Dava Sobel


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May 13, 2003		5:30-7:15 p.m.

Art & Culture, Current Events, and the Media

In her bestselling book, Galileo's Daughter, science writer Dava Sobel offers a compellingly vivid and personal account of Galileo Galilei, a near-mythic figure whom Albert Einstein called "the father of modern physics -- indeed of modern science altogether." Sobel spins her story from the perspective of Galileo's remarkable daughter, Virginia, a cloistered nun whose lively correspondence Sobel has translated in a new book, Letters to Father. Both works dramatically recolor our conceptions of Galileo, whose 17th-century clash with the Church marked a pivotal point when humanity's understanding of its place in the universe was radically overturned. Winner of the Christopher Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Award, Galileo's Daughter was named a Notable Book of the Year by The New York Times. The PBS program NOVA recently broadcasted a television documentary of Galileo's Daughter and previously produced a television documentary adaptation of Sobel's other international bestseller, Longitude.

Sobel

Praise for Sobel's work:

"Sobel is a master storyteller.... What she has done, with her choice of excerpts and her strong sense of story, is bring a great scientist to life."
- Alan Lightman, The New York Times Book Review

"Sobel seamlessly recounts history as wonderful narrative filled with outsized characters all marching toward a booming climax."
- The San Diego Union Tribune

"Galileo's Daughter is a remarkable work for the beauty of the writing and the clarity of the time and relationships it creates. Sobel pays close attention to fine detail, resulting in a work that feels real."
- The Denver Post

"Sobel does wonders clearly explaining scientific principles... [She] is a most original writer, with a reverence for history and storytelling."
- USA Today

"[Sobel] shows herself a virtuoso at encapsulating the history and the politics of science. Her descriptions of Galileo's ideas... are pithy, vivid, and intelligible."
- The Wall Street Journal

"Recapitulating the splendors of her best-seller Longitude, Sobel finds a new way to celebrate history's intellectual heroes."
- Newsweek