The church has long tried to censor the results of Galileo Galilei, but knowledge has spread, and people began to realize that there are other worlds in the universe. But are these planets similar to ours and are there living beings there? Gradually, even religious representatives accepted the situation and began to search for answers to these questions.
If God created other worlds, then he had to populate their lives, because nothing is created in this Universe in vain. For example, the theologian Thomas Burnet wrote:
“God Himself formed the Earth to be habitable. This is true for our planet and for any other world. What is the point of building a house if nobody lives in it? ”.
Following this, several books were published which described what aliens could be on other planets. Of course, the imprint of religion was noted here, so other creatures reminded people.
Early astronomers began to doubt whether other worlds would resemble the earthly one. Here is the Copernicus conversation with God.
Alien Vision
Perhaps the first science fiction novel appeared in 1634. This is the book “Somnium” written by Johann Kepler. He was a serious scientist, so he used all the available knowledge to describe the Moon and its possible inhabitants in detail. He believed that the night lasted 15 days, and it was much colder than on Earth. But on the day side there should be a strong heat.
Kepler believed that lunar creatures had to adapt to these extreme conditions. Some went into hibernation, while others increased hard shell and other means of protection. In the book of the scientist Athanasius Kircher, written in 1656, the Moon turned out to be habitable. Her landscapes included mountains, lakes, oceans, rivers and islands. Even in John Milton's “The Lost Paradise” (1667), the angel and Adam discuss the possibility of living in other worlds. But the angel advises Adam not to dream of other planets, because God does not want us to comprehend this knowledge.
Flammarion Engraving (Paris, 1888)
The French mathematician Bernard de Fontenelle was not afraid to dream and always tried to understand which creatures can be found on other planets. He even tried to answer this in a unique way. The scientist said that the planets should resemble the terrestrial structure, but their conditions will be different.
For example, de Fontenel thought that Mercury would be incredibly hot, so the locals must be able to cope with such conditions physically, but this will affect the character.
Conversations about the multiplicity of worlds (1715)
But the researcher faced a common problem in those times - lack of information. It was possible to work only with the approximate size of the planets and their distance to the Sun. It was impossible to understand whether the planets of the atmosphere, what the temperature of the day and night, the rotation speed, etc.
But de Fontenelle did not stop and even described the nature of the creatures. He believed that violent, excitable and hot-tempered people should live on Mercury. The scientist wrote:
“They resemble the Moors of Granada. These are small, dark-skinned and sun-burned creatures. There is a lot of fire and wit in their character. They are excited, they write poems, they are addicted to music and they constantly arrange carnivals and noisy holidays with dancing ”.
In early science fiction novels, they tried to understand what aliens might look like. In the picture - St. Wolfgang and the devil
But the creatures on Venus are constantly flirting. Here is an analogy with the fact that Venus was the goddess of love among the Romans. On the giant Jupiter there lived only wise men and philosophers, who renounced carnal pleasures and all earthly things. Saturn is incredibly cold, so the creatures preferred to live in one place and never left their homes. Interestingly, de Fontenel considered the moon uninhabitable because of its thin atmosphere.
Gabriel Daniel, who described the lunar beings as incredibly moral and spiritual personalities with tremendous physical strength, did not agree with him. They were so developed that they moved only due to the effort of will! For the first time lunar humanoids with copper-colored skin were described by Ralph Morris in 1751.
A great many descriptions of potential aliens have survived. Modern knowledge has allowed to diversify their creepy creatures, like Alien. But the value of these books lies in the fact that people have expanded their understanding of the universe. Now we are looking into space with the hope that not alone, and someone friendly and developed one day will respond to our call.
