Overview
- Offers a new theory on the decline of astrology in the 17th and 18th centuries
- Shows the role of astrological tradition in early theories of extraterrestrial life
- Discusses astrobiology, combining the search for ET life with the study of terrestrial biology
Part of the book series: International Archives of the History of Ideas Archives internationales d'histoire des idées (ARCH, volume 228)
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About this book
This book describes how and why the early modern period witnessed the marginalisation of astrology in Western natural philosophy, and the re-adoption of the cosmological view of the existence of a plurality of worlds in the universe, allowing the possibility of extraterrestrial life.
Founded in the mid-1990s, the discipline of astrobiology combines the search for extraterrestrial life with the study of terrestrial biology – especially its origins, its evolution and its presence in extreme environments. This book offers a history of astrobiology's attempts to understand the nature of life in a larger cosmological context. Specifically, it describes the shift of early modern cosmology from a paradigm of celestial influence to one of celestial inhabitation. Although these trends are regarded as consequences of Copernican cosmology, and hallmarks of a modern world view, they are usually addressed separately in the historical literature. Unlike others, this book takes a broad approach that examines the relationship of the two.
From Influence to Inhabitation will benefit both historians of astrology and historians of the extraterrestrial life debate, an audience which includes researchers and advanced students studying the history and philosophy of astrobiology. It will also appeal to historians of natural philosophy, science, astronomy and theology in the early modern period.
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Keywords
- Extraterrestrial Life Debate
- Plurality of Worlds
- Seventeenth-Century Cosmology
- History of Astrology
- History of Astrobiology
- Scientific Revolution in Astronomy
- The Marginalisation of Astrology in Western Natural Philosophy
- Copernican cosmology
- astronomy and theology in the early modern period
- Celestial Bodies Kelper
- Celestial Bodies Newton
Table of contents (7 chapters)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
James E. Christie is a historian of early modern science and cosmology. His particular areas of interest include the history of astrology, the history of the ‘plurality of worlds’ philosophy, and the longer history of astrobiology and the extraterrestrial life debate. He received a PhD in Cultural and Intellectual History from The Warburg Institute, London, in 2018, with a dissertation focusing on the relationship between theories of celestial influence and celestial inhabitation from the classical period up until the early eighteenth century.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: From Influence to Inhabitation
Book Subtitle: The Transformation of Astrobiology in the Early Modern Period
Authors: James E. Christie
Series Title: International Archives of the History of Ideas Archives internationales d'histoire des idées
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22169-0
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: History, History (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-22168-3Published: 14 October 2019
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-22171-3Published: 14 October 2020
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-22169-0Published: 02 October 2019
Series ISSN: 0066-6610
Series E-ISSN: 2215-0307
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: X, 215
Topics: History of Science, History of Philosophy, Astrobiology, History of Early Modern Europe, Intellectual Studies