In light of recent posts about the moon, the heavens, and the telescope I find it quite fitting that on this date in 1564 Galileo Galilei, famed Italian scientist, astromomer, and inventor of the first relable telescope, was born. If you haven’t read Galileo’s Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love then you need to. In this book Dava Sobel puts together a fascinating memoir of the life of Galileo Galilei pieced together from 124 letters from his daughter, Sister Maria Celeste. Galileo was persecuted by the church for his “heretical” belief that the earth revolved around the sun and this book not only shows the loving relationship that he has with his daughter but also speaks to the trouble that Galileo had reconciling his devout faith with the scientific facts that he was discovering about the universe. This is one of the best biographies that I have ever read and it not only inspired me because of Galileo’s quest for knowledge of the heavens but also reaffirmed the idea of being grounded in one’s beliefs. A fascinating book through and through with a very satisfying conclusion. Read it.

On a slightly related note, check out the ‘comments’ section of the Valentine Moon post to see Abby’s reference to a fun, cheesy, blast-from-the-past PBS astronomy show.