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

Summary (from the publisher): 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." 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." 

The son of a musician, Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) tried at first to enter a monastery before engaging the skills that made him the foremost scientist of his day. Though he never left Italy, his inventions and discoveries were heralded around the world. Most sensationally, his telescopes allowed him to reveal a new reality in the heavens and to reinforce 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. 

Of Galileo's three illegitimate children, the eldest best mirrored his own brilliance, industry, and sensibility, and by virtue of these qualities became his confidante. Born Virginia in 1600, she was thirteen when Galileo placed her in a convent near him in Florence, where she took the most appropriate name of Suor Maria Celeste. Her loving support, which Galileo repaid in kind, proved to be her father's greatest source of strength throughout his most productive and tumultuous years. Her presence, through letters which Sobel has translated from their original 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 grand public life and Maria Celeste's sequestered world, Sobel illuminates the Florence of the Medicis and the papal court in Rome during the pivotal era when humanity's perception of its place in the cosmos was being overturned. In that same time, while the bubonic plague wreaked its terrible devastation and the Thirty Years' War tipped fortunes across Europe, one man sought to reconcile the Heaven he revered as a good Catholic with the heavens he revealed through his telescope. 

With all the human drama and scientific adventure that distinguished Longitude, Galileo's Daughter is an unforgettable story. 

Review: This fascinating book is a joint biography of Galileo Galilei and his oldest daughter, Suor Maria Celeste. Of his three illegitimate children, it was his oldest daughter who most closely mirrored Galileo's brilliance and from within the confines of her convent, remained his confidante all of her life. From their frequent correspondence, 124 letters written by Suor Maria Celeste survive. Sobel has translated her words in this work, which highlight the daughter's devotion and care for her father and reveal the very close and loving relationship they shared. 

Galileo was, of course, the foremost scientist of his day. In particular, his telescopes caused a stir and led to his writings in favor of the Earth moving around the sun, for which he was found guilty of heresy by the Holy Office of the Inquisition and sentenced to house arrest in his final years. Galileo never married but all three of his children were "born of his long illicit liaison with the beautiful Marina Gamba of Venice" (4). Because of the circumstances of their birth, his two daughters' prospects were limited and Galileo arranged for both to enter a convent. Livia, who became known as Suor Arcangela, seems to have been troubled by mental and physical health complaints and little is known about her other than what is revealed through her sister's letters. The youngest, their brother Vincenzio, was legitimized so he could be his father's heir but seems to have not shared his father's scientific talent. 

The preserved letters reveal so many poignant details about the private life of Galileo and his daughter. In them she admonishes him to care for his health, asks for copies of his letters and writings so that she might read about his work, and describes her hardships and illnesses. Throughout her life, Suor Maria Celeste was constantly sending her father small favors such as candies and treats she handmade, sewing him table linens, and repairing the collars that appear in all his formal portraits. This all on top of the heavy workload she carried in the convent. In turn, Galileo also granted her requests for funds, sent her food and favors, visited her as much as possible, and wrote her frequently in turn. 

Severely weakened in body and spirits after the trial that found him guilty of heresy, Galileo was dealt a further blow when Suor Maria Celeste died young, likely of dysentery. Galileo remained in house arrest until his death. Disappointingly, the author shares few details about the fates of Suor Arcangela and Vincenzio and no further mention is made of the children's mother either. Of course the focus was not on these figures and perhaps few additional details are known, but I would have appreciated learning more about their final years. 

Thanks to the preserved letters, Suor Maria Celeste's words provide a human and endearing quality despite the years and the distance that separate the modern reader from the great figure of Galileo. History has been kind to him, not only upholding his scientific discoveries, but recognizing the unjust nature of his trial and his kind heart towards his family and friends to whom he was forever generous. Likewise, her father's prominence has also preserved the memory of a ever faithful nun, who was smart, devoted, hard working, and a much beloved daughter until her death. 

Stars: 4