Written around 1611 by the legendary astronomer Johannes Kepler, Somnium (Latin for "The Dream") is widely considered by visionaries like Carl Sagan and Isaac Asimov to be the first science-fiction novel ever created. In this groundbreaking work, Kepler imagines a perilous journey to the Moon, offering wild speculations about its alien inhabitants and how the cosmos would look from the lunar surface.
More than just a fantastical tale, Kepler used this story as a clever allegory to champion the controversial idea that the Earth moves around the Sun. Though it is a brief 58 pages, it is a dense, deeply rewarding piece of 17th-century scientific history that bridges the gap between medieval mysticism and modern astronomy.
Product Details:
Author: Johannes Kepler
Format: Paperback
Pages: 58
Dimensions: 8" x 5" x 0.12"
🔭 From the Desk of Paul Bracken:
"If you have ever watched Carl Sagan's 'Cosmos', you might remember his deep reverence for this specific book. Johannes Kepler didn't just help figure out the laws of planetary motion; he essentially invented the sci-fi genre to help people visualize a universe where the Earth wasn't the center of everything. It masquerades as a quick bedtime story with that large print and page count, but those 17th-century orbital mechanics get heavy fast! It is a brilliant, historically massive piece of literature packed into a very small booklet. A must-have for anyone fascinated by the history of astronomy."
