50 Years Ago

EVIDENCE FOR LIFE ON MARS

My opinion is that the evidence has been distorted and that a re-examination is required. ... As an alternative to the interpretation of life on Mars, I prefer an inorganic explanation based on ideas of McLaughlin and Kuiper. Assuming volcanoes, both active and dead, and suitable winds, the phenomena can be interpreted in a reasonably consistent manner. ... The question of life on Mars has intrigued scientists for decades. Owing to the possibility of being able to verify directly the life hypothesis in the very near future it is becoming a subject of widespread study. ... On the basis of this brief discussion it is suggested that the life interpretation is very tenuous and that inorganic interpretations be given greater credence.

From Nature 12 October 1963

100 Years Ago

The National Gas Exhibition at Shepherd's Bush, which will be open during the whole of October, affords the best object lesson in gas lighting that the public has ever had the opportunity of studying ... In domestic heating the grasping of the conditions necessary to make gas a hygienic domestic fuel has been the great factor that has led to progress. In the early days of the gas fire, only 25 to 33 per cent. of the heat was given out as radiant heat, and convection was relied upon largely to give the heating effect, this giving hot air to breathe, and at the same time leaving the objects in the room often so far below the body temperature as to lead to chill ... Another very suggestive exhibit is a series of compartments illustrating the effect of the colour and surface of wall-papers on the amount of illumination obtained from equal sources of light.

From Nature 9 October 1913