Approachig Modernity 2

New Realities and Preposterous Dreams

...........Two landmark science fiction volumes by the influential author Jules Verne, as well as several revolutionary discoveries in the sciences motivated a heightening awareness and interest in the moon and planets as potential areas of exploration during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. In the prophetic visions of the French author Jules Verne, laid down first in a book titled From the Earth to the Moon and then in its sequel ‘Round the Moon, a post-civil war American society went "moon mad" and quested to claim all territory on "The Queen of the Night". In the first volume, Verne called the American Yankees "the first mechanicians in the world", imagining an impossible scenario where a giant cannon was dug deep into Tampa, Florida, from which a manned bullet would be fired straight to the moon (Sullivan, 6). This captivating and fantastic tale enjoyed huge success with a spellbound audience, inspiring later some of the most influential rocket men to pursue with practical science such an absurdly radical goal. Along with this gem of science fiction lore came other serious rallying points for space exploration.

This scene from Jules Vernes' "From the Earth to the Moon" inspired future scientific inquiries.

Percival Lowell gazes at Mars.

The red planet.

...........Upheavals in the study of biological life as well as the pseudo-discovery of a Martian civilization stunned and excited the world, laying down even greater impetus for the extension of the human empire. With Charles Darwins evolutionary theory proposed in The Origin of Species, the very nature of life was being questioned. The traditional religious creation myth was being discounted, essentially opening up the possibility that life could develop in other avenues of the universe, as well as broadening the possibilities for future expansion of mankind (Emme, 73). This new mode of thought was perhaps a cushion against the preposterous theories later offered by the wealthy and eccentric amateur astronomer Percival Lowell. Lowell studied the surface of Mars through a powerful telescope he had built, after which time he was to advance an elaborate story of an advanced civilization on our celestial neighbor based on his obscure observations. Despite his lack of truly compelling evidence, this story birthed a popular myth that remains with us to this day (Waxman, 32). Far more convincing evidences of Martian life have surfaced in recent years, but in the mean time a plethora of books and movies have been produced dealing with this subject. What all of this hoopla ultimately embodied was a human culture infatuated with the goings on of other worlds; a celestial wanderlust that was to partially motivate the onset of the modern space age. But the question still remained—how could a person be projected beyond Earth’s atmosphere? Its answer would prove to be a perplexing one indeed; requiring not only a renewed interest in the rockets of the past, but a massive concerted effort to organize and collaborate many other technologies for a common goal.

...........The awesome legacy of devoted attention and fascination with space that processed over thousands of years would provide a noble motive for humans to explore beyond. But the turning point in the development of the space age was events far less dignified or honorable. The men who christened the age of discovery that is now well underway found great inspiration in the historical events outlined here, and without these social and scientific progressions, it is safe to assume that we would be far retarded from our current state of sophistication. But the necessary technologies that would lead into the space age would prove to be colossal projects of such immense institutional and scientific effort, that the motives for their engagement would have to be even more compelling. Not until we faced literally the threat of human extinction or the all-encompassing destruction of our democratic government would the impetus be great enough to send our people beyond. Only then would enough reason exist for the assembly of what now, in retrospect, became one of the greatest human undertakings in the history of civilization: the extension of the human frontier beyond our planet of origin.