History of the Planetary Systems from Thales to Kepler

Abstract

BY the publication of this masterly account of the development of cosmogonic ideas and the history of planetary systems from the early dawn of Greek philosophy to the final establishment of the Copernican system, Dr. Dreyer has rendered a great service to those who take an interest in the fascinating history of astronomical science. Throughout the work we have reason to admire his lucid exposition, based on profound historical studies, of the manifold views formed by the thinking minds of antiquity and of the middle ages on the mechanism of the universe, his definite conclusions on many controversial points, and, above all, his endeavour to trace out, as much as possible, the influences of the philosophic and religious tendencies of the time on the cosmological conceptions under view.

History of the Planetary Systems from Thales to Kepler.

By Dr. J. L. E. Dreyer. Pp. xii + 432. (Cambridge: University Press, 1906.) Price 10s. 6d. net.