3. From Newtonian Physics to Canals: Projecting Life onto Mars. Matthew Shindell discusses how the shift from ancient cosmology to modern science was a slow process, with figures like Galileo and Newton developing new observations and physics. Enlightenment thinkers, including Buffon and Laplace, began searching for a natural (rather than divine) origin for the solar system, establishing that the planets are related and obey universal laws. This led to speculation about life elsewhere. Astronomer William Herschel believed that all planets, especially the Earth-like Mars, were likely inhabited, as it was common Enlightenment belief that God would not create empty space. By the late 19th century, Richard Proctor and Giovanni Schiaparelli intensified focus on Mars. American astronomer Percival Lowell popularized the idea of Martian "canals" and interpreted Mars as a glimpse into Earth's eventual desert-like future. This vision influenced authors like H.G. Wells, who used the idea of alien Martian invaders in War of the Worlds as a satire of the British Empire's destructive colonial actions.
1960