Galileo’s Daughter is Dava Sobel’s critically acclaimed follow-up to her international bestseller Longitude. Published in 1999, Galileo’s Daughter keeps much the same intriguing style of Longitude’s thought-provoking historical docu-drama pattern. This time around Sobel’s seventeenth century tale is based upon 124 surviving letters of the famous astronomer’s Galileo Galilei’s eldest daughter.
Science and Religion, Joined by Family
Suor Maria Celeste was born Virginia and only 13 when she was placed in a convent by her father. She took the named Suor Maria Celeste to reflect her father’s interest in the heavenly spheres. Galileo (1564 -1642) , too poor to afford to care for her, remained in touch with his beloved cloistered daughter for the rest of his life via numerous letters and visits.
Ironically, Galileo would go on to face a crushing struggle with the same Catholic doctrine that housed his loving and adoring daughter. In this story, her letters reflect the turmoil of Galileo’s battle with heresy accusations and ill-health, with gaps filled by Sobel’s research and narrative. If the controversy affected her view of him, she rarely showed it, for Galileo maintained that she was "a woman of exquisite mind, singular goodness, and most tenderly attached to me."
A Verbal Portrait of Renaissance Florence
Though no correspondence from Galileo survived to complete the familial dialogue, the reader hardly needs them to gather the loving, respectful and deeply caring spirit of their relationship. Galileo’s voice here would almost draw attention away from Suor Maria Celeste’s heart-felt and passionate writing. Her letters paint a vivid portrait of her own struggles as an impoverished nun with details of life in renaissance Italy sprinkled throughout. Originally in Italian, her letters are masterfully translated and warmly convey the very essence of her father’s pride and struggles as a scientist at a time when the discipline was truly in its infancy. Through Maria Celeste, Galileo’s passion and inner-strength appears.
More Than a Textbook
What makes Sobel’s books unique is how she transforms otherwise boring historical facts into an intricate tale of humanity and scientific adventure. Galileo’s Daughter is a prime example of her best work. Much of the factual content could easily be found in any Galileo biography, but no textbook portrays the history with such a human feel. At times, the reader could forget they are reading about life over 400 years ago, for the emotions and drama that unfolds in Sobel’s stories feel as real and familiar as modern-day life.
Galileo’s Daugther: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love by Dava Sobel, published in 1999 by Walker Publishing Company, USA.
