Gulliver

Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels is a treasure trove of potential settings. 
==Mars of Gulliver’s Travels==
Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels contains an amazing accurate description of the moons of Mars.
In the novel the somewhat impractical scholars and scientists of Laputa “...have likewise discovered two lesser stars, or ‘satellites,’which revolve about Mars, whereof the innermost is distant from the center of the primary planet exactly three of his diameters, and the outermost five; the former revolves in the space of ten hours, and the latter in twenty-one and a half...”
The very existence of the moons of Mars wasn't made until 150 years after Gulliver’s Travels was published in 1726 by Asaph Hall.
Phobos orbits Mars at a distance of 2.76 planetary radii (switch radius and diameter and it is very close) with a period of 9.6 hours.
Deimos’ orbital distance is 6.9 planetary radii and has a period of 30 hours.
It is unknown how this happened. Immanuel Velikovsky claimed it was the result of Swift finding old Irish manuscripts preserving the wisdom of ancient astronauts or Atlantean astronomers. 
A more mundane solution is Johannes Kepler's strong belief numerical ratios and proportions. This resulted in the Titius-Bode Law “The mean distances of the planets from the sun are approximately subject to an exponential rule.” which said there had to be a planet between Mars and Jupiter“Between Jupiter and Mars, I Place a Planet,” (1596) From Earth having one moon and Jupiter having four Kepler reasons that Mars had two moons and the unknown fifth planet had three.
Regarding the periods, one must remember that from the prospective of the 18th century what Swift was describing was the height of ridiculousness. In fact, many of the silly experimentsIncluding the extraction of sunlight from cubumbers are actually taken from those performed by the Royal Society. So it is serendipity that the orbits match up as well as they do.
==Notes==
==References==
* GURPS Mars 8
Category:Setting Concepts