Reading Galileo with Down to a Science

Miss C and I had a fine time last night at our first book club discussion with Down to a Science. This San Francisco group sponsors lectures by scientists and also has a monthly science book discussion. Last night we joined in the discussion of Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel.

Miss C and I both really enjoyed the book but she was greatly frustrated with the Catholic Church's censorship of Galileo.

In Galileo's insistence that science is objective and subject to experimentation, that it must be kept separate from matters of faith, and that the Bible should not be interpreted literally, we saw direct parallels with current, ongoing attacks by creationists and intelligent design promoters on the science of evolution. We felt sad that 400 years later, so many still do not understand that by definition, religion cannot be science, and vice versa. There is no place for "belief" in science. We also find it sad that today, non-scientists in general still do not understand the scientific definitions of terms like "theory," "fact," and "hypothesis," yet discuss them as if they do -- just as in Galileo's time. And yet another parallel is that they discuss scientific issues without actually having read the scientific works, again, just as some (but not all) of the Inquisitors did with Galileo's work.

Something that was new to us was learning how religious Galileo really was. His close relationship with one of his illegitimate daughters, a cloistered nun with the order of St. Clare, was woven throughout this book to show us both the depth of his faith and the personal side of the man. The book succeeded greatly in both of these goals.

It also showed what a gifted person he was, not only in his great intellectual strengths, but in his extreme drive to discover, to study, to write, to be in the thick of the exchange of scientific ideas, whatever the cost, and despite frequent physical infirmity on his part. How difficult it must have been for him to "suffer the fools" around him in a scientific sense, while holding the deepest reverence for God and his religion. This seems yet another indication of his greatness -- the ability to tolerate such extreme cognitive dissonance.

Finally, this book painted a very complex picture of Galileo, his science, his religion, and his times, taking Miss C far beyond the more simplified version of his story she had known before. Altogether, this was a very worthwhile study and the discussion with other interested adults really enhanced it.