Dreams About Plurality of Worlds : Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680), John Wilkins (1614-1672) and their Image of the Universe
2015
Abstract
The book compares an image of the universe in works of the Jesuit polymath Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680) Itinerarium extaticum (1656) and The Discovery of a World in the Moon (1638) of John Wilkins (1614-1672) - one of the founders of the Royal Society. Special attention is given to the idea of plurality of worlds and infinity of universe in these works as well as to a different cultural milieu and life experiences of both authors which to a great extent shaped their different opinion on the order of the universe and human's place within.
The book explores the beginnings of modern science and spread of Copernican theory around the half of the seventeenth century through the two examples.