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قراءة كتاب Other Worlds Their Nature, Possibilities and Habitability in the Light of the Latest Discoveries
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Other Worlds Their Nature, Possibilities and Habitability in the Light of the Latest Discoveries
OTHER WORLDS
BY GARRETT P. SERVISS.
OTHER WORLDS.
Their Nature and Possibilities in the Light of the Latest Discoveries. Illustrated. 12mo. Cloth, $1.20 net; postage additional.
No science has ever equaled astronomy in its appeal to the imagination, and recently popular interest in the wonders of the starry heavens has been stimulated by surprising discoveries and imaginary discoveries, as well as by a marked tendency of writers of fiction to include other worlds and their possible inhabitants within the field of romance.
Mr. Serviss's new book on "Other Worlds, their Nature and Possibilities in the Light of the Latest Discoveries," summarizes what is known. With helpful illustrations, the most interesting facts about the planets Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, etc., as well as about the nearest of all other worlds, the moon, are presented in a popular manner, and always from the point of view of human interest—a point that is too seldom taken by writers on science.
ASTRONOMY WITH AN OPERA-GLASS.
A Popular Introduction to the Study of the Starry Heavens with the simplest of Optical Instruments. Illustrated. 8vo. Cloth, $1.50.
"By its aid thousands of people who have resigned themselves to the ignorance in which they were left at school, by our wretched system of teaching by the book only, will thank Mr. Serviss for the suggestions he has so well carried out."—New York Times.
PLEASURES OF THE TELESCOPE.
A Descriptive Guide to Amateur Astronomers and All Lovers of the Stars. Illustrated. 8vo. Cloth, $1.50.
"The volume will be found interesting by those for whom it is written, and will inspire many with a love for the study of astronomy, one of the most far-reaching of the sciences."—Milwaukee Journal.
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, NEW YORK.
CHART OF MARS. After Schiaparelli.
Other Worlds
Their Nature, Possibilities and Habitability in the light of the latest discoveries.
By GARRETT P. SERVISS
Author of
"Astronomy with an Opera-glass" and "Pleasures of the Telescope"
With Charts and Illustrations
"Shall we measure the councils of heaven by the narrow impotence of human faculties, or conceive that silence and solitude reign throughout the mighty empire of nature?"
—Dr. Thomas Chalmers.
New York
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
1901
Copyright, 1901,
By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY.
TO
The Memory
OF
WILLIAM JAY YOUMANS.
PREFACE
The point of view of this book is human interest in the other worlds around us. It presents the latest discoveries among the planets of the solar system, and shows their bearing upon the question of life in those planets. It points out the resemblances and the differences between the earth and the other worlds that share with it in the light of the sun. It shows what we should see and experience if we could visit those worlds.
While basing itself upon facts, it does not exclude the discussion of interesting probabilities and theories that have commanded wide popular attention. It points out, for instance, what is to be thought of the idea of interplanetary communication. It indicates what must be the outlook of the possible inhabitants of some of the other planets toward the earth. As far as may be, it traces the origin and development of the other worlds of our system, and presents a graphic picture of their present condition as individuals, and of their wonderful contrasts as members of a common family.
In short, the aim of the author has been to show how wide, and how rich, is the field of interest opened to the human mind by man's discoveries concerning worlds, which, though inaccessible to him in a physical sense, offer intellectual conquests of the noblest description.
And, finally, in order to assist those who may wish to recognize for themselves these other worlds in the sky, this book presents a special series of charts to illustrate a method of finding the planets which requires no observatory and no instruments, and only such knowledge of the starry heavens as anybody can easily acquire.
G.P.S.
Borough of Brooklyn, New York City,
September, 1901.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY 1
Remarkable popular interest in questions concerning other worlds and their inhabitants—Theories of interplanetary communication—The plurality of worlds in literature—Romances of foreign planets—Scientific interest in the subject—Opposing views based on telescopic and spectroscopic revelations—Changes of opinion—Desirability of a popular presentation of the latest facts—The natural tendency to regard other planets as habitable—Some of the conditions and limitations of the problem—The solar system viewed from outer space—The resemblances and contrasts of its various planets—Three planetary groups recognized—The family character of the solar system
CHAPTER II
MERCURY, A WORLD OF TWO FACES AND MANY CONTRASTS 18
Grotesqueness of Mercury considered as a world—Its dimensions, mass, and movements—The question of an atmosphere—Mercury's visibility from the earth—Its eccentric orbit, and rapid changes of distance from the sun—Momentous consequences of these peculiarities—A virtual fall of fourteen million miles toward the sun in six weeks—The tremendous heat poured upon Mercury and its great variations—The little planet's singular manner of rotation on its axis—Schiaparelli's astonishing discovery—A day side and a night side—Interesting effects of libration—The heavens as viewed from Mercury—Can it support life?
CHAPTER III
VENUS, THE TWIN OF THE EARTH 46
A planet that matches ours in