Purdue News

September 29, 2000 'Galileo's Daughter' author to keynote conference WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University's 12th Annual Conference on Romance Languages, Literatures and Film will feature a keynote address by award-winning writer Dava Sobel. The author of "Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love" will address the conference at 6 p.m. Oct. 13 in the West Faculty Lounge of the Purdue Memorial Union. Sobel's presentation, as well as all conference sessions and screenings, are free and open to Purdue students and staff. The author will give a public lecture on Oct. 12 at 8 p.m. in Fowler Hall, Stewart Center, as part of the Purdue Lecture Series on Science and Religious Faith. This presentation is co-sponsored by the School of Liberal Arts and the School of Science, with financial support from the John Templeton Foundation. "Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith and Love" was finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in biography and won the Christopher Medal in 1999 as well the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in the science and technology category. Another of the Sobel's books, "Longitude," was an international best-seller that was eventually published in 20 languages and won numerous awards in Europe. Sobel is a former New York Times science reporter who has contributed articles to a variety of national magazines and publications. The three-day conference, dedicated to the advancement of the study of Romance languages, literatures and film, begins Oct. 12 and will bring nearly 100 scholars from throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia to the West Lafayette campus. The conference is sponsored by the School of Liberal Arts and the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, with support from Purdue programs in comparative literature, Italian studies, film studies, Jewish studies, medieval studies, women's studies and the Department of History. CONTACT: Jim Drummond, (765) 496-6624, jdrummond@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page