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Conversations On The Plurality Of Worlds
''Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds'' (french: Entretiens sur la pluralité des mondes) is a popular science book by French author Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle, published in 1686. Content The work consists of six lessons popularizing the knowledge of René Descartes and Nicolas Copernicus, given to a Marquise, spread over six evenings and preceded of a preface and a dispatch ''To Monsieur L***'' . * ''First evening.'' That the Earth is a Planet which turns on itself, & around the Sun. * ''Second evening.'' That the Moon is an inhabited Earth. * ''Third night.'' Peculiarities of the Moon World. That the other Planets are also inhabited. * ''Fourth evening.'' Peculiarities of the Worlds of Venus, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, & Saturn . * ''Fifth night.'' That the Fixed Stars are so many Suns, each of which illuminates a World. * ''Sixth evening.'' New thoughts that confirm those of previous Interviews. Latest discoveries that have been made in Heaven. Analysis Unlike ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Age Of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intellectual and philosophical movement that dominated Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries with global influences and effects. The Enlightenment included a range of ideas centered on the value of human happiness, the pursuit of knowledge obtained by means of reason and the evidence of the senses, and ideals such as liberty, progress, toleration, fraternity, and constitutional government. The Enlightenment was preceded by the Scientific Revolution and the work of Francis Bacon, John Locke, and others. Some date the beginning of the Enlightenment to the publication of René Descartes' ''Discourse on the Method'' in 1637, featuring his famous dictum, ''Cogito, ergo sum'' ("I think, therefore I am"). Others cite the publication of Isaac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Popular Science Books
A science book is a work of nonfiction, usually written by a scientist, researcher, or professor like Stephen Hawking ('' A Brief History of Time''), or sometimes by a non-scientist such as Bill Bryson ('' A Short History of Nearly Everything''). Usually these books are written for a wide audience presumed to have a general education rather than a specifically scientific training, as opposed to the very narrow audience that a scientific paper would have, and are therefore referred to as popular science. As such, they require considerable talent on the part of the author to sufficiently explain difficult topics to people who are totally new to the subject, and a good blend of storytelling and technical writing. In the UK, the Royal Society Prizes for Science Books are considered to be the most prestigious awards for science writing. In the US, the National Book Awards briefly had a category for science writing in the 1960s, but now they just have the broad categories of fiction ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French Books
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Fortnite French places Arts and media * The French (band), a British rock band * "French" (episode), a live-action episode of ''The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!'' * ''Française'' (film), 2008 * French Stewart (born 1964), American actor Other uses * French (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * French (tunic), a particular type of military jacket or tunic used in the Russian Empire and Soviet Union * French's, an American brand of mustard condiment * French catheter scale, a unit of measurement of diameter * French Defence, a chess opening * French kiss, a type of kiss involving the tongue See also * France (other) * Franch, a surname * Frenc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1686 Books
Events January–March * January 3 – In Madras (now Chennai) in India, local residents employed by the East India Company threaten to boycott their jobs after corporate administrator William Gyfford imposes a house tax on residences within the city walls. Gyfford places security forces at all entrances to the city and threatens to banish anyone who fails to pay their taxes, as well as to confiscate the goods of merchants who refuse to make sales. A compromise is reached the next day on the amount of the taxes. * January 17 – King Louis XIV of France reports the success of the Edict of Fontainebleau, issued on October 22 against the Protestant Huguenots, and reports that after less than three months, the vast majority of the Huguenot population had left the country. * January 29 – In Guatemala, Spanish Army Captain Melchor Rodríguez Mazariegos leads a campaign to conquer the indigenous Maya people in the rain forests of Lacandona, departing fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Venus In Fiction
The planet Venus has been used as a setting in fiction since before the 19th century. Its impenetrable cloud cover gave science fiction writers free rein to speculate on conditions at its surface; the planet was often depicted as warmer than Earth but still habitable by humans. Depictions of Venus as a lush, verdant paradise, an oceanic planet, or fetid swampland, often inhabited by dinosaur-like beasts or other monsters, became common in early pulp science fiction, particularly between the 1930s and 1950s. Some other stories portrayed it as a desert, or invented more exotic settings. The absence of a common vision resulted in Venus not developing a coherent fictional mythology, in contrast to the image of Mars in fiction. When portrayed, the native sentient inhabitants, Venusians, were generally portrayed as gentle, ethereal and beautiful. Early science fiction writers who set their stories on Venus included Otis Adelbert Kline in the 1920s; Edgar Rice Burroughs, Olaf Stapledo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
English Language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the island of Great Britain. Existing on a dialect continuum with Scots, and then closest related to the Low Saxon and Frisian languages, English is genealogically West Germanic. However, its vocabulary is also distinctively influenced by dialects of France (about 29% of Modern English words) and Latin (also about 29%), plus some grammar and a small amount of core vocabulary influenced by Old Norse (a North Germanic language). Speakers of English are called Anglophones. The earliest forms of English, collectively known as Old English, evolved from a group of West Germanic ( Ingvaeonic) dialects brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the 5th century and further mutated by Norse-speaking Viking settlers starting in the 8t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elizabeth Gunning (translator)
Elizabeth Gunning (1769–1823) was a French-into-English translator and a novelist. Gunning was the daughter of John Gunning and writer Susannah Gunning. Miss Gunning married Major James Plunkett of Kinnaird, Co. Roscommon, Ireland in 1803, and they had a son James "Gunning" Plunkett. She died after a long illness on 20 July 1823, at Long Melford, Suffolk. Their other children included George Argyle Plunkett, who became a physician in Brooklyn, New York. Works She published several translations from the French, including: *''Memoirs of Madame de Barneveldt,'' 2 vols. 8vo, London, 1795. Prefixed to the second edition, in 1796, is a charming portrait of Miss Gunning by the younger Saunders, engraved by Francesco Bartolozzi, R.A. *''The Wife with two Husbands: a tragi-comedy, in three acts nd in prose Translated from the French (of Pixèrecourt),'' 8vo, London, 1803. She had unsuccessfully offered this, with an opera based upon it, to Covent Garden and Drury Lane Drury ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Most Holy Synod
The Most Holy Governing Synod (russian: Святѣйшій Правительствующій Сѵнодъ, Святейший Правительствующий Синод) was the highest governing body of the Russian Orthodox Church between 1721 and 1917. It was abolished following the February Revolution of 1917 and replaced with a restored patriarchate under Tikhon of Moscow. The jurisdiction of the Most Holy Synod extended over every kind of ecclesiastical question and over some partly secular matters. Peter I of Russia established the Synod on January 25, 1721 in the course of his church reform. Its establishment was followed by the abolition of the Patriarchate. The synod was composed partly of ecclesiastical persons, partly of laymen appointed by the Tsar. Members included the Metropolitans of Saint Petersburg, Moscow and Kyiv, and the Exarch of Georgia. Originally, the Synod had ten ecclesiastical members, but the number later changed to twelve. Background A seri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Censorship
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments, private institutions and other controlling bodies. Governments and private organizations may engage in censorship. Other groups or institutions may propose and petition for censorship.https://www.aclu.org/other/what-censorship "What Is Censorship", ACLU When an individual such as an author or other creator engages in censorship of his or her own works or speech, it is referred to as ''self-censorship''. General censorship occurs in a variety of different media, including speech, books, music, films, and other arts, the press, radio, television, and the Internet for a variety of claimed reasons including national security, to control obscenity, pornography, and hate speech, to protect children or other vulnerable groups, to promote o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Russian Language
Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European language family. It is one of four living East Slavic languages, and is also a part of the larger Balto-Slavic languages. Besides Russia itself, Russian is an official language in Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, and is used widely as a lingua franca throughout Ukraine, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and to some extent in the Baltic states. It was the ''de facto'' language of the former Soviet Union, Constitution and Fundamental Law of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, 1977: Section II, Chapter 6, Article 36 and continues to be used in public life with varying proficiency in all of the post-Soviet states. Russian has over 258 million total speakers worldwide. It is the most spoken Slavic language, and the most spoken native language in Europe, as well as the most g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antiokh Kantemir
Antiochus or Antioch Kantemir or Cantemir (russian: Антиох Дмитриевич Кантемир, ''Antiokh Dmitrievich Kantemir''; ro, Antioh Cantemir; tr, Antioh Kantemiroğlu; french: Antioche Cantemir; 8 September 1708 – 31 March 1744) was a Moldavian who served as a man of letters, diplomat, and prince during the Russian Enlightenment. He has been called "the father of Russian poetry". Life Kantemir was born into a noble Moldavian family at Iaşi on 8 September 1708. His illiterate grandfather Constantin had been made voivode of Moldavia by the Ottomans in 1685 and was succeeded by his well-educated sons Antioch and Demetrius. Kantemir was the son of Demetrius by his wife, the Princess Kassandra Cantacuzene, who claimed descent from the Byzantine dynasty of the same name. He spent much of his youth in Constantinople as a hostage to the Turks. He was then educated by his father and at the St Petersburg Academy before moving to the family estat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
