Aliens in the Ancient Mind: Early Ideas About Extraterrestrial Life

What did beings from other planets look like?

When Galileo’s observations of the solar system became widely known, people started wondering if these other worlds were like our own. Did life exist on them? Did people live there? The Church finally decided that such speculation was not blasphemous. As the truth of the plurality of worlds became accepted, it was assumed that God would never knowingly create a world for no reason and that other planets meant other beings. Right?

Early astronomers began to question whether other worlds were like our own and speculated what the beings were like – as we continue to do today! Explore their ideas and the history regarding life outside our planet with author and illustrator Ron Miller.

Ron Miller is an illustrator and author living in South Boston, Virginia. Before becoming a freelance illustrator in 1977, Miller was art director for the National Air & Space Museum's Albert Einstein Planetarium. Prior to this he was a commercial advertising illustrator. His primary work today entails the writing and illustration of books specializing in astronomical, astronautical and science fiction subjects. To date he has more than fifty titles to his credit. His work has also appeared in National Geographic, Astronomy, Scientific American, Science et Vie, Air & Space, Sky & Telescope, Natural History, Discover, Geo, etc.

Miller's books include the Hugo-nominated The Grand Tour, Cycles of Fire, In the Stream of Stars, and The History of Earth. Miller is a contributing editor for Air & Space/Smithsonian magazine, a member of the International Academy of Astronautics, a Life Member and a Fellow and past Trustee of the International Association for the Astronomical Arts.