Bright points in the sky or a blow on the head will equally cause one to see stars.

Bright points in the sky or a blow on the head will equally cause one to see stars.

That Mars is inhabited by beings of some sort or other we may consider as certain as it is uncertain what these beings may be.

Now when we think that each of these stars is probably the centre of a solar system grander than our own, we cannot seriously take ourselves to be the only minds in it all.

Imagination is as vital to any advance in science as learning and precision are essential for starting points.

If astronomy teaches anything, it teaches that man is but a detail in the evolution of the universe, and the resemblant though diverse details are inevitably to be expected in the hosts of orbs around him. He learns that, though he will probably never find his double anywhere, he is destined to discover any number of cousins scattered through space.

Are physical forces alone at work there, or has evolution begotten something more complex, something not akin to what we know on Earth as life? It is in this that lies the peculiar interest of Mars.