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

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fontenelle, M. de (Bernard Le Bovier), 1657-1757.

Contributor:

Hargreaves, H. A.

Standardized Title:

Entretiens sur la pluralité des mondes. English

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Plurality of worlds--Early works to 1800.

Plurality of worlds.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (134 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, c1990.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Introduction

Translator's Preface

Preface

Dedication

The First Evening

The Second Evening

The Third Evening

The Fourth Evening

The Fifth Evening

Notes

Notes:

Translation of: Entretiens sur la pluralité des mondes.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 75-82).

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

ISBN:

9786612355752

9781282355750

1282355759

9780520910584

0520910583

OCLC:

773564904