SC+P1+2013+19th+Century+Knowledge+of+Space



Popular Attitude By: Collin Crownhart

During the 19th century, religion played a huge role in the lifestyle and way of thinking of the society. Many of the people saw space as being mysterious and dark. A few philosophers and astrologists, such as William Wallace Campbell, made predictions and observations that soon led to the thinking and mystery of the extra terrestrial life. Mormons, led by Joseph Smith in the 1830’s taught that life existed on other planets not of our own. Smith wrote literature telling his followers about the details. With aspiring literature authors having new ideas and thoughts, they came up with science fiction of space. “Few people realize the immensity of vacancy in which the dust of the material universe swims” (Wells). H. G. Wells starts the book out with this quote describing the average mans’ knowledge of space.

Works Cited

"Joseph Smith." //Mormon Beliefs//. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2013.

Wells, H. G. //The War of the Worlds.// New York: Epstein and Carroll Associates]; Distributed by Random House, 1960. Print.

__**Emerging Theories- Josh Raymond**__



Most people in this time period were starting to believe in the idea of there being life on other planets, specifically Mars. One of the reasons for this spike in belief was from the work of Giovanni Schiaparelli “whose name is forever associated with Mars, and the controversy over the Martian ‘canals’ which, unwittingly, he helps to unleash” (Darling). The canals that he discovered were believed at the time to be created from flowing water. The viewing of these “canals” was made possible from the technological advancement of the time in telescopes. Of course the first assumption then by the public was there had to be life on Mars, or a good chance of it. Also, Schiaparelli had the most detailed map of Mars to date, making him a trusted astronomer. Later on, a writer named Lowell Hess would help to push this idea of Martians further. It has been stated, “ Lowell was far and away the most influential popularizer of planetary science in America. His widely read books included "Mars" (1895), "Mars and Its Canals" (1906)” (Milner). So now there was a wide belief of Martians in America as well. Also, the work of Lowell kept these new theories alive for the rest of the 19th century before the canal theory would be disproven.

__Work Cited__ Darling, David. "Schiaparelli, Giovanni Virginio (1835-1910)." //Encyclopedia of Science//. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2013.

Milner, Richard. "Tracing the Canals of Mars: An Astronomer's Obsession." //Space.com//. Astrobiology Magazine, 06 Oct. 2011. Web. 11 Jan. 2013.


 * Radical Ideas- Nicholas Thibault**



Mormons were the only people with real radical statements that were different from what society believed, or was researching. They made some of the more bold statements, saying that it was written in their book. Statements such as, “As far back as 1837, I know that he said the moon was inhabited by men and women the same as this earth, and that they live to a greater age than we do—that they generally live to near the age of 1000 years.” (Mormon Cosmology). The Mormons believed, and preached the idea that man was not Gods only creation, and that there were other planets, other galaxies that had man created by God. There were even idea’s that God lives on a planet, and it orbits a start named Kolob (Mormon Science Space Doctrine). The Mormons were the ones making the more radical statements in the period of the 19th century, as astronomers were researching and discovering the universe through telescopes and observations of stars behaviors. Mormons took their cosmology, and astronomy form the bible.

"Mormon Cosmology." //Factual World//. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2013.

"Mormon Science Space Doctrine." //LDS Mormon Science Doctrines//. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Jan. 2013.

Current Beliefs By: Alan Beall

The popular belief of the 19th century would be that they wanted to try and understand what space was and what was outside of our planet. That is a very accurate assumption to be made about the 19th century. Many different scientists were coming up with different ways of traveling from the earth to the vast unknown. One of the scientists was a Russian Scientist, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, who took an interest in space travel when he was a teenager. He had different concepts about space travel, "The tower would be built from the ground to an altitude of 35,800 kilometers. It would be similar to the fabled beanstalk in the children's story "Jack and the Beanstalk," except that on Tsiolkovsky's tower an elevator would ride up the cable to the "castle""(Bellis). Though his thoughts a bit out of this world, the man made a major contribution to the way we use space travel today through his very early Rocket Designs.

Works Cited Bellis, Mary "Konstantin Tsiolkovsky" //About.Com Inventors//. Web. 11 Jan. 2013.