The Discovery of a World in the Moone. Or, A Discovrse Tending To Prove That 'Tis Probable There May Be Another Habitable World In That Planet


Book Description

John Wilkins' 'The Discovery of a World in the Moone' is a groundbreaking work exploring the possibility of extraterrestrial life on the moon. Written in the 17th century, the book presents a compelling argument for the existence of another habitable world in our celestial neighbor. Wilkins combines scientific observations with imaginative speculation to create a captivating narrative that challenges conventional beliefs of his time. His literary style blends scholarly research with an engaging storytelling approach, making the complex subject matter accessible to a wide audience. As one of the pioneering works in the genre of science fiction, this book laid the foundation for future discoveries and advancements in astronomy. Wilkins' meticulous research and bold ideas continue to inspire scientists and writers alike to explore the mysteries of the universe. 'The Discovery of a World in the Moone' is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of astronomy, speculative fiction, or the intersection of science and literature.










The Discovery of a World in the Moone


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Reproduction of the original: The Discovery of a World in the Moone by John Wilkins







Travel Narratives, the New Science, and Literary Discourse, 1569-1750


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The focus of this volume is the intersection and the cross-fertilization between the travel narrative, literary discourse, and the New Philosophy in the early modern to early eighteenth-century historical periods. Contributors examine how, in an historical era which realized an emphasis on nation and during a time when exploration was laying the foundation for empire, science and the literary discourse of the travel narrative become intrinsically linked. Together, the essays in this collection point out the way in which travel narratives reflect the anxiety from changes brought about through the discoveries of the 'new knowledge' and the way this knowledge in turn provided a new and more complex understanding of the expanding world in which the writers lived. The worlds in this text are many (for no 'world' is monomial), from the antipodes to the New World, from the heavens to the seas, and from fictional worlds to the world which contains and/or constructs one's nation and empire. All of these essays demonstrate the manner in which the New Philosophy dramatically changed literary discourse.







... Catalogue of Printed Books


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The Ruins Lesson


Book Description

"In 'The Ruins Lesson,' the National Book Critics Circle Award-winning poet-critic Susan Stewart explores the West's fascination with ruins in literature, visual art, and architecture, covering a vast chronological and geographical range from the ancient Egyptians to T. S. Eliot. In the multiplication of images of ruins, artists, and writers she surveys, Stewart shows how these thinkers struggled to recover lessons out of the fragility or our cultural remains. She tries to understand the appeal in the West of ruins and ruination, particularly Roman ruins, in the work and thought of Goethe, Piranesi, Blake, and Wordsworth, whom she returns to throughout the book. Her sweeping, deeply felt study encompasses the founding legends of broken covenants and original sin; Christian transformations of the classical past; the myths and rituals of human fertility; images of ruins in Renaissance allegory, eighteenth-century melancholy, and nineteenth-century cataloguing; and new gardens that eventually emerged from ancient sites of disaster"--