M's blog.

1912 was quite a great year for astronomy, in my opinion. Physicists William F. Schulz and Jakob Kunz make their first astronomical observations using a sensitive alkali hydride photoelectric cell instead of selenium cells. They observed the star Capella. Not really monumental compare to other events, but still great for me.

Humanity has been wondering whether we are truly alone in this vast universe from long ago, however, in reacting to the technological advances in the 1910s, our minds began to question even more aggressively. Thus, a book was then published on the topic of Life on other planets: Are the planets inhabited? by E. Walter Maunder.

Overall, Maunder has done a good job at presenting and analysing the states of the planets in our Solar System, at least until this:

But if Science is dumb, if the utmost exertion of human energy and power of research can throw no light on a future of which we have no experience, we are not left without an answer. A voice has been heard, the voice of the Son of God Himself: "I am the Resurrection and the Life. He that believeth on Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." And accepting His word, the Church in all ages, and among all nations, peoples, and tongues, as made reply: "I look for the reurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come."

How life first came upon this Earth, or when, or where, is beyong the power of science to determine.

Science is but organized experience, and experience of the future we have none.

Personally, I thought that the author shouldn't have mentioned statements like these in a book for beginners. However, given the published time, these mistakes can be passed over.