*John Wilkins was the brother-in-law of Oliver Cromwell, among his other accomplishments, most of them in divinity and natural science.
*Wilkins lived in a period of civil war and religious strife, but he seemed to lack enemies. People said he was one of the nicest guys you would ever meet.
*Also, he thought the Moon might be inhabited.
THE
DISCOVERY
OF A
WORLD
IN THE
MOONE.
or,
A DISCOVRSE
Tending
TO PROVE
that ’tis probable there
may be another habitable
World in that Planet.
_Quid tibi inquis ista proderunt? Si nihil aliud,
hoc certè, sciam omnia angusta esse._
SENECA. Præf. ad 1. Lib. _N. Q._
_LONDON_,
Printed by _E. G._ for _Michael Sparl_
and _Edward Forrest_, 1638.
(((Various learned yet tedious arguments ensue, then are summed up at the end of the treatise.)))
The Propositions that are proved in this Discourse.
Proposition 1.
_That the strangenesse of this opinion is no sufficient reason why it
should be rejected, because other certaine truths have beene formerly
esteemed ridiculous, and great absurdities entertayned by common
consent._
Prop. 2.
_That a plurality of worlds doth not contradict any principle of
reason or faith._
Prop. 3.
_That the heavens doe not consist of any such pure matter which can
priviledge them from the like change and corruption, as these
inferiour bodies are liable unto._
Prop. 4.
_That the Moone is a solid, compacted opacous body._
Prop. 5.
_That the Moone hath not any light of her owne._
Prop. 6.
_That there is a world in the Moone, hath beene the direct opinion of
many ancient, with some moderne Mathematicians, and may probably be
deduced from the tenents of others._
Prop. 7.
_That those spots and brighter parts which by our sight may be
distinguished in the Moone, doe shew the difference betwixt the
Sea and Land in that other world._
Prop. 8.
_That the spots represent the Sea, and the brighter parts the Land._
Prop. 9.
_That there are high Mountaines, deepe vallies, and spacious plaines
in the body of the Moone._
Prop. 10.
_That there is an Atmo-sphæra, or an orbe of grosse vaporous aire,
immediately encompassing the body of the Moone._
Prop. 11.
_That as their world is our Moone, so our world is their Moone._
Prop. 12.
_That tis probable there may bee such Meteors belonging to that world
in the Moone, as there are with us._
Prop. 13.
_That tis probable there may be inhabitants in this other World, but
of what kinde they are is uncertaine._
FINIS.
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