• Corpus ID: 55503910

The Surprising History of Claims for Life on the Sun

@inproceedings{Crowe2011TheSH,
  title={The Surprising History of Claims for Life on the Sun},
  author={Michael J. Crowe},
  year={2011}
}
  • M. Crowe
  • Published 1 November 2011
  • Physics
Because astronomers are now convinced that it is impossible for life, especially intelligent life, to exist on the Sun and stars, it might be assumed that astronomers have always held this view. This paper shows that throughout most of the history of astronomy, some intellectuals, including a number of well-known astronomers, have advocated the existence of intelligent life on our Sun and thereby on stars. Among the more prominent figures discussed are Nicolas of Cusa, Giordano Bruno, William… 
narit.or.th
5 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
1
Background Citations
1

5 Citations

Extraterrestrial Life as the Great Analogy, Two Centuries Ago and in Modern Astrobiology
Mainstream ideas on the existence of extraterrestrial life in the late 18th and early 19th centuries are examined, with a focus on William Herschel, one of the greatest astronomers of all time.…
FROM THE DEATH OF THE SOLARIANS TO THE BIRTH OF ASTROPHYSICS
William Herschel's solar model in which the Sun was believed to be a dark solid body surrounded by two atmospheres, of which the outer was luminous, continued to be accepted by astronomers well into…
William Herschel and Comets
In this paper I examine the observational and theoretical researches of William Herschel on 21 comets that he observed over the period 1781–1812. His sister Caroline’s comet discoveries, especially…
The Extraterrestrial Life Debate from Antiquity to 1900
This chapter provides an overview of the Western historical debate regarding extraterrestrial life from antiquity to the beginning of the twentieth century. Though schools of thought in antiquity…
References
  • Tourism Social Science Series
  • 2019

References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 40 REFERENCES
The Sun
TLDR
The present volume is regarded as a considerable expansion of his chapters on the sun in that work, with additional matter, giving an account of the recent solar discoveries, and has been very judiciously done.
A Cycle of Celestial Objects
THERE can be, we think, little doubt that the publication of Admiral Smyth's “Cycle of Celestial Objects” powerfully stimulated a taste for astronomy amongst amateurs in this country. It was popular…
XIV. Astronomical observations relating to the sidereal part of the heavens, and its connection with the nebulous part; arranged for the purpose of a critical examination
  • W. Herschel
  • Physics
    Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London
  • 1814
In my paper of observations of the nebulous part of the heavens, I have endeavoured to shew the probability of a very gradual conversion of the nebulous matter into the sidereal appearance The…
John Elliot and the inhabited sun
Summary In July 1787, Dr John Elliot, apothecary and scientist, assaulted Miss Mary Boydell in the streets of London. Elliotś defenders sought his acquittal on the grounds of insanity, and cited as…
Exploring the Sun: Solar Science since Galileo
'Recipient of the American Astronautical Society'sEugene M. Emme Award.' "This is a book written from the point of view of a historian interested not only in science itself, but also in the factors…
Auguste Comte's blunder: an account of the first century of stellar spectroscopy and how it took one hundred years to prove that Comte was wrong!
In 1835 the French philosopher Auguste Comte predicted that we would never know anything about the chemical composition of stars. This paper gives a broad overview of the development of stellar…
More Worlds Than One: The Creed of the Philosopher and the Hope of the Christian
Preface Introduction 1. Religious aspect of the question 2. Description of the solar system 3. The geological condition of the earth 4. Analogy between the earth and the other planets 5. The sun,…
The Extraterrestrial Life Debate, Antiquity to 1915: A Source Book
This book presents key documents from the pre-1915 history of the extraterrestrial life debate. Introductions and commentaries accompany each source document, some of which are published here for the…
“Other Worlds than Ours”
MR. PRITCHARD, in reviewing my book on the plurality of worlds, says that I represent Mr. Lockyer as impeding the progress of science; on the contrary, I regard Mr. Lockyer as one who has, in a most…
Plurality Of Worlds: The Origins Of The Extraterrestrial Life Debate From Democritus To Kant
This is a fascinating history of the debate over the question of extraterrestrial life from Classical Greece to the mid-eighteenth century. Using many primary and secondary sources never examined in…
...
...