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Paradise Lost and the Cosmological Revolution

Dennis Danielson author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Cambridge University Press

Published:6th Nov '14

Currently unavailable, currently targeted to be due back around 2nd December 2024, but could change

Paradise Lost and the Cosmological Revolution cover

This volume brings John Milton's Paradise Lost into dialogue with the challenges of cosmology and the world of Galileo.

This volume brings John Milton's Paradise Lost into dialogue with the challenges of cosmology and the world of Galileo, whom Milton met and admired: a universe encompassing space travel, an earth that participates vibrantly in the cosmic dance, and stars that are 'world[s] / Of destined habitation'. Milton's bold depiction of our universe as merely a small part of a larger multiverse allows the removal of hell from the center of the earth to a location in the primordial abyss. In this wide-ranging work, Dennis Danielson lucidly unfolds early modern cosmological debates, engaging not only Galileo but also Copernicus, Tycho, Kepler, and the English Copernicans, thus placing Milton at a rich crossroads of epic poetry and the history of science.

'Dennis Danielson's remarkable new book, Paradise Lost and the Cosmological Revolution, is a highly readable, lucid, and important account of the universes of Milton's epic poem in their historical context … Danielson offers his book as 'the full rescue mission' necessary for readers 'to relish the astonishing engagement of the plot, persons, and poetry of Paradise Lost with the Cosmos'. He succeeds famously, and along the way he demolishes the view of Milton as scientifically obscurantist or backward or as settling for an antiquated cosmology for poetic convenience. Milton emerges instead as an early master of informed science fiction.' Stephen M. Fallon, The Review of English Studies
'… all serious students of Milton's poem will turn to Danielson's analysis as one of the top three or so most valuable labor-, time-, and mind-saving treatments of the topic.' Pamela Gossin, Journal for the History of Astronomy
'Danielson enables us to appreciate just how rich and complex his knowledge of contemporary astronomy and cosmology really was.' Peter Barker, Milton Quarterly
'Danielson's monograph will appeal mostly to those interested in contextual studies, especially the history of astronomy, but it contains some inspiring ideas for Miltonists too.' Šárka Tobrmanová, Notes and Queries

ISBN: 9781107033603

Dimensions: 229mm x 155mm x 25mm

Weight: 500g

246 pages