Desert island Autodidactus" inspired Robert Boyle, an acquaintance of Pococke, to write his own philosophical novel set on a deserted island, "The Aspiring Naturalist". Ibn al-Nafis' "Theologus Autodidactus" was also eventually translated into English in the early 20th century. Published in 1719, Daniel Defoe's novel "Robinson Crusoe" about a castaway on a desert island has spawned so many imitations in film, television and radio that its name was used to define a genre, Robinsonade. The novel features Man Friday, Crusoe's personal assistant. It is likely that Defoe took inspiration for Crusoe from a Scottish sailor named Alexander Selkirk, who was rescued in
Despair Island during a nighttime boat ride. Roger Williams named this and the other islands in Narragansett Bay, and a popular Colonial-period song helped children remember their names: <poem>Prudence, Patience, Hope, and Despair And little Hog Island, right over there.</poem> Despair Island Despair Island is a small island in Narragansett Bay in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located between Hope Island and Prudence Island. The island is composed of many outcroppings of rocks used extensively by nesting birds, such as gulls and terns. Despair Island is marked with a buoy because it is hard to see during daylight hours; it is