The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-07-31
| SAVANTS SCOFF
| AT JIGNALlNO
Scheme toCommunicate With
Mars Pronounced Too
Absurd to Notice
+ HE Astronomical and Astrophysi
cal society of the United States. Il

ii
which are numbered several OF the
members OF the department of astron-
omy OF the state university, has not
taken kindly to the project OF signaling
the planet Mars next September, when
tnat celestial body approaches near to
the earth.
me society, in whose numbers are
The most noted scientists of the conn
try, has gone about its plans quietly.
anu will hurl bombshell into the
ranks of the signsiers to Mars at a
special meeting, notices for which have
been {eceived here, to be held August
10 In the Yerkes observatory outside
Oh chicago. Profs. r. G. Aitken and
A. q. Leuschner of the university de-
partment of astronomy will attend the
meeting.
The bombshell will take the form OF
statement clothed in stern scientific
language that there is no evidence OF
human beings on Mars. which IL a
planet, as far as science knows, COW
cred with ice and that the so called
canals are misnomers and that money
spent for the project of signaling the
imaginary Inhabitants of the planet is
foolish in the extreme and not war
ranted by the worlds knowledge of
Mars.
The writings of Prof. Lowell Picker
ing. president OF the society, the late
Simon Newcomb and others probably
~ N ~,
II the proponents OF the Marian COM
municating scheme then propose to go
ahead with their Investigations the
astronomers will quietly turn their
backs on them ana pay no attention to
what they term the 'unwarranted
action" OF Professor Todd of Amherst
and Aeronaut Leo Stevens. who pro-
poses to go up in a balloon with wire
less telegraph outfits the better to
catch above the earth's atmosphere
such messages as the inhabitants of
Mars may be trying to send to the
earth.
The plan of the man who would
fash heliograph signals to- Mars by
building row of sun glass 10 miles
long in Texas, where the open country
would permit better vision for the
Martians is classed in the same cat
egory by the astronomers of the uni
versity and of the society, who believe
only in cold, hard facts.
Already the astronomers of the
United States have begun to circulate
statements concerning the attempt at
signaling Mars which have been re-
ceived by Dr. t. r. Crawford. acting
head of the students observatory. In
all cases the Marian communication
idea has been treated with cold water
and declared foolish In the extreme.
Professor Humphreys Of the Chicago
university has sent a publication writ
ten by himself to the effect that IL
would be more sensible for the men
who would signal Mars to bore hole
through the earth and by alternately
shutting out the sunlight establish
lines of communication.
He also suggested that the "lunatics"
on the earth's lunar satellite should
likewise bore a hole through the moon
and establish a means of communica-
tion with this planet. Professors OF the
university also have taken a fling at
the project of Professor Todd and
Aeronaut Stevens, who plan to go up
in a balloon next September, when
Mars is nearest the earth and receive
messages from that planet by means
of the Morse wireless telegraph code.
Professor Aitken, whose work In
double stars is well known all over the
scientific world, said that he was OPP
posed to the expenditure OF money for
signaling purposes and would voice his
sentiments at the meeting. He said
that Mars was not inhabited as far as
could be learned scientifically by pres
emit day instruments, and that for this
reason there was little use of trying to
communicate with the planet.
He pointed to the statement of the
late Prof. Simon Newcomb. the great
astronomer of the nineteenth century
and one of the authorities on the planet
Mars, who said:
What do. 1 think of the canals of
Mars? The best answer I can give to
this oft asked question Is that 1 do
not think anything about them. When
1 inquire in response what the ques-
toner means by the canals of Mars,
find that he means an artificial water
way which some astronomers are sup
posed to see, or think they see on Mars
But no astronomer ever saw or thought
he saw anything OF the kind. The wide
spread notion that canals have been
seen, springs from a popularity of the
Italian language. If Schiaparelli had
used any other modern language we
should never have heard of a canal on
Mars, and it is possible that this planet
would scarcely have excited any greater
popular interest than Venus now does
1t will be both interesting and instruc-
tive to show how the popular Illusion,
if that term may be used, has origin
ated.
We have reached the conclusion that
If we seek for the conditions under
which life will most rapidly develop
we should look rather to a warmer
than to a colder world than ours. AS
between Mars and Venus the latter is
probably better adapted to life than