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A thought-provoking account of the scientific achievements and lives of cosmologists from Babylonians to Newton.
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50 of 50 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Koestler gives a comprehensive account of the development of astronomy from the Babylonians through ancient Greece to mediaeval Europe and on to Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo and Newton. His development of the personalities, informed by copious reference to published works and particularly, where available, to the personal letters of these and many other people less well-known, brings them to life in a quite dramatic way. The notes and references alone occupy 54 pages. Koestler sees as "sleepwalking" the process by which the modern world slowly came to recognise anew the true nature of the cosmos after nearly two millenia of speculation and stumbling, constrained and dominated by Aristotelian nonsense. A particularly instructive quotation from Astronomia Nova(1609) by Kepler shows that he all but enunciated the law of universal gravity, "Gravity is the mutual bodily tendency between cognate bodies towards unity or contact.....so that the earth draws a stone much more than the stone draws the earth......If the earth and the moon were not kept in their respective orbits by a spiritual or some other equivalent force, the earth would ascend towards the moon one fifty-fourth part of the distance, and the moon would descend the remaining fifty-three parts of the interval, and thus they would unite. ...." By contast Newton wrote to a friend about 70 years later "That gravity should be innate, inherent, and essential to matter, so that one body may act upon another, at a distance through a vacuum, without the mediation of anything else,....is...so great an absurdity, that no man who has ....a competent faculty of thinking, can ever fall into it." The author demonstrates, again by copious references, that mediaeval churchmen such as Cardinal Nichlas of Cusa, far from suppressing science, were in the forefront of scientific thought; that it was an alliance between the Catholic Bishop Giese and the Lutheran Rhaeticus which finally persuaded Copernicus to publish his sun-centred treatise 'De Revolutionibus ..' in 1541; that it was Luther and Melanchthon who ridiculed this notion that the earth moved whilst the Catholic Church accepted it as a working hypothesis for 70 years; that Kepler begged Galileo in 1597 to state his belief in the system of Copernicus but Galileo declined for 16 years, being afraid not of the Church but of the "ridicule and derision" of his fellow scholars; when he eventually openly proclaimed Copernicus's fault-ridden system Kepler had already published his three Laws that revolutionised astronomy; that Galileo got his first academic post through the good offices of Cardinal del Monte and that he was honoured and feted by Cardinals and the Pope and the Jesuit astronomers in Rome following his discovery of Jupiter's moons. A comprehensive account is presented of Galileo's subsequent trials, which show that he was condemned (perhaps inexcusably) not for his scientific views but rather for his refusal to refrain from theological interpretations of Scripture. This book is far from light reading. It makes considerable demands on one's concentration and memory, but the effort is made worthwhile by the depth of scholarship, the copious research, and the mastery of narrative with which the author provides us.
31 of 32 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Sometimes you have a book that you read over and over again, just for the pleasure. The Sleepwalkers falls into this category for me ! I got this book more than 30 years ago, and have read it many times. Not so long ago I was stupid enough to lend it to someone. It is now time to read it again, for I need to satisfy my soul with stories of great discoveries. So I will have to buy the book once more, and this time it stays on my bookshelf !
It is easy for us to believe that the Earth goes around the Sun. We accept it just as our children accept mobile telephones, without questions. Koestler tells the story of the men who discovered how the Solar System works. From a flat earth with the devil at the horizon, to the planets spinning eliptically around the Sun, Koestler puts us in the context, so we can understand how a handful of great thinkers shook the foundations of science (and religion), and how they sometimes risked their career or even their life in order to uphold their "heretical" proposals.
You would think that Koestler was in the room at the time of the happening. He is one of those story tellers that builds climate, background, declines the personalities of his actors, and then tells a damned fine story. You find yourself holding your breath as each chapter unfolds, almost as if it is by chance that these great scientists (Galileo, Kepler, etc.) discover the truth. Happily, all the stories finish well, and we can breathe a sigh of relief when we reach the last page.
The cosmos as we know it today can continue to exist, and by chance, Koestler was there to tell us the whole story.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is one of the most richly rewarding books I have ever read. It succeeds on several levels: as a history of the science of astronomy; as a series of very human biographies of the visionary astronomers who made landmark discoveries; and mostly as a brilliant discussion of the evolution of human thought as it comes to grips with the infinite. Koestler has a ferocious intellect-- the reader can almost warm his hands by the glow-- which he uses to illuminate and find meaning in a series of challenging topics. For me, this was a truly magic book, beautifully written.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
little known masterpiece
A physicist friend told me about this book, endorsing it as the best and most accurate treatment of the elucidation of the motions of the planets. Read more
Published 12 months ago by rob crawford
Great survey of intellectual development
...somewhat spoiled by the audible grinding of Koestler's favourite axes - ESP, a little dig at Marxist interpretations of history, and so on. Read more
Published on 13 Aug 2008 by Jezza
An excelent book that has itself stood the test of time.
I first read this book a good many years ago and I have re-read it recently. Now I am buying for my teenage niece. Read more
Published on 27 Nov 2001
Yes, well worth a read...
A detailed history of our own astronomal discoveries - both the science and the key players.
Published on 11 Dec 1999
A valuable education for the scientist
A illuminating explanation of the divorce of the spiritual and technological needs of man that has plagued civilisation for the last few hundred years. Read more
Published on 30 Aug 1999
Tycho Brahe rules!
Loved the way the author explained the course of astronomical discovery as it wandered between the advancement of theory and improved observational techniques.
Published on 15 Aug 1999
Superb history of our evolving awareness of the universe
Animated and opinionated, but thorough and conscientious study of the interrelationships between Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, and Newton.
Published on 10 Aug 1997
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