Kepler's Dream of the Moon
In 1608, the astronomer Johannes Kepler wrote a story about a boy carried to the Moon by a spirit, where strange creatures crawl through scorching days and freezing nights.
What was reported
Johannes Kepler, who worked out the laws of how planets move, wrote a short story called Somnium, 'The Dream'. In it, a young Icelander named Duracotus is taken to the Moon, which Kepler calls Levania, by a spirit summoned by his mother, a wise woman.
Kepler used the story to describe what the Earth and sky would look like from the Moon, with long days and nights and the Earth hanging in the sky. He also imagined Moon creatures, which shelter in caves from the heat and grow and die in a single day.
Explanations offered
Somnium is often called one of the first works of science fiction. It was published after Kepler's death. During his life, his own mother was accused of witchcraft and put on trial, and Kepler believed that versions of his story, with its magical mother, had fed the rumours. He defended her, and she was released.
- When
- Written in 1608; published in 1634
- Where
- Levania, the Moon of Kepler's Somnium
- Witnesses
- Readers of Johannes Kepler
- Status
- Fiction
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.