The Sleepwalkers (a History Of Man's Changing Vision Of The Universe)

By (author) Arthur Koestler; By (author) Koestler, Arthur
Short description/annotation
Dissects the sterile distinction between ''sciences'' and ''humanities'' to bring to life the whole history of cosmology from the Babylonians to Newton. The author shows how the tragic split between science and religion arose and how the modern world-view replaced the medieval world-view in the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century.
Description

Arthur Koestler''s extraordinary history of humanity''s changing vision of the universe

In this masterly synthesis, Arthur Koestler cuts through the sterile distinction between ''sciences'' and ''humanities'' to bring to life the whole history of cosmology from the Babylonians to Newton. He shows how the tragic split between science and religion arose and how, in particular, the modern world-view replaced the medieval world-view in the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century. He also provides vivid and judicious pen-portraits of a string of great scientists and makes clear the role that political bias and unconscious prejudice played in their creativity.

Review quote
The Sleepwalkers is a valuable and provocative book . . . a work with a noble aim
Review quote
The greatest part of this massive work is a close and valuable study of Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Kepler, and Galileo . . . He writes tensely, with passion, as though personally involved, about events that took place more than 300 years ago
Biographical note
Arthur Koestler (1905-1983) was an extraordinary polymath, writer and political polemicist. His most famous works include the novels Darkness at Noon and Arrival and Departure, his autobiographical writings, including Spanish Testament and Scum of the Earth, and his visionary non-fiction, including The Ghost in the Machine, The Case of the Midwife Toad and The Sleepwalkers.
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Passionate, provocative and lyrically told, The Sleepwalkers is the remarkable story of how man grew to understand the universe.