The Extraterrestrial Life Debate 1750-1900: The Idea of a Plurality of Worlds from Kant to Lowell
Select Format
Select Condition 
Book Overview
This is the first in-depth study in English of the international debate that developed between 1750 and 1900 concerning the question of the existence of extraterrestrial intelligent life. Taking a history of ideas approach, the author describes the controversies that-arose over this question and reveals the great extent to which this issue influenced astronomical, philosophical, and religious thought. Professor Crowe shows that the majority of the leading astronomers of the last two centuries participated in this debate and he analyzes how their views interacted with new developments such as Newtonian mechanics, stellar astronomy, Darwinian theory, and astrophysics. This fascinating and critical history shows that the longstanding and widespread belief in extraterrestrial life has for centuries acted to alter major areas of our intellectual life.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:0521359864
ISBN13:9780521359863
Release Date:February 1988
Publisher:Cambridge University Press
Length:704 Pages
Weight:2.00 lbs.
Dimensions:1.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"
Customer Reviews
2 ratings
Fascinating
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 24 years ago
Contrary to what you might think, the idea of extraterrestrial life, and even intelligence is not new. In this book, Professor Crowe tracks the debate over extraterrestrial life throughout history, concentrating on the era of 1750 to 1900. Hoping from writer to writer, Crowe deeply covers each persons writing, and its implications in the debate.This book makes an excellent companion to "Plurality of Worlds" by Steven Dick, which mainly covers up to 1750. Among the fascinating stories I read in this book were those of the "Moon hoax" of R.A. Locke, and Martian canal controversy of the 1880s and `90s. I took away one star because the book is slow and wordy at times, and I wish the author had focused more upon what our ancestors thought extraterrestrials would look like. But, overall this is a great book, and I highly recommend it.
MAN'S HIGHEST HOPE AND FEAR AND LESSON
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 24 years ago
Michael J. Crowe's "The Extraterrestrial Life Debate, 1750-1900" is one of the most intellectually magnificent and philosophically enthralling books I have ever read, a supreme work of scholarship. It perfects the sensitive art of quotation and distillation, and the chronological arrangement of the encyclopedic material turns all of history into a common dialogue upon one of the very greatest ideas and problems there is to perplex and fascinate the mind and surround us with the mystery of natural possibilities that are both crazy and sublime. The book itself is like a universe of stellar minds contemplating the inverse puzzle of why there is life on Earth or any life at all. Despite its magnitude, I came to its last page with a melancholy regret that there was not more and more and more of it, but at least this was true of the jeweled depths it probed and illuminated, and which it etched in my memory.
Copyright © 2025 Thriftbooks.com
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information | Cookie Policy | Cookie Preferences | Accessibility Statement
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
ThriftBooks ® and the ThriftBooks ® logo are registered trademarks of Thrift Books Global, LLC
