History

The essay examines past discussions about the possibility of extraterrestrial life and shows how opinions have changed throughout time. Initially, proponents of a solar system centered on the sun, such as Nicolaus Copernicus, cast doubt on the idea that humans have a special place at the center of the universe. Jérôme Lalande, a French astronomer, and Bernard Le Bovier de Fontenelle, a poet, employed comparisons to support their claims that other planets that resemble Earth must also be inhabited. These theories gained popularity during the Enlightenment, when thinkers like British theologians and supporters of Isaac Newton began to incorporate the idea of several inhabited realms into their theories of the cosmos.