| Galileo's Daughter |
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Galileo’s Daughter is a book by Dava Sobel . Galileo’s Daughter takes place between the 16th and the 17th century in the center of Italy. Galileo Galilee wants his books published but is being stopped by the Church. Although Galileo is a devote Christian his ideas are observed as radical and against the bible’s ideals. For instance, it was believed at that time that the earth was the center of the universe. Galileo thought differently. He believed in the idea that the Sun was the true center and that everything revolved around it. This belief got him in trouble and led to the ban on his book. However this ban was short lived in its power because soon the book found its way out of Italy and was published in countries that did not follow the Pope’s order. Such as Germany and Denmark. Another important part of Galileo’s Daughter is the relationship between Galileo and his daughter Suor Marie Celeste, a nun at the local Convent of San Matteo. In the book, there are many letters from Marie to her father that were recovered in Galileo’s dwellings. Unfortunately, all the letters from Galileo to Marie have disappeared and were not able to make it into this book. The letters from Marie always seemed to have a motherly worrying tone about them. Reminding Galileo to pray more often, try new preventatives from the plague, and pestering him to support her needs. However, along with that voice, she also gave him incredible respect. Always calling him things like, sire, sir, Most Beloved Lord father and other complimentary titles. These titles show her great loyalty to her father and her love for him. These letters between her and her father were not just to keep in contact. Marie had other purposes besides her devotion to her father to send these letters. One reason for the need was her own personal interest in the science that Galileo was investigating. She would constantly ask questions about his progress and often offer her own two cents on the issue wherever it was needed. The second reason for the need of contact was that it was her connection to the outside world. Living in the Convent of San Matteo, Marie was very locked out from the world. So these letters were her major connection. She would constantly ask for news of the “outside world” and interesting events occurring in Galileo’s life at that time. Both these reasons together kept this letter contact up, therefore giving historians today a much better knowledge on the adventures of Galileo Galilee. Another interesting part of this book is the actual science itself. Dava gives the reader a good amount of detail about Galileo’s works in the past. Not only was Galileo famous for his promotion of Copernicus, and his theory that the Earth revolves around the sun. Galileo was also known for his investigation on sunspots addressed in the Sunspot Letters. In this publication, Galileo theorizes that sunspots don’t just appear randomly and move about the surface; rather they are always on one spot on the sun and because of either the orbiting of the Earth, or the revolving of the Sun it just appears that they are stationary. However, Galileo’s advancements in science were not restricted to just these two theories. He also improved the telescope vastly, discovered moons on Jupiter, improved nautical compasses and developed a rudimentary thermometer. Due to all these discoveries Galileo was able to build some public support from the crowds he had lost with his blasphemous theory of a Sun centered system. |
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