Rating: 
Summary: A noble effort
Review: I admire the author for attempting this work, based upon only one side of a correspondence between father and daughter. The daughter's life was rather mundane, as her letters revealed. The father's life was much more interesing, but we don't have his letters to illuminate, and are therefore left with the standard biographical details. Given the framework within which the author was required to work, the results are good but, I think, might have been better.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Insight
Review: a very clever method of gaining insight into galileo's life as well as the goings-on during that era. particularly insightful regarding the catholic church--Pope JP2 does have some apologizing to do for the Church--
Rating: 
Summary: A Masterful and Moving Account
Review: Sobel creates a wonderful picture of Galileo's life and his relationship with his children, specifically his daughter, Suor Marie Celeste. The letters from SMC to her father are beautifully poetic, even when descrbing mundane events or day to day life. I found that as I read the book I grew to know both Galileo and Suor Marie Celeste infinitely better, and by the end, was saddened almost as if by the loss of a dear friend. It is a rare and powerful work that can move the reader in such a way and create such a captivating world. Cheers to Sobel for an excellent and heartfelt piece of work.
Rating: 
Summary: Church-1, Galileo-0
Review: Galileo never married the mother of his 3 children. His daughters were considered unmarriagable because of their illegitimacy, so Galileo installed them into a convent. His eldest daughter had a keen intellect and a great affection for her father, and they corresponded for many years. Unfortunately, Galileo's letters to his daughter were destroyed. The cloistered daughter's letters to her father consisted largely of pleas for goods and money, as the convent was impoverished. Not much of interest there. Galileo's Daughter chronicles the scientist's great discoveries and inventions. He was condemned by the Catholic church for heresy. That's all the book is about (and you already knew that). The rest of it is pretty long and boring.
Rating: 
Summary: More is Less
Review: Longitude by Dava Sobel was an unexpected pleasure and treasure. A small book, it brings to life a series of little known events leading to the discovery of a practical method of computing longitude. A topic few of us would have guessed we wanted to know more about.Galileo's Daughter, although technically extremely well written, unfortunately does not fulfill the promise of this fine author's previous book. This book seems to be overblown by comparison; and is comprised of a seemingly disjointed array of essays on Galileo; "glued" together by epistles written by his convented daughter. Where Longitude delights with the wonder of newfound knowledge and information, Galileo's Daughter buries much of what interests us about the subject, Galileo, in an endless progression of trivia and minutia. The effect, unfotunately, is to take a topic about which we wish to know more, and make us wish we didn't. One further note. The author has subtitled the book: "A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love", but I found myself wondering where the "love" really was. Although Galileo's daughter seemingly idolizes her father in the letter's she regularly pens to him, I found myself asking if the author was perhaps missing a note of sarcasm in what frequently end up to be little more than pleas for funds and favors. Perhaps it is only my own cynicism (for the author surely does not call attention to this issue) but I detected a constant thread of emotion little akin to love in this daughter's correspondence with her father. And considering the circumstances of her cloistering, I wouldn't begrudge her these feelings for a moment.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating in every aspect
Review: Take time to read past the few negative reviews to get a true sense of what this book truly holds in store for you. Of course it's not about Galileo's Daughter - it's a story of Galileo and the times in which he lived, with personal detail brought to life through the words of his daughter's letters. I was fascinated by the elegant use of language at the time, the details on food and travel and medical practices, the trials and tribulations of a truly grand scientist as he tries to come to grips with the discontinuities that his own sceintific explorations are causing in his strongly held catholic beliefs. Certainly my perspective on this book is colored by the fact that I've never read anything on Galileo before. From that perspective, I will assure you that this book is a fascinating, elegant and emotional portrait of a man of great talent and firey, yet reflective, spirit. You'll laugh to read how he verbally slayed his opponents in scientific debates, you'll have tears in your eyes when you read the words he writes mourning the death of his daughter, you'll wonder at the ingenuity of the man who had to invent his tools (telescope, methods of telling time and measuring distance) before he could go on to make his discoveries and finally, you'll wince at the convoluted ways he comes up with to try and express his ideas without getting in trouble with the church - and how he gets in trouble anyway.
Rating:
Summary: Galileo's Daughter?
Review: This book was a disappointment. After all of the press, I was anxious to learn more about Suor Maria Celeste, her life and (from her perspective) Galileo. While the letters are beautifully written and offer a limited insight into her life, they are not integrated well into the story. Don't be mistaken, the story here is about Galileo alone and,while fascinating, the read is dull. Those interested in the factual detail of Galileo's amazing life will be satisfied. Those of us that bought the book based on the premise of the title and the misleading reviews will feel shortchanged.
Rating:
Summary: Gallileo's Daughter
Review: If you are looking for an entertaining, can't put the book down read, pass this one up. It is a very intelligent book and written very well, but reads like a glamorized college textbook. My habit is to devour books within 2-3 days no matter the length. This one took me 2 weeks. And I finished it only because I am tenatous about finishing what I start. I admit it was fascinating in making Gallileo a fleshed out human being and explaining him within a personal, scientific and historical context, but the time and effort spent on fleshing out his daughter in the same way was minimal. Shame on the author, editor and publisher for misleading readers. I borrowed this book, but if I had spent money to purchase it I would have felt completely cheated. Gallileo's daughter, at best, plays only a minimal role. This is a chronologically organized book about Gallileo with letters from his daughter interspersed to break up his scientific life. I at least expected the last chapter to deal mostly with her, but was once again disappointed. She was completely dropped from the book except at the very end when the suggestion that her coffin was entombed with his was made....Get real. There wasn't supporting documentation or oral legend about that one. For all we know it could have been his last love interest. For a fascinating read on Gallileo and his theories--get the book. For an insightful read into the life of a nun or daughter of a famous scientist in that historical period get ready for disappointment. This book could have been distilled down to less than 40 pages.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Know Much About Astronomy
Review: It is refreshing to read a work of scientific history told, by virtue of the extant documents, from the viewpoint of a woman. "Gallileo's Daughter," welcomes us to make assumptions about the actual role Sister Marie Celeste played in the fascinating intellectual world in which her father lived. If nothing else, this book made me realize that I don't know spit about astronomy, and I am looking for a good general text to start making up for this failing. To my mind, any book that piques my curiosity and leads to new lessons is a very good book indeed.
Rating:
Summary: Knowing Galileo's life by his daugther's letters
Review: I picked up this book at an airport on my way to visit my family. I had always been intrigued by Galileo and his problems with the church and with the book's front cover description, I thought this book would be a good read. I wasn't dissappointed. This book makes an introduction that the story will be a "historical memoir of science, faith and love." The only thing I take exception with is the scientific life of Galileo. The book somewhat glossed over his scientific discoveries, but did an outstanding job detailing what was going on with Galileo personally. The author of this book uses letters written from Galileo's daughter to reconstruct how Galileo lived. His daughter had entered the monastery at a very early age and wrote her father very frequently. Not only do the letters give us a great insight into what was going on the lives of Galileo, but it is a great reflection on how the people lived in times of strict religious rule and how this rule dealt with a variety of problems including Martin Luther, other heretics and the black plague. The story about Galileo's meeting with the Inquisition was also an eye-opener. I was always under the impression that Galileo held steadfast about his idea of a helio-centric solar system, but as you will find this wasn't the case. I also couldn't help thinking, as I was reading this book, that the events of Galileo are being duplicated in our lives today. Although we live in a world where people's ideas won't lead to house imprisonment, torture, or even death, I'd love to be around in 100 years to read "Darwin's daughter."
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