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Conversations on the plurality of worlds / / Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle ; translation by H.A. Hargreaves ; introduction by Nina Rattner Gelbart



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Autore: Fontenelle, M. de (Bernard Le Bovier), <1657-1757.> Visualizza persona
Titolo: Conversations on the plurality of worlds / / Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle ; translation by H.A. Hargreaves ; introduction by Nina Rattner Gelbart Visualizza cluster
Pubblicazione: Berkeley, : University of California Press, c1990
Edizione: 1st ed.
Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (134 p.)
Disciplina: 574.999
Soggetto topico: Plurality of worlds - Early works to 1800
Soggetto non controllato: 1700s
17th century
academic
age of enlightenment
alien life
astronomy
classic literature
classic philosophy
descartes
england
european history
extraterrestrial
french language
heliocentric
logic
natural philosophy
natural world
philosophy
physics
popular science
scholarly
science
scientific
translation
universe
western world
world history
Altri autori: HargreavesH. A  
Note generali: Translation of: Entretiens sur la pluralité des mondes.
Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references (p. 75-82).
Nota di contenuto: Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction -- Translator's Preface -- Preface -- Dedication -- The First Evening -- The Second Evening -- The Third Evening -- The Fourth Evening -- The Fifth Evening -- Notes
Sommario/riassunto: Surveying the night sky, a charming philosopher and his hostess, the Marquise, are considering thep ossibility of travelers from the moon. "What if they were skillful enough to navigate on the outer surface of our air, and from there, through their curiosity to see us, they angled for us like fish? Would that please you?" asks the philosopher. "Why not?" the Marquise replies. "As for me, I'd put myself into their nets of my own volition just to have the pleasure of seeing those who caught me."In this imaginary conversation of three hundred years ago, readers can share the excitement of a new, extremely daring view of the uinverse. Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds (Entretiens sur la pluralité des mondes), first published in 1686, is one of the best loved classics of the early French enlightenment. Through a series of informal dialogues that take place on successive evenings in the marquise's moonlit gardens, Fontenelle describes the new cosmology of the Copernican world view with matchles clarity, imagination, and wit. Moreover, he boldly makes his interlocutor a woman, inviting female participation in the almost exclusively male province of scientific discourse. The popular Fontenelle lived through an entire century, from 1657 to 1757, and wrote prolifically. H. A. Hargreaves's fresh, appealing translation brings the author's masterpiece to new generations of readers, while the introduction by Nina Rattner Gelbart clearly demonstrates the importance of the Conversations for the history of science, of women, of literature, and of French civilization, and for the popularization of culture.
Titolo autorizzato: Conversations on the plurality of worlds  Visualizza cluster
ISBN: 1-282-35575-9
9786612355752
0-520-91058-3
Formato: Materiale a stampa
Livello bibliografico Monografia
Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
Record Nr.: 9910817580703321
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