The Sleepwalkers
  • Published: 24 September 2014
  • ISBN: 9780141394534
  • Imprint: Penguin Classics
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 592
  • RRP: $27.99

The Sleepwalkers

A History of Man's Changing Vision of the Universe

Formats & editions
Paperback
24 Sep 2014
EBook
23 Feb 2017
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The visionary history of the universe and human progress

In this masterly synthesis, Arthur Koestler cuts through the sterile distinction between 'sciences' and 'humanities' to bring to life the whole history of cosmology from the Babylonians to Newton. He shows how the tragic split between science and religion arose and how, in particular, the modern world-view replaced the medieval world-view in the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century. He also provides vivid and judicious pen-portraits of a string of great scientists and makes clear the role that political bias and unconscious prejudice played in their creativity.
  • Published: 24 September 2014
  • ISBN: 9780141394534
  • Imprint: Penguin Classics
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 592
  • RRP: $27.99
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About the author

Arthur Koestler

Arthur Koestler was born in Budapest in 1905. He attended the University of Vienna before working as a foreign correspondent in the Middle East, Berlin and Paris. For six years he was an active member of the Communist Party, and was captured by Franco in the Spanish Civil War. In 1940 he came to England, adopting the language with his first book in English, Scum of the Earth. His publications manifest a wide range of political, scientific and literary interests, and include Darkness at Noon, Arrow in the Blue and The Invisible Writing. He died in 1983 by suicide, having frequently expressed a belief in the right to euthanasia.

Also by Arthur Koestler

Arrow in the Blue
The Invisible Writing
The Gladiators
Arrival and Departure
Darkness at Noon
See all

Praise for The Sleepwalkers

The Sleepwalkers is a valuable and provocative book . . . a work with a noble aim

Sunday Times

The greatest part of this massive work is a close and valuable study of Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Kepler, and Galileo . . . He writes tensely, with passion, as though personally involved, about events that took place more than 300 years ago

The Times