Galileo: Scientific Crusader, Father

I just finished reading Galileo’s Daughter by Dava Sobel. I seem to be on a bit of a scientific history kick this year, since my last book review was along similar lines. In any case, I thoroughly enjoyed this book as well. Despite the title, the book does not truly focus on Galileo’s daughter, Suor Marie Celeste, because, well, she was a nun in the rather ascetic order of the Poor Clares, and her day to day life was probably not that different than most other nuns. What made her life unique was being the eldest, and favorite, child of Galileo. Over the years, she maintained a very lively correspondence with her father, and despite being cloistered, became the administrator of her father’s affairs during the course of his prolonged trial in Rome. 

Though Galileo’s letters to S. Marie Celeste are missing, her letters to him allow Sobel to enhance her presentation of the life of Galileo by revealing the relationship he had with his daughter. In additon, it gives an interesting look at S. Marie Celeste’s opinions, as a person with a great deal of religious devotion, of her father’s unintentionally antagonistic relationship with the church. She understood her father’s religious beliefs better than anyone else, and never once believed the Church authorities in Rome were correct to chastise her father as harshly as they eventually did. There is some irony in the fact that Galileo was for many years almost single-handedly supporting an entire convent, and yet earned the enmity of the Pope. (On the other hand, there is a bit of evidence in the book’s descriptions of Urban VIII that indicate he was perhaps, in the end, a wee bit paranoid.)

In any case, the result is an original biography that is anything but dry, and avoids framing Galileo’s life as a black and white, science vs. religion argument. It gives the reader a definite feeling for how important both aspects were to Galileo’s life, which, to me, only highlights how ridiculous the argument that the two must oppose each other really is.

Which is not to say that Galileo didn’t have opinions about the argument even back then. See below for some of his choice thoughts on the matter, as expressed in his writings over many years. I’ve highlighted my favorite bits.