Dava Sobel: Galileo's Daughter

[Rigana]

I'm currently reading this book and wondered if anyone has some thoughts on it?

Amazon.com:

Everyone knows that Galileo Galilei dropped cannonballs off the leaning tower of Pisa, developed the first reliable telescope, and was convicted by the Inquisition for holding a heretical belief--that the earth revolved around the sun. But did you know he had a daughter? In Galileo's Daughter, Dava Sobel (author of the bestselling Longitude) tells the story of the famous scientist and his illegitimate daughter, Sister Maria Celeste. Sobel bases her book on 124 surviving letters to the scientist from the nun, whom Galileo described as "a woman of exquisite mind, singular goodness, and tenderly attached to me." Their loving correspondence revealed much about their world: the agonies of the bubonic plague, the hardships of monastic life, even Galileo's occasional forgetfulness ("The little basket, which I sent you recently with several pastries, is not mine, and therefore I wish you to return it to me").

I'm only 60 pages in, so I haven't made my mind up about this yet. I can only give a few first impressions:
I like, how the author quotes letters and publications in the book, it certainly adds to the experience, as do the many illustrations.
However, I have the feeling that this is more about Galileo himself than about his daughter. This isn't necessary a bad thing, just not what I expected.

 

[Jim Cantor]

Yeah. It's absolutely about Galileo. His scientific life and times, and the popes he dealt with. The "daughter" thing is just a hook to sell it by and a way to distinguish it from all the other stuff that's been written.

Still I enjoyed it. The family issues personalises Galieo Galilei in a way that he political fights never could. And Sobel's research is good, with plenty of new stuff I've never seen before.

It's not as good as "Longitude", but I'm glad I read it .

Jim

I'm currently reading this book and wondered if anyone has some thoughts on it?

Amazon.com:


I'm only 60 pages in, so I haven't made my mind up about this yet. I can only give a few first impressions:
I like, how the author quotes letters and publications in the book, it certainly adds to the experience, as do the many illustrations.
However, I have the feeling that this is more about Galileo himself than about his daughter. This isn't necessary a bad thing, just not what I expected.