Of the Plurality of Worlds: An Essay (Cambridge Library Collection - Science and Religion)

This controversial essay, first published in 1853, addresses the question of the existence of intelligent life on other planets. It was first published anonymously, owing to the ferocity of the ongoing debates between the religious and scientific scholarly communities. Its author, William Whewell (1794-1866) was a leading intellectual of the Victorian period, and a notable polymath. A contemporary and adviser of Herschel, Darwin and Faraday, he wrote extensively on subjects ranging from astronomy and mineralogy to moral philosophy, educational reform and architecture, and engaged with John Stuart Mill in a lively debate about inductive reasoning. In Of The Plurality of Worlds, Whewell denied the probability of life elsewhere in the universe, afraid that the concept of extraterrestrial life would encourage the theory of evolution and put at risk mankind's connection to God. Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 14 Preface......Page 10 I. Astronomical Discoveries......Page 16 II. Astronomical Objection to Religion......Page 31 III. The Answer from the Microscope......Page 38 IV. Further Statement of the Difficulty......Page 45 V. Geology......Page 67 VI. The Argument from Geology......Page 92 VII. The Nebulae......Page 128 VIII. The Fixed Stars......Page 155 IX. The Planets......Page 182 X. Theory o f the Solar System......Page 210 XI. The Argument from Design......Page 225 XII. The Unity of the World......Page 263 XIII. The Future......Page 280 William Whewell, one of Britain's most influential philosophers of science in the Victorian era, stirred up controversy in 1853 with this essay on extraterrestrial life. Of The Plurality of Worlds argues against the existence of intelligent life on other planets, fearing this would disrupt mankind's belief in God.