The Extraterrestrial Life Debate 1750–1900: The Idea of a Plurality of Worlds from Kant to Lowell - Hardcover

Crowe, Michael J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521263050 ISBN 13: 9780521263054

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1986

Synopsis

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.

About this title

From Scientific American

Crowe's aim is to show that "the question of extraterrestrial life, rather than having arisen in the twentieth century, has been debated almost from the beginning of recorded history." He deals only briefly with writings before 1750 because they "have recently been capably discussed by Steven J. Dick in his Plurality of Worlds: The Origins of the Extraterrestrial Life Debate from Democritus to Kant," and he stops early in the 20th century because of "the vast quantity of materials that had appeared by then" and also because of "my determination to base this study on firsthand knowledge of the great majority of these items." The extent of his firsthand knowledge is suggested by his bibliography, listing 143 works published from 1584 to 1915, and his name index, which has more than 1,000 entries. Crowe is a professor of philosophy of science at the University of Notre Dame, and one would expect his discussion to range over the philosophical, scientific and religious aspects of his subject. It does. One learns what prominent people in each field have said for or against extraterrestrial life. It is, Crowe writes, a debate that "differs from most debates in the history of science by the fact that it remains unresolved." The book is a reprint of the edition published in 1986 by Cambridge University Press.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1986
• ISBN 10: 0521263050
• ISBN 13: 9780521263054
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 682