I ordered _Galileo's Daughter_ on a whim. Wow. It was really, really good. The story is the story of the life of Galileo, and especially of his relationship with his older daughter, who is a nun with the convent name of Maria Celeste. The time period featured here is not one that I've ever been especially interested in. Nor did I know anything about Galileo, (beyond that Indigo Girls song and a conspiracy theory that someone told me when I was a teenager, that the Church actually knew already that the earth went around the sun, they just weren't ready for the public to know) or think that it was a lack in my life not to, but this book was riveting. Sobel did a great job of keeping you interested with the narrative and the letters from Maria Celeste to her father, without neglecting contextual information about the politics and church doctrine of the time. This book transformed my understanding of this period of Italian history. The idea of being arrested, tortured, or even executed for disagreeing with church doctrine is chilling. If you are interested in science, history, or the relationship between church and state, then order _Galileo's Daughter_ right away. Dava Sobel also wrote a similar book which I plan to investigate: _Longitude:The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time_. Five stars.

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Family history interwoven with scientific theories being discovered and lots of religious politics. One of those books everyone tells you to read...and they are right!

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This book is a great combination of biography and memoir, and is told using a unique construction. The author has researched well the later life of Gallileo, and presents his story of experimentation, mathematics and presentation of Copernicus' earth-centric theory of the solar system and surrounding uproar in great detail, but interlaces those factual episodes with one half of a set of correspondence. She uses the surviving letters of his daughter to him during the latter half of his life to add to the dry facts the daily routine of his life and his concerns on more mundane things. Truly a unique combination of factual history and daily life.

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Absolutely top notch. Galileo's life history, in part told through decades of survivng letters from his daughter who was in a convent. These letters humanize the man who was a genius

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I read this book after viewing a PBS special about Galileo, his troubles with the church, and his daughter. I knew his daughter was a nun and to support your father when your own "boss" is against him was mighty brave. I enjoyed this book. Very in-depth or what others might call tedious. Good read.

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I greatly enjoyed listening to this audiobook as I drove. The book was a mixture of the letters written to Galileo by his daughter, Suor (Sister) Maria Celeste, and biographical information on the two of them. The final chapter was particularly touching, and quite unexpected.

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This is a thorough and well told history of the time and place as well as acomplation of the letters between a father and daughter. Science has advanced so much in the intevening years that we might forget the strong opposition to new ideas that were commonplace. I find books that have correspondence as part of the story so enlightening. These sweet leeters between a struggling scientist and his daughter confined to a convent show such love; very touching just from a family perspective.

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