![]() ![]() However, the study of the heavens was not without trouble. Galileo's studies, which consisted of confirming the theories of Nicolaus Copernicus, opened new found worlds and were eventually responsible for his obtaining an appointment as the chief mathematician and philosopher to the Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1610. In 1609, Galileo performed one of his first experiments with a telescope in his garden at Padua. Sobel briefly recounts Galileo's tenure at both the Universities of Pisa and Padua. ![]() ![]() Because Virginia was illegitimate, she was considered to be "unmarriageable." Shortly after Virginia's 13th birthday, Galileo put the girl in the Convent of San Matteo in Arcetri, where Virginia, know known as Suor Maria Celeste, would spend the rest of her life in seclusion in poverty. Virginia Galilei was the eldest daughter of Galileo and Marina Gamba of Venice, born on August 13, 1600. For many years, experts and theorists assumed that Galileo's letters were being kept locked in the Vatican library, a vast collection that is only accessible to members of the Vatican and, with permission, certain academics. It is a mystery as to what happened to Galileo's letters to Maria Celeste. Sobel reveals that this first letter is one of the 124 letters that survived both father and daughter. GALILEO'S DAUGHTER by Dava Sobel begins with a letter written on from Suor Maria Celeste to her father, Galileo. ![]()
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