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

Written by:
Dava Sobel
Narrated by:
Fritz Weaver

Abridged Audiobook

Ratings
Book
5
Narrator
3
Release Date
October 2005
Duration
5 hours 15 minutes
Summary
Galileo Galilei was the foremost scientist of his day. Though he never left Italy, his inventions and discoveries were heralded around the world. His telescopes allowed him to reveal the heavens and enforce the astounding argument that the earth moves around the sun. For this belief, he was brought before the Holy Office of the Inquisition, accused of heresy, and forced to spend his last years under house arrest.

Galileo's oldest child was thirteen when he placed her in a convent near him in Florence, where she took the most appropriate name of Suor Maria Celeste. Her support was her father's greatest source of strength. Her presence, through letters which Sobel has translated from Italian and masterfully woven into the narrative, graces her father's life now as it did then.

GALILEO'S DAUGHTER dramatically recolors the personality and accomplishment of a mythic figure whose seventeenth-century clash with Catholic doctrine continues to define the schism between science and religion. Moving between Galileo's public life and Maria Celeste's sequestered world, Sobel illuminates the Florence of the Medicis and the papal court in Rome during an era when humanity's perception of its place in the cosmos was overturned. With all the human drama and scientific adventure that distinguished Latitude, GALILEO'S DAUGHTER is an unforgettable story.
Reviews
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blackdragonfly13

The book is quite interesting and I'm glad I read it. However, it is not - I repeat, NOT - about Galileo's daughter. It is, in fact, about Galileo himself, with a little sprinkling of information about his eldest daughter, as well as the occasional mention of his second daughter. I found that extremely disappointing, as I wanted to learn about Virginia Galilei herself, not all of Galileo's maths and science work. I would still recommend it, but I would make sure the recommendee knew what the book is REALLY about.

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Anonymous

Excellent story and narration - Thorough historical research by Dava Sobel - very good writer able to capture readers attention.

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