40 CHELTENHAM COLLEGE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 
“THE PLANET MARS, DO PEOPLE LIVE ON IT?” 
Abstract of Lecture by F. A. L. Kircuin, Esq. 
\] HE idea of other worlds than ours is essentially modern. 
Our ancestors believed that the earth was the centre 
of the universe, immovably fixed in space, and that 
the stars, sun and planets revolved round it, and 
were created solely for the earth’s use or pleasure. 
Pythagoras held that the sun was the centre, about B.C. 500. 
_ The idea was not revived until about 2,000 years later, namely by 
Copernicus in the XVI. Century. 
Soon after came Galileo with the first telescope and the old order 
changed. We know now that the earth is only one of several planets 
moving round the sun, insignificant even in the solar system. Our 
system is only one of countless others, In the universe we are 
nowhere. We are “ploughed with ignominy and contempt.” The 
only consolation we have is the magnificence of ideas the new astron- 
omy brings us. One of the first and most obvious is the possibility of 
“other worlds.” At one time men were ready to people with intelli- 
gent beings all the planets, the moon and all the stars. For instance 
Swedenborg, a Swedish visionary and dreamer who lived in the last 
“century, has written much of his intercourse with spirits from other 
planets. At the present time a lady novelist has even described the 
wonderful beauty of a harvest home sung by the people of Mars. 
But it is necessary to consider the question under the dry light of 
science. It is almost certain that long ages ago the sun and the planets 
"formed one huge glowing mass, which we calla nebula. This huge 
nebula, our primeval solar system, revolved about its centre, and 
gradually cooled and shrank. As it did so, pieces broke off, and 
“formed the planets. The planets in turn threw off pieces forming 
moons. The central portion, the sun, being so large, remained hot, 
while the other smaller pieces cooled quicker. In this way the 
earth and moon were formed. 
As time went on the nebulous earth cooled, became liquid, and 
finally solid at the surface and life was possible. If the earth cooled, 
became fit for life, and life began, we are bound to say that as soon 
as the other planets are fit for life, life will begin there too. 
LOIN ALLEL LOAN LO TES ON 
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