Extraterrestrial Life Debate, Antiquity To 1915

Extraterrestrial Life Debate, Antiquity To 1915 PDF Author: Michael Crowe
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780268210021
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This book presents key documents from the pre-1915 history of the extraterrestrial life debate. Introductions and commentaries accompany each source document, some of which are published here for the first time or in a new translation. Authors included are Aristotle, Lucretius, Aquinas, Nicholas of Cusa, Galileo, Kepler, Pascal, Fontenelle, Huygens, Newton, Pope, Voltaire, Kant, Paine, Chalmers, Darwin, Wallace, Dostoevski, Lowell, and Antoniadi, among others. Michael J. Crowe has compiled an extensive bibliography not available in other sources. These materials reveal that the extraterrestrial life debate, rather than being a relatively modern phenomenon, has extended throughout nearly all Western history and has involved many of its leading intellectuals. The readings also demonstrate that belief in extraterrestrial life has had major effects on science and society, and that metaphysical and religious views have permeated the debate throughout much of its history.

Extraterrestrial Life Debate, Antiquity To 1915

Extraterrestrial Life Debate, Antiquity To 1915 PDF Author: Michael Crowe
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780268210021
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book presents key documents from the pre-1915 history of the extraterrestrial life debate. Introductions and commentaries accompany each source document, some of which are published here for the first time or in a new translation. Authors included are Aristotle, Lucretius, Aquinas, Nicholas of Cusa, Galileo, Kepler, Pascal, Fontenelle, Huygens, Newton, Pope, Voltaire, Kant, Paine, Chalmers, Darwin, Wallace, Dostoevski, Lowell, and Antoniadi, among others. Michael J. Crowe has compiled an extensive bibliography not available in other sources. These materials reveal that the extraterrestrial life debate, rather than being a relatively modern phenomenon, has extended throughout nearly all Western history and has involved many of its leading intellectuals. The readings also demonstrate that belief in extraterrestrial life has had major effects on science and society, and that metaphysical and religious views have permeated the debate throughout much of its history.

The Extraterrestrial Life Debate, Antiquity to 1915

The Extraterrestrial Life Debate, Antiquity to 1915 PDF Author: Michael J. Crowe
Publisher: University of Notre Dame Press
ISBN:
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 592

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Book Description
This book presents key documents from the pre-1915 history of the extraterrestrial life debate. Introductions and commentaries accompany each source document, some of which are published here for the first time or in a new translation. Authors included are Aristotle, Lucretius, Aquinas, Nicholas of Cusa, Galileo, Kepler, Pascal, Fontenelle, Huygens, Newton, Pope, Voltaire, Kant, Paine, Chalmers, Darwin, Wallace, Dostoevski, Lowell, and Antoniadi, among others. Michael J. Crowe has compiled an extensive bibliography not available in other sources. These materials reveal that the extraterrestrial life debate, rather than being a relatively modern phenomenon, has extended throughout nearly all Western history and has involved many of its leading intellectuals. The readings also demonstrate that belief in extraterrestrial life has had major effects on science and society, and that metaphysical and religious views have permeated the debate throughout much of its history. "This is a valuable book that is not available anywhere else. . . . Crowe's purpose is to let the reader see the original words of the authors who discussed other worlds. Crowe puts these documents in context by his substantial introduction and commentary. . . . Such a source book serves an important purpose, and is ideal for teaching and generating discussion in class. The subject is of increasing importance as we find more and more about the possibilities of extraterrestrial life through current disciplines such as astrobiology, bioastronomy, and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence." --Steven J. Dick, Director, NASA History Division, NASA "Having established himself as the world's authority on the history of the debates about extraterrestrial life in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Michael Crowe is perfectly positioned to produce this source book. The introductory commentaries on the excerpts from primary sources he has so judiciously selected reveal again and again that no one else knows this subject as well as he does." --Frederick Gregory, University of Florida "The Extraterrestrial Life Debate gives new meaning to the word 'treasury.' Michael Crowe offers us more than 2000 years of golden materials--wrought by the astonishing alchemy of science, religion, philosophy, and sheer imagination--about a topic as alive today as it ever was: ET, with all his cousins and ancestors. The range of authors the book showcases, and the depth of context Crowe provides, will make his monumental anthology the starting point for future explorations of this rich vein of human thought." --Dennis Danielson, University of British Columbia "There are loads of books on ET, but only a small number of them take a historical approach . . . Anyone interested in the history of the extraterrestrial life debate will be interested in this book; it does complete in a certain way previous historical work done by Steven Dick and Michael Crowe by providing large portions of original texts rather than merely short quotations from them. . . . All the various perspectives, religious, literary, astronomical, philosophical, seem adequately represented. The multidisciplinary aspect of the debate comes across well from the authors selected." --Marie I. George, St. John's University "Extraterrestrials may not have invaded the Earth physically but for centuries they have done so mentally. In many a guise they have appeared not only in works of fiction but also in serious astronomical, philosophical and theological debate. It is impossible to open Michael Crowe's handsome and fastidiously prepared anthology of primary sources without being drawn into endlessly fascinating disputes concerning the possibility and character of extraterrestrial life. Savoring the many twists and turns in controversies that have extended far beyond the confines of popular astronomy, Professor Crowe has provided students and experts alike with a generous and indispensable resource. It is difficult to resist his invitation to investigate for ourselves the innumerable, and often surprising, ways in which the idea of intelligent life on other worlds has shaped and been shaped by perennial Earthly concerns." --John Hedley Brooke, Andreas Idreos Professor Emeritus of Science and Religion, University of Oxford

The Emergence of Life on Earth

The Emergence of Life on Earth PDF Author: Iris Fry
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN: 9780813527406
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 348

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Book Description
How did life emerge on Earth? Is there life on other worlds? These questions, until recently confined to the pages of speculative essays and tabloid headlines, are now the subject of legitimate scientific research. This book presents a unique perspective--a combined historical, scientific, and philosophical analysis, which does justice to the complex nature of the subject. The book's first part offers an overview of the main ideas on the origin of life as they developed from antiquity until the twentieth century. The second, more detailed part of the book examines contemporary theories and major debates within the origin-of-life scientific community. Topics include: Aristotle and the Greek atomists' conceptions of the organism Alexander Oparin and J.B.S. Haldane's 1920s breakthrough papers Possible life on Mars?

Vast Universe

Vast Universe PDF Author: Thomas F. O'Meara
Publisher: Liturgical Press
ISBN: 081468047X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 121

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Book Description
If we have learned anything from recent advances in cosmology and astronomy, it is that we have only barely begun to comprehend the vastness of our universe and all that it contains. For Christians, this raises some fascinating questions: If there are intelligent beings out there, what would be their relationship to what Christianity claims is a special history on Earth of life with God? Would the fact of persons on other planets banish or modify our understanding of God? Would it reduce the importance of Jesus? What role might goodness and evil play in extraterrestrial civilizations? Might God have incarnated himself among other races of creatures, as he became incarnate as Jesus among us? Respectful of the sciences that disclose the reality of the universe, Thomas O'Meara wonders about good and evil, intelligence and freedom, revelation and life as they might exist in other galaxies. In this book, one possible aspect of the universe we live in meets the perspective of Christian revelation.

The Extraterrestrial Life Debate, 1750-1900

The Extraterrestrial Life Debate, 1750-1900 PDF Author: Michael J. Crowe
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 0486145018
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 724

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Book Description
Detailed, scholarly study examines the ideas that developed between 1750 and 1900 regarding the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life, including those of Kant, Herschel, Voltaire, Lowell, many others. 16 illustrations.

Alien Life Imagined

Alien Life Imagined PDF Author: Mark Brake
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521491290
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 283

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Book Description
Compelling account of how ideas of alien life have evolved for general readers, amateur astronomers and undergraduate students studying astrobiology.

Plurality of Words

Plurality of Words PDF Author: Steven J. Dick
Publisher: CUP Archive
ISBN: 9780521319850
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
This book analyses the debate over extraterrestrial life from Aristotle to Kant.

Extraterrestrials in the Catholic Imagination

Extraterrestrials in the Catholic Imagination PDF Author: Jennifer Rosato
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1527566005
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 291

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Book Description
What do scientists know about the possibility of life outside our solar system? How does Catholic science fiction imagine such worlds? What are the implications for Catholic thought? This collection brings together leading scientists, philosophers, theologians, and science fiction authors in the Catholic tradition to examine these issues. In the first section, Christian scientists detail the latest scientific findings regarding the possibility of life on exoplanets. The second part brings together leading Catholic science fiction authors who describe how “alien” life forms have been prevalent in the Catholic imagination from the Middle Ages right up to the present day. In the final section, Catholic philosophers and theologians examine the implications of discovering intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. Rather than worrying that the discovery of intelligent extraterrestrials might threaten the dignity of humans or their existence, the contributors here maintain that such creatures should be welcomed as fellow creatures of God and potential subjects of divine salvation.

Unbelievable

Unbelievable PDF Author: Michael Newton Keas
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1504057724
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 291

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Book Description
Unbelievable explodes seven of the most popular and pernicious myths about science and religion. Michael Newton Keas, a historian of science, lays out the facts to show how far the conventional wisdom departs from reality. He also shows how these myths have proliferated over the past four centuries and exert so much influence today, infiltrating science textbooks and popular culture. The seven myths, Keas shows, amount to little more than religion bashing—especially Christianity bashing. Unbelievable reveals: · Why the “Dark Ages” never happened · Why we didn’t need Christopher Columbus to prove the earth was round · Why Copernicus would be shocked to learn that he supposedly demoted humans from the center of the universe · What everyone gets wrong about Galileo’s clash with the Church, and why it matters today · Why the vastness of the universe does not deal a blow to religious belief in human significance · How the popular account of Giordano Bruno as a “martyr for science” ignores the fact that he was executed for theological reasons, not scientific ones · How a new myth is being positioned to replace religion—a futuristic myth that sounds scientific but isn’t In debunking these myths, Keas shows that the real history is much more interesting than the common narrative of religion at war with science. This accessible and entertaining book offers an invaluable resource to students, scholars, teachers, homeschoolers, and religious believers tired of being portrayed as anti-intellectual and anti-science.

Our Common Cosmos

Our Common Cosmos PDF Author: Zoë Lehmann Imfeld
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0567680185
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 239

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Book Description
This volume collects an international body of voices, as a timely response to a rapidly advancing field of the natural sciences. The contributors explore how the disciplines of theology, earth and space sciences contribute to the debate on constantly expanding ethical challenges, and the prospect of humanity's future. The discussions offered in this volume see the 'community' as central to a sustainable and ethical approach to earth and space sciences, examining the role of theology in this communal approach, but also recognizing theology itself as part of a community of humanity disciplines. Examining the necessity for interaction between disciplines, this collection draws on voices from biodiversity studies, geology, aesthetics, literature, astrophysics, and others, to illustrate precisely why a constructive and sustainable dialogue is needed within the current scientific climate.