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Where Martians Roam
Why did early-twentieth-century astronomers believe life existed on Mars?
The recent landings of two Martian rovers — the Perseverance (US) and Zhurong (China) — have turned the earth’s attention back to our celestial neighbor. Although we would be amazed if one of these high-tech explorers uncovered traces of life on the red planet, such a discovery would not have rattled early-twentieth-century astronomers. The best-known scientists of that age — Camille Flammarion, Percival Lowell, and William Pickering all believed that Mars hosted an older and far-superior civilization than what was found on this planet.
The Martians were out there, patiently waiting for humanity to gain the technological sophistication required for first contact.
From Science Fiction to Science
Science fiction began to emerge as a literary genre in the eighteenth century. Tales set on Mars proliferated near the end of the century. Some authors imagined expeditions to the planet; the famous French astronomer, Camille Flammarion, wrote about the reincarnation of an earth couple as Martians; H. G. Wells, in his War of the Worlds depicted less-friendly Martians invading Earth.
