While I was doing the research for Longitude, I read a book about Galileo's work on timekeeping and longitude. On the occasion of the International Year of Astronomy, convened to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first telescopic observations of 1609, we spoke to Sobel about Galileo's complex and overlapping relationships with his family and with the Catholic Church, the latter of which would ultimately lead to his condemnation by the Holy Office of the Inquisition. Author Dava Sobel translated the correspondence from Italian into English, weaving the letters and other historical accounts into the unique portrait Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love (Walker, 1999). With Maria Celeste, apparently his most gifted child, Galileo carried on a long correspondence, from which 124 of her letters survive. The eldest of Galileo's children was his daughter Virginia, who took the name Suor Maria Celeste in the convent. The two young girls, whether by their illegitimate birth or Galileo's inability to provide a suitable dowry, were deemed unfit for marriage and placed in a convent together for life. Galileo had three children out of wedlock with Marina Gamba-two daughters and a son. The astronomical discoveries made by Galileo Galilei in the 17th century have secured his place in scientific lore, but a lesser known aspect of the Italian astronomer's life is his role as a father.
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