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Summary: Science, Faith and Love
Review: Before I started listening to this book I knew the story of this man, this scientist and his fate. After all, he was a legend of all times. Love... I never thought about it. I did not know whether he was married and how many children he had. I did not know and maybe did not care of his family and his personal life. Now I do. This book changed it all. Dava Sobel told me the story I did not know and Fritz Weaver read it with such an art.
A biography recreated from letters between father and the daughter. Many of these letters were missing, maybe destroyed, maybe kept in private collections. What a concept. This is a very good book full of knowledge and the heart. Thank you Dava Sobel and Fritz Weaver.
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Summary: Vibrant biography of Galileo
Review: Its not common to find a book with so many agles to approach its content. The state of science in the XVI century, the politics of the church on its ever lasting efforts to control the mind of its followers, the everyday life in a Franciscan convent of nuns, the thirst of knowledge of the commoner and obviously a very detailed biography of Galileo as scientist and family man.It must be noted that all the letters which Galileo wrote to his daughter are lost, so the book is built following those written by Sor Maria Celeste to her father. Indeed they reveal the close nature of their relationship, which in any case makes you wonder why on earth, if he was such a "good" father" he buried his daugther in a convent. On the other hand, the letters will not reveal much of his scientific side since almost all of them address menial issues, between them. Oddly enough, this could have been as good as it is without dwelling on this relationship. but then it would have been just another Galileo biography. However, with this book the reader feels like no stone is left unturned to show us how this epic clash of science vs the status quo of the church developed.
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Summary: Takes you right back
Review: This book takes you right back to the dark ages. In fact, while I read this book, I became suspicious about the earth being a sphere myself. A lot of illustrations. A lot of references, without getting tedious. Superb.
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Summary: Great book about the people behind scientific revolution
Review: This is a very interesting book and an easy read for people who are interested in the historic times and challenges around a major scientific advancement. The book keys on Galileo's close relationship with his daughter, as very well shown through her letters. At the same time, it explains Galileo's challenges with the Church, government and thinking of the times. I was very impressed with the book and thoroughly enjoyed it.
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Summary: Galileo's Daughter
Review: The Dava Sobel's book, Galileo's Daughter, I borrowed from the library. I read it, liked it, thought it would be good to have in my own library, so I bought it. It was used and in very good condition.
It arrived in two weeks.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: This book saddened me. I wrote a doctoral dissertation many years ago about Scandinavian women writers in the late 1800's. One of the points I discussed was how hard it was for these women to be heard and accepted as authors. Too often they were overshadowed by the male authors of the day, sometimes justifiably so, sometimes not. Sobel's book perpetuates the stereotype of the woman who can only be viewed through the lens of the great men around her. Granted, this was a VERY great man who dominated and directed her life. But, there is so much the author could have done to bring Galileo's daughter into clearer focus. How about a deeper discussion of the role women played in the society of the day? More on convent life and why women chose and were forced to choose this type of life? Quote more from the letters? All that came through for me was a portrait of an almost servile, fawning daughter. Was this typical of the day? Are there other examples of women's letters from the period? As I found in Longitude, Sobel is better at presenting the science than making the characters human and immediate. I look forward to another book that would truly explore Galileo's forgotten daughter.
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Summary: Much More Than Just a Biography
Review: I consider myself fortunate to have received the book Galileo's Daughter as a gift, becausI don't think that I would have purchased in on my own. Based on the title and cover one maassume that the book is just a biography, which it is. But it is so much more. It documents thsetting in which modern science was born.
Today, for the most part people are comfortable with science and the many ways it make our lives safer and more comfortable. However, during Galileo's lifetime it took great courage to seek the truth through scientific means. The book documents what it meant to live in a society that was controlled completely by the Church. To be an independent thinker meant putting your entire world at risk. This book makes one realize that only in the last few hundred years have people been able to study how nature works. This book illustrates that science can arrive at different conclusions than religion or philosophy about the world around us.
The book inspired me to explore how mankind has arrived at our current way of thinking about uncertainty, opportunity and our place in nature. In other words about the meaning of life and what is our purpose. It is amazing how much we accept as true about nature and the meaning of life just because someone else said that the way it is. This book inspired me to write my book "The Meaning of Life: If life is a Journey You Need Good Directions"
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Summary: HISTORY COMES TO LIFE!
Review: Once again we are presented with a story that should be mandatory in every school room. Gailelo's Daughter's not only made for fascinating reading, it brought out the human side of the great man; his familial relationships and his dedication to both church and science. During the Inquisition, I felt not only a reader, but a spectator in the most unjust trial of the church times.
Galileo's Daughter is not just a great contribution to the world of history through the reader's eyes, it is a wonderful discussion novel that stays with the reader long after the book is closed.
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Summary: Tearing Down the Castle of Ignornace
Review: Before reading this book I had heard many people with their own opinions on Galileo and how the "Church destroyed him, and what they did was wrong....". I heard fanciful stories about how he lived a frightful, dangerous life always going against the Church and that he was against the Holy Bible.
This is the Castle of Ignornace that anti-Catholics preach. Reading this book broke dow the ignornace that I had about the "Galileo incident" in history. Sobel truely brings out the true story, not the make believe fairy-tale of Protestants, in a very non-denominational manner, using both city records and the letters from Galileo's daughter, a nun Suor Maria Celeste, to describe Galileo's life.
Galileo lived a very good Catholic life, swearing that he'd never turn away from the Holy Church, Her teachings, or Holy Scripture. He never did, he sent his two daughters to both be nuns in the convent of San Matteo in Itlay. This book describes Galileo's struggle to publish his books "Dilogue" and "Two New Sciences". His perils to secure an "imprimatur" for the book, and then defending it's right against PARTICULAR PEOPLE WITHIN THE CHURCH, though (as Sobel dirctly points out against anti-Catholics) not the Church itself. The true story through an UNBIAS and NON-DENOMINATIONAL historical account is finally revealed! It truly is a biography of a life of intense science, love, and devoted faith.
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Summary: Lively historical rendering of life of Galileo.
Review: Everything I knew about Galileo prior to reading this book, I learned in grade school. "He's the guy who said the earth revolved around the sun, and got all sorts of grief about it from the Church." That was about the extent of my knowledge.
I picked this book up, because I heard a good review of it on NPR. Of course, you usually hear tons of good reviews on NPR, but this one sounded kind of interesting. Dava Sobel collected all the letters that Galileo's daughter sent to him over the years and used them to create a lively history about one of the greatest scientists in our history.
I wasn't sure what to expect here, historical biography or historical collection of letters. Instead, Sobel digs up all the interesting stuff so that you feel you're reading some juicy piece of fiction.
You get all the squabbles with the church, the jealous wannabe's who were so afraid of Galileo that they trashed everything he wrote, and Galileo himself, who never backed down from an argument and loved trashing his opponents right back.
I really love the care taken when these folks wrote letters. They truly believed in the rules and beauty of language. When you see letters like this, it makes you understand why maintaining the grammar of language is so important. Sure, we have text messenging and emoticons, but these people made beautiful, exquisite poems out of normal mail conversations.
This book takes you right back to the 1600's, with the Inquisition, the Plague and all that other good stuff. This is a great read.
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