Galileo by Mitch Stokes

I have always found the relationship between science (natural science specifically) and religion to be intertwined – to study natural science is to study God’s Creation and explore it in wonder. A statement like that in today’s world is shocking to most people, and this was apparently also true during European Renaissance times in the early 1600’s, as we see in Galileo, a biography of Galileo Galilei’s life. Mitch Stokes’ Galileo, from the Christian Encounters series, gives up a beautiful portrait of the life of Galileo, whom we find to be a devout Christian whose goal was never to undermine the authority of the church, but to try to determine the way the universe worked through mathematics, while refuting theories of the time of natural philosophy [science], mainly Aristotelian.

The book starts with Galileo’s early life, during which we learn that he was accomplished at many musical instruments, had a love for literature and writing and when he did go to school, to study medicine, he secretly eavesdropped on mathematical lecturers and studied math in secret. The book goes on to cover the remainder of his life, and even into the legacy he left behind in such a way that it feels as if you are reading a novel about a fictional character. Stokes, however, does not make up his information, which he validates with numerous references throughout the novel (one can immediately tell that Stokes is an academic writer who knows how to document his thorough research).

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Galileo and enjoyed Stokes’ writing style. I also loved how different philosophies, specifically Aristotelian, and mathematical theories were explained in order to understand where Galileo was coming from. The direct quotes from letters written by or about Galileo were also very intriguing – one can tell that he was either well loved or well disliked. I also found the peak into the socio-cultural and political aspects of the Renaissance and Catholic Italy extremely interesting. Finally, it is always inspiring to me to read how people know Scripture so well they can reference any particular verse or passage, and this is not strictly speaking in regards to Galileo – many of his counterparts really knew their Scriptures. Though this is only subtly mentioned on a few scattered occurrences in the novel, I found it to be motivating to try to learn the Scripture so thoroughly so as to defend or refute a theory by recalling what I have read and studied and applying that knowledge to the argument, as Galileo and so many of his counterparts did.

I would recommend this book for those who have an interest and/or love in science, Renaissance history and/or exploration. I plan on saving this book for my children to study when they are of an appropriate age to understand the material (not recommended for toddlers).

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”