We Can't See Martians Because We Can't See Them (1944)

JF Ptak Science Books   Post 2725

Mr. Cyr made some very wide and radical remarks and observations in this pamphlet on life on Mars¹, which he is convinced exists, and on an advanced level. The problem is that we can only see the results of the civilization, and not the society itself. The Martians, I (quickly and haphazardly) read can't be seen because they can't be seen ("like atoms"), "only the collective efforts of Martians are visible".  And some of the "collective efforts" of the Martians can't be seen, either, like the canals (which run 1000' deep and cross the planet)  which are invisible not because they are so small as to be invisible, but rather it is due to the vegetation growing on their walls that obscure the structures themselves. The canals are also filled with water, or they are canyonlands, with animals using them as a highway. In another found paragraph we are told that "two or more craters near each other have an economic effect on Martian inhabitants", which must give rise to speculation of some sort.  And in my last bit of random reading, I saw that the canal networks of Ascraeus Lucas ("the Wall Street of Mars") are more than likely built upon earlier trails, and that "the only comparable highway network on earth [sic] is that radiating outwards from Indianapolis". 

It seems that Mr. Cyr was an observer of Mars, and then went well beyond the observable to make his deeper observations.  

Also in 1944 Mr. Cyr printed the oxymoronic Saturn Has Rings. Sometimes publications have absolutely no pretense, stating exactly what it is that sleeps between their covers. And sometimes these titles seem more like declarative broadsides or posters and not books at all, the "book part", or any writing furthering the cover's statement,  being unnecessary, their contents being obvious. This other work by Mr. Cyr is a good example, the title of which begs the response "Yup!".  Saturn Has Rings, should've stopped at the end of the title of chapter one, "A Rose has Petals", and probably could have ended on the title page.  But no, it didn't, and stretched itself over another fifty thin pages.

 

Notes:

1.  Donald Lee Cyr. Life on Mars, printed by the Desert Magazine Press of El Centro, California, and I believe self-published by the author.  7x5", 50pp. occasionally illustrated with drawings and maps. Original print wrappers, perfect bound. Provenance: Library of Congress, no doubt the recipient of their copy from the author. Condition: there is a 6mm "LC" perforated stamp on the title page, as well as a LC "surplus/duplicate" rubber stamp on the front cover.  But for these marks a Very Good copy. Surprisingly there are only four copies located in WorldCat/OCLC.