Camille Flammarion

Omega, written by astronomer Camille Flammarion (1842?1925), is no less than an epic history of our future?a startling and unforgettable vision of the end of the world. Reasoned scientific speculation combined with probing philosophical inquiry lend credibility and magnitude to this tale of how humankind will physically and culturally evolve over the next several million years. ø The end begins in the twenty-fifth century, when a comet threatens to collide with the earth. The consequences of that frightening cosmic event are far-reaching, setting in motion a series of physical, psychic, and social changes that will profoundly affect the planet and its people far into the future. The earth?s surface drastically transforms over time. Cultures radically alter, collapse, and fade away. Nations rise and fall, species become extinct, and human beings find themselves at the end of the world, alone and changed in fundamental ways. This melancholic, poetic science fiction tale of things to come is as compelling and disturbing today as when it was first written.

The Last Days of the World

Omega

Quærens. You promised, dear Lumen, to describe to me that supremest of moments which immediately succeeds death, and to relate to me how, by a natural law, singular though it may seem, you lived again your past life, and penetrated a hitherto-unrevealed mystery. Lumen. Yes, my old friend, I will now keep my word; and I trust that, thanks to the life-long communion of our souls, you will be able to understand the phenomenon you deem so strange. There are many conceptions which a mortal mind finds difficult to grasp. Death, which has delivered me from the weak and easily-tired senses of the body, has not yet touched you with its liberating hand; you still belong to the living world, and in spite of your isolation in this retreat of yours amid the royal towers of the Faubourg St. Jaques, you still belong to the life of Earth, and are occupied with its petty distinctions. You must not, therefore, be surprised if, whilst I am explaining to you this mystery, I beg of you to isolate yourself still further from outer things, and to give me the mostfixed attention of which your mind is capable. Quærens. My one desire is to listen to your revelations; speak, therefore, without fear and to the point, and deign to acquaint me with those impressions, as yet to me unknown, which are experienced upon the cessation of life. Lumen. From what point do you wish me to begin my recital? Quærens. If you can recall it, I shall be pleased if you will begin at the moment when my trembling hands closed your eyes. Lumen. The separation of the thinking principle from the nervous system leaves no remembrance. It is as though the impressions made upon the brain which constitute memory were entirely effaced, to be renewed afterwards in another form. The first sensation of identity felt after death resembles that which is felt during life on awakening in the morning, when still confused with the visions of the night, the mind, wavering between the past and the future, endeavours to recover itself, and at the same time to retain the vanishing dreams, the pictures and events of which are still passing before it. At times when thus absorbed in the recollection of a delightful dream, the eyelids close, and in a half slumber the visions reappear. It is thus that our thinking faculty is divided at death, between a reality that it does not yet comprehend and a dream which has completely disappeared. The most conflicting impressions mingle in and confuse the mind, and if, overwhelmed by perishable feelings, a regret comes into the mind for the world that has been left behind, a sense of indefinable sadness weighs upon and darkens the imagination and hinders clearness of vision.

Lumen

The Science of Astronomy is sublime and beautiful. Noble, elevating, consoling, divine, it gives us wings, and bears us through Infinitude. In these ethereal regions all is pure, luminous, and splendid. Dreams of the Ideal, even of the Inaccessible, weave their subtle spells upon us. The imagination soars aloft, and aspires to the sources of Eternal Beauty. What greater delight can be conceived, on a fine spring evening, at the hour when the crescent moon is shining in the West amid the last glimmer of twilight, than the contemplation of that grand and silent spectacle of the stars stepping forth in sequence in the vast Heavens? All sounds of life die out upon the earth, the last notes of the sleepy birds have sunk away, the Angelus of the church hard by has rung the close of day. But if life is arrested around us, we may seek it in the Heavens. These incandescing orbs are so many points of interrogation suspended above our heads in the inaccessible depths of space. Gradually they multiply. There is Venus, the white star of the shepherd. There Mars, the little celestial world so near our own. There the giant Jupiter. The seven stars of the Great Bear seem to point out the pole, while they slowly revolve around it.

Astronomy for Amateurs

Camille Flammarion (1842-1925) began his career at 16 as a human computer under the great mathematician U. J. J. Le Verrier at the Paris Observatory. He soon tired of the drudgery; he was drawn to more romantic vistas, and at 19 wrote a book on an idea that he was to make his own—the habitability of other worlds. There followed a career as France’s greatest popularizer of astronomy, with over 60 titles to his credit. An admirer granted him a chateau at Juvisy-sur-l’Orge, and he set up a first-rate observatory dedicated to the study of the planet Mars. Finally, in 1892, he published his masterpiece, La Planete Mars et ses conditions d’habitabilite, a comprehensive summary of three centuries’ worth of literature on Mars, much of it based on his own personal research into rare memoirs and archives. As a history of that era, it has never been surpassed, and remains one of a handful of indispensable books on the red planet. Sir Patrick Moore (1923-2012) needs no introduction; his record of popularizing astronomy in Britain in the 20th century equaled Flammarion’s in France in the 19th century. Moore pounded out hundreds of books as well as served as presenter of the BBC’s TV program “Sky at Night” program for 55 years (a world record). Though Moore always insisted that the Moon was his chef-d’oeuvre, Mars came a close second, and in 1980 he produced a typescript of Flammarion’s classic. Unfortunately, even he found the project too daunting for his publish ers and passed the torch of keeping the project alive to a friend, the amateur astronomer and author William Sheehan, in 1993. Widely regarded as a leading historian of the planet Mars, Sheehan has not only meticulously compared and corrected Moore’s manuscript against Flammarion’s original so as to produce an authoritative text, he has added an important introduction showing the book’s significance in the history of Mars studies. Here results a book that remains an invaluable resource and is also a literary tour-de-force, in which the inimitable style of Flammarion has been rendered in the equally unique style of Moore.

As Translated by Patrick Moore

Camille Flammarion's The Planet Mars

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "Astronomy for Amateurs" by Camille Flammarion. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

In the twenty-fifth century AD, a comet will collide with the earth and bring about the end of the world. Faced with this apocalyptic knowledge, humanity undergoes a multitude of social, physical and psychic changes that engender incredible alterations to both people and planet over many millennia. Beautifully illustrated, this novel is a fascinating vision of humanity millions of years in the future. Camille Flammarion's 1893 science fiction novel “Omega” marries reasonable scientific speculation and philosophy in this impressive exploration of things that may be to come. Nicolas Camille Flammarion FRAS (1842–1925) was a French author and astronomer. A prolific writer, he produced over fifty books including science fiction novels, works on astronomy, and works on physical research. Other titles by this author include: “The Plurality of Inhabited Worlds” (1862), “Real and Imaginary Worlds” (1865), and “God in Nature” (1866). Read & Co. Classics is proudly republishing this vintage science fiction novel now in a new edition complete with the introductory essay 'Distances of the Stars'.

With the Introductory Essay 'Distances of the Stars'

Omega - The Last days of the World

Storia del cielo per Camillo Flammarion

astronomía popular

Las tierras del cielo

The Atmosphere

Histoire d'une comète. Dans l'infini

Récits de l'infini-Lumen

Lumen histoire d'une comète dans l'infini

Récits de l'infini

Dios en la naturaleza

Historia del cielo

אסטרונומיה פופולרית

השמים

Omega: the Last Days of the World

A General Description of the Heavens

Popular Astronomy

Death and Its Mystery ...

Verdens undergang

descripción astronómica, física, climatología y geografía de los planetas que con la tierra gravitan alrededor del sol y del estado probable de la vida en sus respectivas superficies

Las tierras del cielo, astronomía popular

Camille Flammarion

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