The Man in the MooneBroadview Press, 14 ago 2009 - 176 pagine Arguably the first work of science fiction in English, Francis Godwin’s The Man in the Moone was published in 1638, pseudonymously and posthumously. The novel, which tells the story of Domingo Gonsales, a Spaniard who flies to the moon by geese power and encounters an advanced lunar civilization, had an enormous impact on the European imagination for centuries after its initial publication. With its discussion of advanced ideas about astronomy and cosmology, the novel is an important example of both popular fiction and scientific speculation. This Broadview Edition includes a critical introduction that places the text in its scientific and historical contexts. The rich selection of appendices includes related writings by Godwin and his predecessors and contemporaries on magnetism, human flight, voyages to real and unreal lands, and the possibility of extra-terrestrial life. |
Sommario
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A Brief Chronology | 61 |
A Note on the Text | 63 |
THE MAN IN THE MOONE | 65 |
TEXTUAL NOTES | 123 |
Francis Godwin Nuncius Inanimatus 1629 | 125 |
From William of NewburghOn the Green Children 119698 | 139 |
Arguments about Aliens Philip MelanchthonTommaso Campanella John Wilkins | 142 |
From Jan Huygen van Linschoten Discours of Voyages into the Easte and West Indies 1596 | 144 |
From Mark Ridley A Short Treatise of Magneticall Bodies and Motions 1613 | 149 |
From Robert Burton The Anatomy of Melancholy 1621 1628 | 153 |
From John Wilkins Mathematicall Magick 1648 | 159 |
Bibliography and Works Cited | 165 |
From Lucian of Samosata The True History | 135 |