Lumen (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780819565686)

Lumen was first published by Camille Flammarion (1842-1925) in 1872 as part of the Stories of Infinity collection. Flammarion was a well-known French astronomer, writer and highly successful popularizer of science during the late 19th century. This famous novel, written in the form of a philosophical dialogue, features a cosmic spirit named Lumen who reveals the scientific wonders of the celestial universe to Quaerens, a young seeker of knowledge. Within its pages, the author mixes empirical observations about the nature and speed of light with vivid speculations about such diverse subjects as reincarnation, time travel, the reversibility of history and the ecospheres of alien planets. Lumen is one of the first science fiction novels to include detailed descriptions of alien life forms and the first to imagine (30 years before Einstein's theory of relativity) the differences in perception that might result from traveling at velocities close to and beyond the speed of light. This Wesleyan edition is the first English translation of the original French text in over a hundred years. The volume includes notes, appendices and a critical introduction.

Author: Camille Flammarion
ISBN-10: 0819565687
ISBN-13: 9780819565686
Publisher: Wesleyan University Press
Language: English
Published: 04/01/2002
Pages: 200
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.52lbs
Size: 8.58h x 5.62w x 0.45d

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 03/25/2002 pg. 46
Foreword 07/01/2002 pg. 67
Asimov's Science Fiction 04/01/2003 pg. 131
Choice 12/01/2002 pg. 637