The Sleepwalkers
A History of Man's Changing Vision of the Universe
Koestler’s history of cosmology from the Babylonians to Newton, built around Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Kepler and Galileo. His argument is that the great advances were made by men stumbling, sleepwalking, towards truths they did not intend and often could not see, and that scientific and mystical thinking were tangled together in all of them. He is generous to Kepler, whose notebooks he read closely, and severe on Copernicus and Galileo. Widely read since 1959 and still the book that has sent many readers to astronomy.
Recommended by 1 Person
Dava Sobel
Unfortunately, as you say, he didn't like Copernicus, or Galileo for that matter. The only one he seems to really have liked was Kepler. So one reads his book sceptically. But it is a book that was widely read and it had a tremendous influence on people. Even though it came out in the 1950s you still meet people who will talk about that book. And for many it was the book that got them interested in astronomy.
Interview · April 2012
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