Sobel has, for the first time, translated the surviving letters that the great scientist's daughter, Suor Maria Celeste, wrote to him from the convent in which she spent most of her life. Charming, highly intelligent, playful, loving, and respectful, the letters both humanize this iconic scientist and bring to light a strong and unusual woman who was a source of strength and hope for her embattled father. Forty illustrations enhance this brilliant depiction of the restrictions politics, culture, and religion imposed on scientific inquiry in Late Renaissance Italy.
