In the book Galileo's Daughter, Deva Sobel describes, in a vivid and moving way, the personality of Galileo Galilei (1642 - 1564) - the most brilliant and daring scientist of his time - about his scientific discoveries, his faith and his painful struggle with the Catholic Church and its Inquisition * Kinneret Publishing, 2003, 341 pages , hard cover
From the back cover:
The nun Maria Celeste was the eldest of the three illegitimate children of Galileo Galilei. When she was thirteen-ten years old, her father gave her to a convent near Florence, where she chose the nickname "Celesta" - from the word "heavenly" - as a tribute to her father's profession, and lived there until her death at the age of 34. Maria Celeste was the only one of his children who reflected his genius , his diligence and sensitivity, and because of these qualities she became his confidante. The loving support that affected her father was his greatest source of strength throughout the most creative and stormy years of his life.
In the book Galileo's Daughter, Deva Sobel describes, in a vivid and moving way, the personality of Galileo Galilei (1642 - 1564) - the most brilliant and daring scientist of his time - about his scientific discoveries, his faith and his painful struggle with the Catholic Church and its Inquisition. The book sheds light on his daughter's character full of emotion and wisdom, whom Galileo described with the words "a woman with a perfect mind, good - a rare heart and love for me".
Deva Sobel weaves the story of the special relationship between the daughter and her father from the letters of the nun Maria Celeste, which she translated from Italian herself, and around her she paints in dramatic colors the world of politics, religion and culture of Florence, the Medici House and Papal Rome in the seventeenth-tenth century, the The humanistic upheaval of the time, the plague of the Word and the Thirty Years' War, and the man who tried to reconcile the sky he saw through his telescope and the sky of God as a believing Catholic.
Galileo's Daughter is an unforgettable and touching story that combines human drama with scientific adventure.
"An elegant historical story... Deva Sobel has the rare ability to unfold a story with clarity and perfect rhythm... a gem of a book."
New York Times
"A simple story, brilliantly done... measured prose, almost perfect and a wonderful action story. A unique book."
Washington Post Book World
Excerpt from Chapter 29: The Book of Life or a Prophet in His City
By Dava Sobel
While waiting in Siena for his recovery, Galileo sank from time to time into despair. In October he revealed to his daughter that he felt as if his name had been crossed off the list of life. His conviction at the hands of the Inquisition, which went so far in scorning him in response to his work, even according to the expectations he had already set for himself, stamped him with the label of an outcast even in his own eyes. In his most difficult moments he said despairingly, certain that he would never be able to restore his reputation to its former glory, that he would never publish the rest of his work. All his life he aroused envy and criticism, and suffered so many and so cruel blows that he saw himself as a magnet that attracted evil.
"If the blessed God wills, I hope the final decree will not delay your return any longer than we expected," nun Maria Celeste immediately replied cheerfully on October 15.
"But in the meantime, I enjoy hearing how passionate the Monsignor Archbishop's persistence is in his love for you and his support for you. Also, I am absolutely not afraid that, as you say, the number of lives will be erased, certainly not in most of the world and not in your country. On the contrary. From what I hear, it seems to me that even if it is possible that for a short time your influence was undermined and erased, your status has been restored and restored, and this surprises me, since I know very well that usually 'there is no prophet in his city'... There is no doubt, my father, that here in the monastery you are loved and appreciated more than ever; And therefore God must be blessed, since he is the main source of all these graces in which I consider my reward, and therefore I only want to show my gratitude for them, so that his majesty in heaven will continue to grant you more graces, my father, and also us, and above all it is important that he grant you health And an eternal blessing.”
All the words of the nun Maria Celeste regarding Galileo's position in the world arena were true. His former students still revered him and spoke throughout Europe condemning the injustice of his conviction. His supporters included René Descartes in the Netherlands, the astronomer Pierre Gassandy and the mathematicians Marine Mercer and Pierre de Ferme in France. The French ambassador in Rome, Francois de Noy, who was Galileo's student in Padua, led a campaign for his pardon in 1633, and as part of it he marched into Rome at the head of an extravagant parade of chariots drawn by horses wearing silver shoes and accompanied by squires dressed in gold-embroidered coats.
The people of the church also publicly admitted that Galileo had been wronged, although the protest of a few was as bold as the protest of the archbishop of Siena. In Venice, for example, Galileo could still count on the loyalty of his brother Fulgenzio Micanzio, the theologian of the Republic of Venice whom he had met during his years living in Padua. Micanzio had already survived several storms raised by the Pope. For example, in 1606, Pope Paul V imposed a boycott on Venice, effectively suspending the conduct of Catholic life in that country for a period of a whole year, a punishment for the republic's disrespecting his authority. Mikanzio stood up to his predecessor in the position, Galileo's good friend Brother Paolo Sarpi throughout that difficult period until Sarpi's death in 1623, after which he took his place. To this extent Micanzio now supported Galileo.
In the meantime, word of the remarkable affection that Archbishop Piccolomini showed towards Galileo spread outside the palace where he remained under his protection and reached the ears of his daughters in the convent of San Mateo in Arcitri. The monsignor often sent them gifts, including the mixed wine that all the nuns enjoyed, whether in a glass of wine or in the soup they ate. Thanks to the archbishop, Galileo was able to give the nun Maria Celeste indulgences that she had never seen or imagined, such as egg-shaped and cream-shaped mozzarella cheese blocks made from buffalo (buffalo) milk.
"My lord, I must inform you that I am a fool", she admitted in response to this promised gift, the biggest fool in this part of Italy, since, when you wrote to me that you were sending me seven buffalo 'eggs', I thought they were really eggs and planned to fry them into a huge omelette. I was convinced that these eggs would really be as beer, and by doing so I amused the nun Luisa, who laughed loudly and for a long time at my stupidity."
And hence she used the play on words and called herself bufala, a word that has a double meaning - both a fool and the female buffalo. When she found out in the next letter, "My gross mistake about the buffalo eggs was open and known to Monsignor the Archbishop, I could not help but blush for shame, and yet I was glad to have given you reason to laugh and be cheerful, for that is what so often prompts me to write to you about silly things."
Ten months of being out of touch with her father passed, and all the while she continued to faithfully document for him every subject that might be of interest even when her headaches and toothaches forced her to cut short. "Mr. Rondinelli," she reported in mid-October (1633), "has not visited here for two weeks because he is drowning his sorrow, so that I died, with the little wine he put in the two small casks that were spoiled and cause him great sorrow."
Although Galileo never left the grounds of the palace, the archbishop assisted him in his personal affairs, and allowed the nun Maria Celeste to request special items according to her faults. "I have always wanted to know how to bake these Sienna cakes that everyone raves about: now the approaching 'All Saints Day' (November 1st) will provide you with an hour of fitness, Father, to allow me to see them. I don't say 'taste' them so as not to sound greedy. You are also obliged, (because you promised me) to send me the linen thread of a bright reddish color which I want to use to make a Christmas present for Galileo, which I like very much because Mr. Jerry tells me that the boy not only bears his grandfather's name, but also inherits his character .”
"She also begged Galileo to write "two lines" to his always concerned doctor, Giovanni Ronconi, whom she often met in those days at the clinic. The nun Maria Celeste used to summon the doctor Ronconi or one of his colleagues whenever it seemed that some illness was too serious for her to treat on her own.
'The sick can lie on sacks full of straw and rest their heads on feather pillows, and those who need woolen socks and a mattress may use them (Santa Clara Laws, Chapter Eight).
Although the danger of this had passed, five nuns fell into bed due to fever and constant weakness.
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Skipping towards the end of the chapter
In Galileo's scientific correspondence in the fall of 1633, he circulated among his friends any proofs concerning the strength of materials. With their permission and for their pleasure, he attached some of their additions and suggestions to the text of the second day of "Two New Sciences". Galileo would later judge that "Two New Sciences" surpasses any book I have published so far, because its pages "stored within them findings that in my view are the most important findings of all my research." According to his judgment, therefore, his conclusions on motion and resistance to motion surpassed all his astronomical discoveries that immortalized his name. Galileo must have prided himself on being the first to build a telescope worthy of his name and aimed at the heavens. But he believed that the height of his genius lies in his ability to observe the world in front of him, understand the behavior of its components and describe it in terms of mathematical relationships."
(Footnote: Subsequent generations completely agreed with Galileo's assessment of his virtues. As Albert Einstein commented: "Arguments arrived at only by logical means are completely empty of content as far as reality is concerned. Because Galileo understood this, and especially because he repeated the idea over and over and introduced it to the world The scientific, is the father of modern physics - in fact of all modern science."
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While working on the discourse of the beginning of "Two New Scientists", Galileo also wrote a play. He sent it to the nun Maria Celeste so that the nuns would probably perform an ovation in honor of Her Excellency Mrs. Caterina Nicolini, the wife of the Tuscan ambassador who was still determined to visit the convent and was expecting a program of entertainment. Unfortunately, nothing survives of Galileo's religious plays, apart from their mention in his daughter's eulogies. "The play that was received from you", she writes after reading the first act, "is nothing but wonderful".
In Rome, the ambassador Niccolini told Urban VIII that Galileo had proved in Siena that he was an exemplary prisoner, as he had shown obedience to the Pope and the Inquisition. Urbanus weighed this claim against a conspiracy presented to him by priests in Siena against Archbishop Piccolomini. It seems that the archbishop often invited many scholars to dine at his table, and mainly to enrich the peppered and learned conversation, which was so beneficial to the peace of mind of Mr. Galileo. In other words, instead of treating Galileo like a prisoner who confessed to heresy, Piccolomini pampered him and treated him like a guest of honor. "The archbishop," an anonymous source reported to the authorities in Rome, "told many that the Inquisition condemned Galileo unjustly, that he is the first person in the world, that he will live forever in his writings, even if they are forbidden, and that the best modern minds are his followers. And since such seeds as the archbishop's seed may bear harmful fruit, I hereby report it.”
