From the international best-selling author of Longitude, Galileo's Daughter is the fascinating story of the relationship between the great Italian scientist Galileo and his daughter, Virginia. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was the foremost scientist of his day, 'the father of modern physics - indeed of modern science altogether' in the words of Albert Einstein. Though he never left the Italy of his birth, his inventions and discoveries were heralded around the world. His telescopes allowed him to reveal a new reality in the heavens and to defend the astounding proposition that the Earth actually moves around the Sun. For this belief he faced the Holy Office of the Inquisition and was subsequently tried for heresy and threatened with torture. Galileo is brought to life here as never before - a man boldly compelled to explain the truths he discovered, human in his frailties and faith, devoted to family and, especially, to his daughter. Since there could be no hope of marriage for his illegitimate daughter Galileo placed her, aged thirteen, in a convent near him in Florence. She proved to be his greatest source of strength through his most difficult years. Through letters, contemporary writings, their voices are brought to vivid life and woven into Dava Sobel's compelling narrative. Galileo's Daughter tells the story of the most dramatic collision in history between science and religion. Dava Sobel illuminates an entire era, when the flamboyant Medici Grand Dukes became Galileo's patrons, when the Bubonic plague destroyed a generation and prayer was the most effective medicine, when one man fought to reconcile the Heaven he revered as a good Catholic with the heavens he revealed through his telescope. Galileo's Daughter is a rich and unforgettable story.

In the 1520s a Polish cleric named Nicolaus Copernicus developed a revolutionary theory which placed the Sun, not the Earth, at the centre of our universe. The secret existence of this manuscript tantalised scientists everywhere in Europe. Then in 1539 a young German mathematician, Rheticus, travelled to meet Copernicus in the hope of setting eyes on it. Dava Sobel tells the story of a new concept of the heavens, and how Rheticus persuaded the cautious Copernicus to allow him to take the precious but dangerous manuscript out into a world that it would change for ever. In her compelling style, Dava Sobel chronicles the history of the Copernican Revolution, relating the story of astronomy from Aristotle to the Middle Ages. And as she achieved with her international bestsellers Longitude and Galileo's Daughter, in A More Perfect Heaven, Sobel expands the bounds of popular science writing, giving us an unforgettable portrait of a major step forward in the human knowledge of our universe.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Dava Sobel returns with a captivating, little-known true story of women in science Before they even had the right to vote, a group of remarkable women were employed by Harvard College Observatory as ‘Human Computers’ to interpret the observations made via telescope by their male counterparts each night. The author of Longitude, Galileo’s Daughter and The Planets shines light on the hidden history of these extraordinary women who changed the burgeoning field of astronomy and our understanding of the stars and our place in the universe.

After the huge national and international success of ‘Longitude’ and ‘Gallileo’s Daughter’, Dava Sobel tells the human story of the nine planets of our solar system. This groundbreaking new work traces the ‘lives’ of each member of our solar family, from myth and history, astrology and science fiction, to the latest data from the modern era's robotic space probes. Whether revealing what hides behind Venus's cocoon of acid clouds, describing Neptune's complex beauty, or capturing first-hand the excitement at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory when the first pictures from Cassini at Saturn were recently beamed to earth, Dava Sobel's unique tour of the solar system is filled with fascination and beauty. In lyrical prose interspersed with poems by Tennyson, Blake and others, ‘The Planets’ gives a breathtaking, intimate view of those heavenly bodies that have captured the imagination since humanity’s first glimpse of the glittering night skies. Timely and timeless, ‘The Planets’ will engage and delight as it unravels the mysteries of the cosmos. It is of infinite relevance to this age in which new planets are being discovered elsewhere in our galaxy.

Ruth Pennistan is a farmer’s daughter, born and brought up in Kent. But her dark hair and eyes belie a forgotten ancestry – a Spanish gypsy grandmother and a passionate inheritance. Malory, the rather strait-laced guest of the family, falls head over heels in love, even whilst Ruth becomes trapped against her will in a drama of love and tragedy with another man. Vita Sackville-West’s first heroine echoes the passions and contradictions of the author's own life.

Most things you 'know' about science and religion are myths or half-truths that grew up in the last years of the nineteenth century and remain widespread today. The true history of science and religion is a human one. It's about the role of religion in inspiring, and strangling, science before the scientific revolution. It's about the sincere but eccentric faith and the quiet, creeping doubts of the most brilliant scientists in history - Galileo, Newton, Faraday, Darwin, Maxwell, Einstein. Above all it's about the question of what it means to be human and who gets to say - a question that is more urgent in the twenty-first century than ever before. From eighth-century Baghdad to the frontiers of AI today, via medieval Europe, nineteenth-century India and Soviet Russia, Magisteria sheds new light on this complex historical landscape. Rejecting the thesis that science and religion are inevitably at war, Nicholas Spencer illuminates a compelling and troubled relationship that has definitively shaped human history.

Anthony Trollope (1815-1882) was an English novelist of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, which revolves around the imaginary county of Barsetshire. "Marion Fay" is a novel of two love affairs, each involving an aristocrat and a commoner. Marion Fay is a Quaker's daughter courted by the Lord Hampstead. Meanwhile, his best friend, the impoverished George Roden, is in love with the Lord's noble sister. Differences of class and situation create a romantic drama in typical Trollope fashion.

Anthony Trollope (1815-1882) was an English novelist of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, which revolves around the imaginary county of Barsetshire. "Marion Fay" is a novel of two love affairs, each involving an aristocrat and a commoner. Marion Fay is a Quaker's daughter courted by the Lord Hampstead. Meanwhile, his best friend, the impoverished George Roden, is in love with the Lord's noble sister. Differences of class and situation create a romantic drama in typical Trollope fashion.

Anthony Trollope (1815 — 1882) was an English novelist of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, which revolves around the imaginary county of Barsetshire. "Marion Fay" is a novel of two love affairs, each involving an aristocrat and a commoner. Marion Fay is a Quaker's daughter courted by the Lord Hampstead. Meanwhile, his best friend, the impoverished George Roden, is in love with the Lord's noble sister. Differences of class and situation create a romantic drama in typical Trollope fashion.

Anthony Trollope (1815 — 1882) was an English novelist of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, which revolves around the imaginary county of Barsetshire. "Marion Fay" is a novel of two love affairs, each involving an aristocrat and a commoner. Marion Fay is a Quaker's daughter courted by the Lord Hampstead. Meanwhile, his best friend, the impoverished George Roden, is in love with the Lord's noble sister. Differences of class and situation create a romantic drama in typical Trollope fashion.

Anthony Trollope (1815 — 1882) was an English novelist of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, which revolves around the imaginary county of Barsetshire. "Marion Fay" is a novel of two love affairs, each involving an aristocrat and a commoner. Marion Fay is a Quaker's daughter courted by the Lord Hampstead. Meanwhile, his best friend, the impoverished George Roden, is in love with the Lord's noble sister. Differences of class and situation create a romantic drama in typical Trollope fashion.

Anthony Trollope (1815 — 1882) was an English novelist of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, which revolves around the imaginary county of Barsetshire. "Marion Fay" is a novel of two love affairs, each involving an aristocrat and a commoner. Marion Fay is a Quaker's daughter courted by the Lord Hampstead. Meanwhile, his best friend, the impoverished George Roden, is in love with the Lord's noble sister. Differences of class and situation create a romantic drama in typical Trollope fashion.

When the marriage of Mariah White and her cheating husband, Colin, turns ugly and disintegrates, their seven-year-old daughter, Faith, is there to witness it all. In the aftermath of a rapid divorce, Mariah falls into a deep depression-and suddenly Faith, a child with no religious background whatsoever, hears divine voices, starts reciting biblical passages, and develops stigmata. And when the miraculous healings begin, mother and daughter are thrust into the volatile center of controversy and into the heat of a custody battle-trapped in a mad media circus that threatens what little stability the family has left. In Keeping Faith, #1 New York Times bestselling author JODI PICOULT-one of the most powerful writers in contemporary fiction-brilliantly examines belief, miracles, and the complex core of family.

In the rugged Australian Outback, three generations of Clearys live through joy and sadness, bitter defeat and magnificent triumph – driven by their dreams, sustained by remarkable strength of character and torn by dark passions, violence and a scandalous family legacy of forbidden love. It is a poignant love story, a powerful epic of struggle and sacrifice, a celebration of individuality and spirit. Most of all, it is the story of the Clearys’ only daughter, Meggie, who can never possess the man she so desperately adores – Ralph de Bricassart. Ralph will rise from parish priest to the inner circles of the Vatican … but his passion for Meggie will follow him all the days of his life. A timeless epic romance – a battle between faith and the heart

When is it wise to be a fool for something? From New York to India to Paris, from the Catholic Worker movement to Occupy Wall Street, the characters in Joan Silber’s dazzling connected stories tackle this question head-on. Vera, the shy, anarchist daughter of missionary parents, leaves her family for love and activism in New York. A generation later, her doubting daughter insists on the truth of being of two minds, even in marriage. The adulterous son of a Florida hotel owner steals money from his family and departs for Paris, where he finds himself outsmarted in turn. Fools ponders the circle of winners and losers, dupers and duped, and the price we pay for our beliefs, offering readers an unforgettable look at work, faith, love and the eternal quest for personal integrity.

Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803 - 1873) was an English novelist, poet, playwright and politician. A lot of his works contributed to the early growth of the science fiction genre. "Ernest Maltravers" is a novel about a young man of wealth and education just returned to England from a German university. Belated by a storm, he seeks shelter in the hut of Darvil, a man of evil character. Darvil has a daughter Alice, young and beautiful, but of undeveloped moral and mental power. Moved by her helplessness, her beauty, and her innocence, Maltravers instantly falls in love.