Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds (Paperback, Annotated edition)

When Bernard de Fontenelle published the first edition of his Entretiens sur la Pluralite des Mondes in 1686, it was an immediate success. In an age when women, even those from the richest and most distinguished families, received little or no formal education, it offered an entertaining and accessible introduction to astronomy and some of the burning topics of the day. Does the earth really go around the sun? Are there other inhabited planets out there? If so, are the inhabitants like us or quite different? Is the moon itself inhabited? Is even the sun inhabited? Are there volcanoes on the moon? How hot is mercury? How long is a Venusian day? Will flying machines one day take us to the moon? Providing new notes, some illustrations and an introduction, this new Tiger of the Stripe edition is based on the 1808 edition of Elizabeth Gunning's translation, retaining the charm which was so essential for the book's success. Miss Gunning, a beautiful and talented novelist with a rather racy personal life, drew on an annotated French edition by the distinguished French astronomer, Jerome de Lalande. This edition thus offers an interesting accretion of ideas, ranging from Fontenelle's 1686 edition and later revisions, Lalande's (sometimes rather critical) comments, Gunning's appropriately flowery translation, and our own explanations for the modern reader. It is, without doubt, a little gem.

General

Imprint:	Tiger Of The Stripe
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	November 2008
First published:	November 2008
Authors:	Bernard De Fontenelle
Editors:	Joseph Jerome Le Francais de Lalande
Translators:	Elizabeth Gunning
Dimensions:	234 x 156 x 8mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback - Trade
Pages:	160
Edition:	Annotated edition
ISBN-13:	978-1-904799-37-5
Subtitles:	French
Categories:	Books > Science & Mathematics > Science: general issues > Popular science Books > Science & Mathematics > Astronomy, space & time > General
LSN:	1-904799-37-X
Barcode:	9781904799375

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!