{"product_id":"2940014776097","title":"Man's Place in the Universe A Study of the Results of Scientific Research in Relation to the Unity or Plurality of Worlds (Illustrated)","description":"•  Includes  original illustrations\u003cbr\u003e•  The book has been proof-read and corrected for spelling and grammatical errors\u003cbr\u003e•  A table of contents with working links to chapters is included\u003cbr\u003eThis work has been written in consequence of the great interest excited by my article, under the same title, which appeared simultaneously in The Fortnightly Review and the New York Independent. Two friends who read the manuscript were of opinion that a volume, in which the evidence could be given much more fully, would be desirable, and the result of the publication of the article confirmed their view.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI was led to a study of the subject when writing four new chapters on Astronomy for a new edition of The Wonderful Century. I then found that almost all writers on general astronomy, from Sir John Herschel to Professor Simon Newcomb and Sir Norman Lockyer, stated, as an indisputable fact, that our sun is situated in the plane of the great ring of the Milky Way, and also very nearly in the centre of that ring. The most recent researches also showed that there was little or no proof of there being any stars or nebulæ very far beyond the Milky Way, which thus seemed to be the limit, in that direction, of the stellar universe.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTurning to the earth and the other planets of the Solar System, I found that the most recent researches led to the conclusion that no other planet was likely to be the seat of organic life, unless perhaps of a very low type. For many years I had paid special attention to the problem of the measurement of geological time, and also that of the mild climates and generally uniform conditions that had prevailed throughout all geological epochs; and on considering the number of concurrent causes and the delicate balance of conditions required to maintain such uniformity, I became still more convinced that the evidence was exceedingly strong against the probability or possibility of any other planet being inhabited.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHaving long been acquainted with most of the works dealing with the question of the supposed Plurality of Worlds, I was quite aware of the very superficial treatment the subject had received, even in the hands of the most able writers, and this made me the more willing to set forth the whole of the available evidence—astronomical, physical, and biological—in such a way as to show both what was proved and what suggested by it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe present work is the result, and I venture to think that those who will read it carefully will admit that it is a book that was worth writing. It is founded almost entirely on the marvellous body of facts and conclusions of the New Astronomy together with those reached by modern physicists, chemists, and biologists. Its novelty consists in combining the various results of these different branches of science into a connected whole, so as to show their bearing upon a single problem—a problem which is of very great interest to ourselves.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis problem is, whether or no the logical inferences to be drawn from the various results of modern science lend support to the view that our earth is the only inhabited planet, not only in the Solar System but in the whole stellar universe. Of course it is a point as to which absolute demonstration, one way or the other, is impossible. But in the absence of any direct proofs, it is clearly rational to inquire into probabilities; and these probabilities must be determined not by our prepossessions for any particular view, but by an absolutely impartial and unprejudiced examination of the tendency of the evidence.","brand":"Unforgotten Classics","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47161409470704,"sku":"2940014776097","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940014776097_p0.jpg?v=1763615156","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940014776097","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}