Other Worlds

Other Worlds

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Title: Other Worlds Their Nature, Possibilities and Habitability in the
Light of the Latest Discoveries
Author: Garrett P. Serviss

Release Date: May 22, 2006 [eBook #18431]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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OTHER WORLDS
by
GARRETT P. SERVISS.

* * * * * *

OTHER WORLDS.
Their Nature and Possibilities in the Light of the Latest Discoveries.
Illustrated. 12mo. Cloth, $1.20 net; postage additional.
No science has ever equaled astronomy in its appeal to the imagination,
and recently popular interest in the wonders of the starry heavens has
been stimulated by surprising discoveries and imaginary discoveries, as
well as by a marked tendency of writers of fiction to include other
worlds and their possible inhabitants within the field of romance.
Mr. Serviss's new book on "Other Worlds, their Nature and
Possibilities in the Light of the Latest Discoveries," summarizes what is
known. With helpful illustrations, the most interesting facts about the
planets Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, etc., as well as about the nearest
of all other worlds, the moon, are presented in a popular manner, and
always from the point of view of human interest--a point that is too
seldom taken by writers on science.
ASTRONOMY WITH AN OPERA-GLASS.
A Popular Introduction to the Study of the Starry Heavens with the

simplest of Optical Instruments. Illustrated. 8vo. Cloth, $1.50.
"By its aid thousands of people who have resigned themselves to the
ignorance in which they were left at school, by our wretched system of
teaching by the book only, will thank Mr. Serviss for the suggestions he
has so well carried out."--New York Times.
PLEASURES OF THE TELESCOPE.
A Descriptive Guide to Amateur Astronomers and All Lovers of the
Stars. Illustrated. 8vo. Cloth, $1.50.
"The volume will be found interesting by those for whom it is written,
and will inspire many with a love for the study of astronomy, one of the
most far-reaching of the sciences."--Milwaukee Journal.
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, NEW YORK.

* * * * * *

[Illustration: CHART OF MARS. After Schiaparelli.]

OTHER WORLDS
Their Nature, Possibilities and Habitability in the Light of the Latest
Discoveries.
by
GARRETT P. SERVISS
Author of "Astronomy with an Opera-glass" and "Pleasures of the
Telescope"
With Charts and Illustrations

"Shall we measure the councils of heaven by the narrow impotence of
human faculties, or conceive that silence and solitude reign throughout
the mighty empire of nature?"
--DR. THOMAS CHALMERS.

New York D. Appleton and Company 1901 Copyright, 1901, by D.
Appleton and Company.

TO THE MEMORY OF WILLIAM JAY YOUMANS.

PREFACE
The point of view of this book is human interest in the other worlds
around us. It presents the latest discoveries among the planets of the
solar system, and shows their bearing upon the question of life in those
planets. It points out the resemblances and the differences between the
earth and the other worlds that share with it in the light of the sun. It
shows what we should see and experience if we could visit those
worlds.
While basing itself upon facts, it does not exclude the discussion of
interesting probabilities and theories that have commanded wide
popular attention. It points out, for instance, what is to be thought of the
idea of interplanetary communication. It indicates what must be the
outlook of the possible inhabitants of some of the other planets toward
the earth. As far as may be, it traces the origin and development of the
other worlds of our system, and presents a graphic picture of their
present condition as individuals, and of their wonderful contrasts as
members of a common family.
In short, the aim of the author has been to show how wide, and how

rich, is the field of interest opened to the human mind by man's
discoveries concerning worlds, which, though inaccessible to him in a
physical sense, offer intellectual conquests of the noblest description.
And, finally, in order to assist those who may wish to recognize for
themselves these other worlds in the sky, this book presents a special
series of charts to illustrate a method of finding the planets which
requires no observatory and no instruments,