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ONE OF THE EARLIEST DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING ALIEN LIFE HUYGENS, Christianus The Celestial Worlds Discover'd: or, Conjectures Concerning the Inhabitants, Plants and Productions of the Worlds in the Planets. London: Printed for James Knapton, at the Crown in St. Paul's Church-yard, 1722 Small 8vo., contemporary blindstamped calf, lined and decorated with borders and cornerpieces in blind to both boards, five raised bands to spine with contrasting red morocco letterpiece to second compartment; red speckled edges; pp. [iv], iii-vi, 162 (full collation A-K8, L4), containing all five folding engraved plates as called for; the binding marked and rubbed, respined with original label preserved; some worming to the lower board; early ownership inscription in ink to the ffep, as well as a lengthy gift inscription from David A. Keys to Miss Isabel K. Williamson in ink to ffep, and Keys' bookplate affixed to the front paste-down; corner tape repair to the verso of ffep; as well as the rear endpaper and board; prelims a touch browned and spotted; but internally a very fresh and clean example of a scarce work; a few very small spots to the plates, and occasionally annotated throughout in neat pencil, but otherwise seldom found in this condition. Second edition in English , corrected and enlarged. The first had appeared in Latin in 1698, with the first English in the same year. This, the second, followed nearly 25 years later. The present example includes the gift inscription of David A. Keys to the front free endpaper: "From David A. Keys, Sept. 1/32/ Cambridge. to Miss Isabel K. Williamson in appreciation of her 23 years as editor of "Skyward", the monthly Newsletter of the Montreal centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada. May 30th 1971." A fascinating work postulating the existence of extra-terrestrial life on other planets, taking as its basis the Copernican theory of the universe. Christiaan Huygens ( 1629 - 1695) was a Dutch mathematician, physicist and astronomer who was responsible for discovering (and determining the nature of) the rings of Saturn. In his role as an engineer and inventor, he furthermore created the first pendulum clock in 1657, which allowed for more accurate equations of time, thereby influencing planetary theory . It was shortly before his death in 1695 that Huygens compiled this speculative work entitled Cosmotheoros, which was later published posthumously by his brother. Treatises such as these had been published before, but because of his scientific background, Huygens could expound his theories in greater detail. These revolve around the need for (and evidence of) water on other planets, with the dark and light spots on Mars and Jupiter suggesting evidence of water and ice. He goes on to discuss the nature of other beings - what they may look like, and whether those beings may be similarly rational. The included plates show the Copernican system of the universe (with his heliocentric model placing the sun at the centre), pleasing diagrams showing the rings of Saturn and the trajectories of various orbits; as well as the various moons surrounding the planets. Huygens also goes on to suggest the approximate size of the solar system, as well as his methods for calculating stellar differences. Though based on scientific theory, the work was still likely regarded at the time as a Utopian fiction in a similar vein to other writers of the day including Cyrano de Bergerac, although it undoubtedly inspired a shift in attitude towards the possibility of life on planets other than our own. Isabel Williamson was director of observations of the Royal Astronomical Society at the Montreal Centre from 1942 to 1971, and has been credited as being the driving force behind the observing programs at the centre during the 1940s to 60s. She was a frequent observer of auroras and meteors, and built her own 15 cm reflector in 1947. From 1948 to 1971, she was the first Editor of the Centre's newsletter, Skyward , which was pu.
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