The Great Gnome Press Science Fiction Odyssey

Life Beyond Earth
Willy Ley

Noted space and science writer – particularly on the subject of rocketry – Willy Ley has a crack at speculating on the possibility and form of life on other planets. What is most interesting here is the assumptions that were made about Mars and Venus as capable of harboring life.  Just prior to this assertion, Ley comments that observations by each new generation of astronomers whittled away the notion of extraterrestrial life, first on the Moon, and then Mercury.  Perhaps he could have used a bit of circumspection and extrapolation of this argument before telling us that there is plant life on Mars.  However, as always it makes for interesting reading – a time capsule from a period when imagination fueled discovery, not the other way around.

In a couple of weeks time, namesake of the prestigious Hugo award, Hugo Gersnback speculates on the Exploitation of the Moon.

This entry was posted on July 11, 2009 at 10:44 pm and is filed under 08 - Life Beyond Earth, 1953, The Complete Book of Outer Space with tags Jeffrey Logan, The Complete Book of Outer Space. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.