Francis Galton, Life on Mars, and Extraterrestrial Communication (1896)

JF Ptak Science Books   Post 2761

Okay, these two images¹ at the head and foot of this post have almost nothing to do with Mars and Francis Galton, except that they were advertisements in the issue of Nature (November 12, 1896) in which his notice on the possibility of extraterrestrial communication is discussed. That, and that the ads are very engaging, as is the report on Galton. Actually this is a report on a Galton paper that appeared two weeks earlier in the Fortnightly Review (“Intelligible signals between neighbouring stars”, volume 60, pp 657-64, November 1, 1896), and shared to a more scientifically-centered reading population than the other journal.  (Full text: https://galton.org/essays/1890-1899/galton-1896-fortnightly-review-signals-stars.pdf)

It seems to me that the Galton—a genius who worked across many diverse fields—was having at a thought experiment in interstellar communication. Given the contemporary mileu of possible/expectant life on Mars, Galton thought about ways in which we could send some sort of communication, and what the logic of that “language” might be. He presents the idea of symbols, picture writing, with a combined arithmetic etymology to display an additive language that would show Martian observers a level of intelligence on Earth.

Galton was hardly alone in figuring out a communication system though from what I can tell seems to stand out in his thinking on what was actually being said. The system itself was one of reflected light from the sun using a vast array of mirrors, an approach that would also be worked on by A. Mercier a few years later in 1899 and by W. Pickering (with a very mechanically-ingenious and enormous display).

In any event it seems that at this point of the decade that the possibility of life on Mars was very distinct--almost in some cases a foregone conclusion.  To illustrate this, here is a short story about a short notice of a considerable prize offered by a citizen of France for scientific achievement. It was intended for astronomical and medical achievement, and was established by Anne Emile Clara Gouget (d. 1891), the wife of Marc Guzman, in memory of their son, Pierre Guzman. The amount was a very hefty 100,000 francs, which went a long long way in turn-of-the-century France, and which today would be equivalent to about $1 million or some such.

The preference for the award is in astronomy—specifically, to the person/s who could successfully contact an alien civilization. That contact however does not include Mars. It was during this decade especially that there was much debate about the atmosphere on Mars, and whether it was vegetative, and whether there was an intelligent and advanced society capable of construction was what was seen by some as a massive system of canals across the planet. So with this in mind, Mme. Goguet-Guzman like many others assumed that there was some sort of life on Mars, and so Mars was excluded from the prize for contacting an extraterrestrial civilization.

I've read in some sources that the astronomer/popular writer Camille Flammarion² “announced” the prize in 1891, though the first published account that I can find appears in the Comptes Rendus in 1900. The notice states that Mars is excluded from consideration of the 100,000 franc prize, and in the event that no one wins another award would be generated from the interest compounded by the prize deposit every five years to a deserving person in science and medicine.

Here it is in translation:

“Mrs. Clara Goguet, widow Guzman, bequeathed to the Academy of Sciences a sum of one hundred thousand francs for the foundation of a prize bearing the name, Pierre Guzman, in memory of her son, and will be awarded to [the person] who finds a way to communicate with a planet other than the planet Mars.”

“Foreseeing that the prize of one hundred thousand francs has not yet been awarded. The founder wanted, until this prize was won, that the, capital, accumulated for five years, constituted a price [in itself], always to be given in the name of Pierre Guzman, which would be awarded to a French scientist or foreigner who makes an important advance to Astronomy.

The five-year prize represented by the interests of the capital, will be awarded,for the first time, in 1905.” (See the original French version, below.)

 Getting back to Galton, here's the Nature summary in full:

 

 

And the original, from Comptes Rendus, December 17, 1900, p 1147 (screen shot from the great Gallica site:

 

The other cool ad:

Notes:

1. This first ad for X-Ray equipment comes about a year after the announcement of the discovery by Roentgen. The pages of Nature were filled with all manner of ads for X-Ray machines and components within weeks of the report of the discovery.  
2. Flammarion was an accomplished observer, interpreter, writer, and popularizer, who wrote on this issue over the years, particularly in the chapter "Reves Etoiles" in his fabulous book Pluralite des Mondes Habites, (1862).