Galileo's Daughter: A Drama of Science, Faith and Love (Paperback)

Some people were disappointed that the book turned out to be more about Galileo than his daughter. But for me, I enjoyed that it was. I felt the last third of the book was the best. I learned a LOT from reading this book. Sobel brings the characters to life. I feel like I know Pope Urban now as a human being. I also know Galileo and his daughter both as human beings, just as if I had met all of these people in my current life. Some people in our group were not interested in the science presented in the book, but really enjoyed reading about all the herbal and plant remedies used during the Middle Ages. The herbal things didn’t interest me, but I LOVED the science discussions presented in the book.

No matter WHAT your interest, this book is a slow, but very worthwhile read. It stimulated me to want to read much more on many of the subjects that were only touched on in the book.

This daughter, christened Virginia, but taking the name Maria Celeste at the convent to which she was remanded, was an intellectual, well versed in the matters which made her father controversial, and, luckily for historians, a frequent correspondent with many around Galileo.

This book chronicles, with reliance upon Sister Maria Celeste's correspondence as well as a prodigious amount of supporting material, Galileo's struggle to be faithful and obedient both to the call of the Church and the call of scientific truth. In this we see not a militant revolutionary or a man bent on defiance and rebellion, as Galileo is so oft cast, but as a solitary man, an often lonely man, engaged in strenuous effort to be prayerful and concerned for all.

Galileo held many positions of teaching and research in his life. His output of written work was extensive, much of which no longer exists. His daughter likewise produced much, of which only her letters remain. Galileo produced works on mathematics (often with practical, i.e., military, emphasis), astronomy, and philosophy (the dividing line between these fields being rather hard to maintain during the Renaissance). Galileo shared the stage roughly with Copernicus, Brahe, and Kepler; Isaac Newton was born the year of Galileo's death.

Alas, part of Galileo's problem was a political miscalculation. While Pope Urban VIII was a man personally known to him (Galileo had demonstrated the telescope to him some time before his ascension to the lofty heights of Roman hierarchy), and known to be an intellectually interested and astute man, he nonetheless had political and dogmatic concerns (and, perhaps as important, other powerful people surrounding him with such concerns) that he could not ignore.

'When Galileo's book arrived in Rome in the summer of 1632, Urban could take no time to read it. Anonymous advisers judged it for him, however, as an egregious insult. Galileo's enemies in Rome, whose number was legion, saw the Dialogue as a scandalous glorification of Copernicus. And the pope, already loudly accused of flagging Catholic zeal on the battlefronts of Europe, could not allow a new affront to go unpunished.'

Not long after his censure from the papal commission, Galileo lost his eyesight, and, despite being published outside Italy, still chose to remain close to family and Church in Italy. Galileo's work was seen not only as a blight on his intellectual pursuit, but as a personal flaw, and the commission passed judgement 'on his book and his person'. Galileo was sentenced to prison (actually, he could have been burned at the stake, the preferred method for dealing with heretical challengers of the Church's worldview), but this was softened by friends who saw to it his terms of imprisonment were spent in bishopric and ambassadorial accommodations.

'The Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems: Ptolemaic and Copernican' was listed on the next Index of Prohibited books, in 1664, where it would remain listed for almost 200 years. Of course, the Vatican made headlines throughout the 1990s by re-opening the case of Galileo and finding 'faults', in fact, that 'a tragic mutual incomprehension has been interpreted as the reflection of a fundamental opposition between science and faith'.

Too little too late? Perhaps. This book is a wonderful recast of the standard history on Galileo, seen primarily through the admittedly biased view of his beloved and loving daughter.