Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds, credited to Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds by Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle. (Translated by William Gardiner.) Read in English by LibriVox volunteers. This book is a popular science book written in the late 1600s. It is written as a series of conversations between a gallant philosopher and a countess, while walking in her garden and gazing at the stars. The philosopher explains the heliocentric (sun as the centre) model of the solar system and also muses on the possibility of extraterrestrial life. While it explains the heliocentric model, unlike other astronomy works of the time, it did not attract the attention of the Church. (Summary by TriciaG, modified from Wikipedia)

Recording facts

• Recording title: Conversations on the Plurality of Worlds
• Author credits: Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 14
• Listed recording duration: 3:43:05

Catalogue topics

• philosophy
• history
• science
• astronomy
• popular

Track guide

1. 00 - Preface — 9:19
2. 01 - To Monsieur R. — 2:21
3. 02 - That the Earth is a Planet which Turns on Itself and Round the Sun Part 1 — 15:49
4. 03 - That the Earth is a Planet which Turns on Itself and Round the Sun Part 2 — 18:53
5. 04 - That the Moon is an Inhabited World Part 1 — 14:42
6. 05 - That the Moon is an Inhabited World Part 2 — 20:59
7. 06 - Some Particulars Concerning the World in the Moon, and Proofs of the other Planets being likewise Inhabited Part 1 — 17:27
8. 07 - Some Particulars Concerning the World in the Moon, and Proofs of the other Planets being likewise Inhabited Part 2 — 13:05
9. 08 - Some Particulars concerning the Worlds of Venus, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn Part 1 — 28:57
10. 09 - Some Particulars concerning the Worlds of Venus, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn Part 2 — 14:14
11. 10 - That the fix'd Stars are so many Suns, every one of which gives Light to a World Part 1 — 18:21
12. 11 - That the fix'd Stars are so many Suns, every one of which gives Light to a World Part 2 — 14:39
13. 12 - Some New Observations that confirm what has been laid down in the preceeding Discourses and several late Discoveries which have been made in the Heavens Part 1 — 15:52
14. 13 - Some New Observations that confirm what has been laid down in the preceeding Discourses and several late Discoveries which have been made in the Heavens Part 2 — 18:27

Listen to this recording

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Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.