Plurality of Words: The Extraterrestrial Life Debate from Democritus to Kant [Hardcover]

Steven J. Dick (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 31, 1982

This is a fascinating history of the debate over the question of extraterrestrial life from Classical Greece to the mid-eighteenth century. Using many primary and secondary sources, this book analyses why such great thinkers as Aristotle, Aquinas, Ockham, Galileo, Kepler, Huygens, and Kant thought the debate over the plurality of worlds a subject for serious discussion. The author shows how conflicting arguments from science, philosophy, and theology gradually converged to the same opinion - that intelligent life must fill the universe.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Dick has performed a valuable service in compiling such an extensive survey of the historical development of the many worlds concept. An historical perspective on the subject provides a fascinating and important context for more modern advances.' New Scientist

Book Description

This book analyses why such great thinkers as Aristotle, Aquinas, Ockham, Galileo, Kepler, Huygens, and Kant thought the debate over the plurality of worlds a subject for serious discussion. The author shows how conflicting arguments from science, philosophy, and theology gradually converged to the same opinion - that intelligent life must fill the universe.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 1 edition (March 31, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521243084
• ISBN-13: 978-0521243087
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,174,778 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating history of the many worlds debate, February 8, 2001

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Plurality of Worlds: The Extraterrestrial Life Debate from Democritus to Kant (Paperback)

In this exhaustive study, Dr. Dick traces the debate about other worlds, from it's origins among the atomists of ancient Greece, through Aristotle's apparent vanquishing of the idea, through medieval scholasticism, the Renaissance and finally into the eighteenth century. This was the era of natural philosophy, before the observational science of today was born. During this time, theoretical structures were created that allowed the existence of other world (and other Earths), or disallowed it, but the debate continued.

Indeed, I was surprised to learn that even during the medieval era, the discussion continued. In 1277, Etienne Tempier, the bishop of Paris, condemned the belief "that the First Cause cannot make many worlds." So, this book is a fascinating, if somewhat academic, look at the many worlds debate.