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Re: War of the Worlds
Darryl kindly replied:
>"War..." was in fact inspired by Lowell's explications regarding Martian
>"canals" and their creation by an ancient culture.
Although the obvious plot of 'War of the Worlds' was a Martian invasion, I
have read that some parts of the book were based upon meteorite and comet
research of the day. This was manifested within the chemical weapons the
Martians were using on the earthlings. New and unusual compounds were
isolated from meteorites, and the analysis of comet emission spectra
included poisonous gases. There may also be a connection found between the
virus killing the Martians, and the fear that such a virus could come from
space inside a meteorite.
A brief history:
1834-Jons Jacob Berzelius concluded carbon compounds were present in
meteorites, but claimed no indications of living matter were found.
1857-The Kaba, Hungary meteorite fell, and M. F. Wohler reported that a
hydrocarbon compound he found in it was "undoubtedly of organic origin."
1864-The Orgueil meteorite fell.
1868-William Huggins concluded ethylene, a poisonous gas, was present in
comets.
1880-Otto Hahn published on his fossil coral in meteorites which caused an
Internet discussion 118 years later.
1889-H. G. Wells published 'War of the Worlds.'
1899-Proposals to ban some chemical weapons were presented at the Hague
conference (but defeated through US efforts (sorry about that one)).
I do not know for certain what was going through the mind of Wells when he
wrote his book, but there was much more going on in the world than just a
language problem with the word canali.
Oh, as far as reading the "Mars Owner's Manual," I have not. Who is the
author on that one?
Cheers,
Martin
references:
Allen (1965): The Quest
Burke (1986): Cosmic Debris
Hutchison (1983): The Search for Our Beginning
Maurette (1993): Hunting for Stars
Sagan (1985): Comet
References: