[link|http://www.amazon.com/Galileos-Daughter-Historical-Memoir-Science/dp/0140280553/sr=8-1/qid=1160533999/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-4727827-1849752?ie=UTF8|Amazon]:

This is a very interesting book, well written, and an easy read. The chapters are very short (usually ~ 10 pages), so it's an ideal book to read before going to sleep. I learned a lot from it, but while it's clear that she loves the topic, Sobel's presentation seemed to me to be too cool and too respectful of the times. There were many times when I wanted to reach into the pages and shake the characters and say, "Why are you letting them do this to you?!" Sobel addresses these issues to some extent, but I would have liked her to spend more on this. Unfortunately, since it happened ~ 400 years ago, having contemporary sources is of course very difficult.

Maybe that's the mark of a good historical biographer, but it was dissatifying to me and not quite what I was expecting based on the glowing reviews.

It's a good read.

Cheers,
Scott.