Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love Test | Mid-Book Test - Hard

Dava Sobel
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Short Answer Questions

1. What was the surname of Galileo's lover and mother to his children?

2. Galileo suggested to Maria Celeste that she petition this Pope for assistance.

3. What was the name of Galileo's contact within the Vatican?

4. What was the name of the convent that housed two of Galileo's daughters?

5. What was the name of Galileo's host?

Short Essay Questions

1. Which scientist most influenced the work of Galileo? What was Galileo's intention with his experiments?

2. Who were the other two Galilei children? What was their place in the family?

3. What is the structure of the book? How many letters are there in total?

4. Discuss some of the complaints the Galileis had regarding various illnesses.

5. What was the major difference in the opportunities given to Vincenzio as opposed to those given to Maria Celeste and Arcangela?

6. What did Galileo send to Urban as soon as it was proper to do so? What was Galileo's hope in regards to a new relationship with an old friend?

7. Discuss Galileo's first trip to Rome to meet with Urban. Also discuss Galileo's friendship with Prince Cesi.

8. Discuss the eruption of the Thirty Years War, how it affected Rome, and who was involved.

9. Why do you think Maria Celeste had such a special bond with her father, aside from her position in the family?

10. What was the Grand Duke's plan to stop the plague from spreading even further?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Galileo suffered from several afflictions as he got older. Many of those afflictions were treated by Maria Celeste. Explain Galileo's afflictions. Which was the worst? Was any one of the afflictions fatal or terminal? Explain. How was Maria Celeste able to help her father? Did the remedies help? Where did Galileo spend his last days? What eventually killed Galileo?

Essay Topic 2

At a young age, Galileo showed amazing aptitude for math. What about math interested Galileo? What prompted Galileo to switch from math to astronomy? Was it a wise move? What were the opinions of those around Galileo regarding the change? What do you think might have happened if Galileo would have pursued a care in mathematics? How did the knowledge benefit Galileo in other ways?

Essay Topic 3

Galileo is best known for his work with the telescope. Create a diagram of the first telescope and outline how it worked. Was the concept entirely new or was it a refinement of an earlier work? Who was most impressed by the telescope? What did the discovery do for Galileo's career? Draw a second diagram of a modern telescope and note improvements over Galileo's model.

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