses them as a leitmotif to illuminate their deep mutual love, religious faith, and dedication to science. It is based on the surviving letters of galileo galilei s daughter, the nun suor maria celeste, and explores the relationship between galileo and his daughter. Be the first to ask a question about galileos daughter. Galileos daughter by dava sobel penguin random house audio. Despite the title, the book is mostly galileos story, interspersed with excerpts from his daughters letters. Galileo s daughter dramatically recolors the personality and accomplishment of a mythic figure whose 17thcentury clash with catholic doctrine continues to define the schism between science and religion. My picture book biography of galileo, galileos journal. The following year, the holy office found him guilty of heresy and banned the book.
Usa today galileos daughter is a remarkable work for the beauty of the writing and the clarity of the time and relationships it creates. An interview with dava sobel, readers club of america. A historical memoir of science, faith, and love dava soba, 1999 viking press 432 pp. If, instead, you were fascinated by the idea of learning about galileo s daughter, realize that she is not really the subject of the book. We do learn about his daughters, 2, and one in particular and their relationship but that is not the focus of the book. Upon galileo s death in 1642, his friends wanted to erect a mausoleum befitting such a scientific genius, but pope urban viii.
Yes, galileo had a daughter, in fact two daughters and a son, the illegitimate offspring of a liaison. These discussion questions are designed to enhance your groups conversation about pao, a. 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. Nov 01, 2000 dava sobel has had a lifelong fascination with galileo and her latest book,galileos daughter. We do learn about his daughters, 2, and one in particular and. Sobel reveals that this first letter is one of the 124 letters that survived both father and daughter. A historical memoir of faith, science and love, published by walker and company. Galileos daughter, a story of love, faith, and science. When i picked it up i thought it was going to be a historical fiction novel, but soon discovered it was a history biography about galileo and his discoveries. I bought this book for a book club that meets once a month. This is the story of galileos life in the context of his eldest daughters beautiful prose. Unfortunately, none of the physicist s corresponding letters to his daughter have survived. Galileo s daughter galileo s daughter audiobook, by dava sobel. Suor maria celestes letters provide another and different insight into galileos life as well as raising quite a few questions about the treatment of daughters especially illegitimate.
Inspired by a long fascination with galileo, and by the remarkable surviving letters of galileo s daughter, a cloistered nun, dava sobel has written a biography unlike any other of the man albert einstein called the father of modern physics indeed of modern science altogether. She is also the author of longitude, galileo s daughter, the planets, and a more perfect heaven, which contains an early version of her play about copernicus, called and the sun stood still. This book, entitled galileos daughter is a dual biography, both of galileo and of his eldest daughter, a cloistered nun of the poor clares. The story shines the intimacy of this mans relationship with his upuntilnow unknown daughter and at the same time exposes the relevance. Ive read sobel s galileo s daughter, which i really enjoyed with the mixture of history, science and story, so i had high hopes for the planets. I learned a great deal from the book, but the most lasting lesson was the death grip that the catholic church has on much of the world during galileo s time. Galileo s daughter also presents a stunning portrait of a person hitherto lost to history, described by her father as a woman of exquisite mind, singular goodness, and most tenderly attached to me. Galileo s daughter dramatically recolors the personality and accomplishment of a mythic figure whose seventeenthcentury clash with catholic doctrine continues to define the schism between science and religion. Read free book excerpt from galileos daughter by dava sobel, page 1 of 4. Content includes books from bestselling, midlist and debut authors. Galileos daughter dramatically recolors the personality and accomplishment of a mythic figure whose seventeenthcentury clash with catholic doctrine.
Galileos daughter is the story of both galileo and his wise and intelligent older daughter, maria celeste. Galileo s daughter, born of his long illicit liaison with the beautiful marina gamba of venice, entered the world in the summer heat of a new century, on august, 1600the same year the dominican friar giordano bruno was burned at the stake in rome for insisting, among his many heresies and blasphemies, that the earth traveled around the sun. Sloan initiative and supported by a grant from the john simon guggenheim. This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of galileos daughter by dava sobel. What impressions or ideas did you have about galileo before reading sobels book. Galileos daughter i was surprised that this book is more about galileos life, his studies, inventions, etc. A drama of science, faith and love new ed by sobel, dava isbn. It details the relationship between renaissance scientist galileo and his daughter suor maria celeste, a nun. Though he never left italy, his inventions and discoveries were heralded around the world. Moving between galileo s grand public life and maria celeste s sequestered world, sobel illuminates the florence of the medicis and the. Sep 04, 2011 although the title of the book is galileos daughter and the focus is on suor maria celeste, it is galileos life that occupies centre stage. In galileos daughter, dava sobel author of the bestselling longitude tells the story of the famous scientist and his illegitimate daughter, sister maria celeste.
Galileo galilei was born in pisa italy in the same year as shakespeare, 1564, of father vincenzio galilei and giulia ammannati galilei. Despite its title, this impressive book proves to be less the story of galileos elder daughter, the oldest of his three illegitimate children, and more the story of. In what ways did the insertion of the fulllength letters of suor maria celeste, and the excerpts from the rule of saint clare and the testimony from galileo s trial, affect the narrative flow of the story. It is also in part a fascinating chronicle of a 17th century clash between science and catholic doctrine.
Galileo galilei was the foremost scientist of his day. Galileo s daughter by dava sobel begins with a letter written on may 10, 1623 from suor maria celeste to her father, galileo. Galileo first taught at the university at pisa, where he demonstrated his theories of falling bodies by throwing cannonballs off the leaning tower. While studying galileo s efforts to solve the longitude problem, i read a book that included a fragment of one of his daughter s letters. Despite the title and the premise that it is based off of suor maria celestes letters this book isnt really about galileos daughter and the letters are sparser than i. The henna artist opens a door into a world that is at. Galileos daughter died when he was old and she was still young.
Galileo s daughter is the story of both galileo and his wise and intelligent older daughter, maria celeste. Did the book change any of your opinions, and if so, how. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read galileos daughter. The shift in perception that eventually rocked the world from complacency was for him the natural consequence of gods true omnipotence. The book is about the heretical scientist galileo galilei, based on letters from his daughter.
Galileo s daughter is organized around a series of letters that suor maria celeste wrote to galileo from may 1623, when galileo was 59 and already celebrated throughout europe, until april 1634, when she died of dysentary. It was nominated for the 2000 pulitzer prize for biography or autobiography. Start reading galileos daughter on your kindle in under a minute. In it, she mentioned how she was struggling to fix the clock in the convent, and she asked him to help her. This study guide, written by, includes the following sections. A reasonable work and interesting for trying to convey the life and times of galileo s daughter as well as the life of the great man himself. Galileo s daughter also presents a stunning portrait of a person hitherto lost to history, described by her father as. A historical memoir of science, faith, and love study guide by consists of approx. A historical memoir of science, faith, and love is a book by dava sobel. Historical memoir explores a daughters love letters. The play was commissioned by the manhattan theatre club through its alfred p.
It is a mystery as to what happened to galileo s letters to maria celeste. Book club kit book club kit santa clara county library. Apr 05, 2017 potpourri book club discovers galileo s favorite child. A site dedicated to book lovers providing a forum to discover and share commentary about the books and authors they enjoy. These discussion questions are designed to enhance your groups conversation about pao. Potpourri book club discovers galileos favorite child. This is another book i bought because of it s beautiful cover, especially in the hardcover edition, and one which, after reading, i thought had failed in it s job. Moving between galileo s public life and maria celeste s sequestered world, sobel illuminates the florence of the medicis and the papal court. A historical memoir of science, faith and love ebook written by dava sobel. It was not dropped from the index of prohibited books until 1835. One hundred and twenty letters from maria to her famous father survive, and these are. Galileo s daughter i was surprised that this book is more about galileo s life, his studies, inventions, etc. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.
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