Planets and Planetarians

Stanley L. Jaki

In this age of space probes and radio telescopes it seems to have come within man's reach to answer on an experimental and observational basis the age-old question whether planets are, like the earth, abodes of life. The question is closely connected with the long-standing inquiries into the mechanism of the origin and evolution of the solar system. Answers to these inquiries have a direct bearing on the problem whether the stars in general can be expected to have their retinue of planets. It should not therefore be surprising that speculations about the origin of our system of planets have from the very start been heavily influenced by belief in the principle of plenitude, or the presumed fullness of the universe with living beings. The title of this book, Planets and Planetarians -- A History of Theories of the Origin of Planetary Systems -- is a reminder of that influence.

The book, however, offers much more than a penetrating insight into the colouring of scientific thought by assumptions that cannot be justified by attention to the so-called scientific method. with his customary attention to original sources, Professor Jaki, a historian of science of international reputation, offers once more a wealth of material not available in any previous publication on the topic.

Professor Jaki reaches the conclusion that, stereotyped claims to the contrary, science is nowhere close to a satisfactory explanation of our planetary system, let alone to an explanation which makes the planetary system a ubiquitous feature of the universe. As his painstaking historical study of the past centuries shows, the claims in question have during the past centuries repeatedly become a tone of thought, subtly revealing something of the shallowness that can endanger scientific reasoning. The documentation and the illustrative material make this work an indispensable source book on a topic which is increasingly becoming a central issue in man's understanding of his place in the universe.