Galileo’s Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love by Dava Sobel is a reminder that the catholic church is mean-spirited and unenlightened. The primary content is about Galileo’s discoveries and writings, from crafting the telescope to supporting Copernicus’ heliocentric cosmology. Since logic supported a sun-centered universe, this was seen as heresy and Galileo was condemned by the church. The pope
refused to limit his omnipotent god to logical consistency.”
This is the perfect illustration of how the church is not logical. Oh, right, it’s based on faith and the bible.
The secondary content is about Galileo’s relationship with his daughter. Being illegitimate, there were few prospects for Galileo’s 3 children. He arranged for his daughters to enter the nunnery at age 13. Virginia became Suor Maria Celeste upon becoming a nun and she regularly corresponded with her father. The book contains the 124 letters she wrote to him but none of Galileo’s responses survived. The letters have Maria Celeste asking for money for the monastery or for her brother, daily descriptions of what life was like, and support for her father’s work.
Maria Celeste demonstrated herself to be a bright woman, probably inheriting a great mind from her father. Unfortunately there weren’t venues for women in the 1600s to excel and be recognized.
