1877: Canals on Mars - The book of science

Canals on Mars
Commentary

Canals on Mars

The Italian astronomer
Giovanni Virinio Schiaparelli,
director of the observatory at Brera,
charted the surface of Mars
and described it as being criss-crossed
with channels. Unfortunately,
the Italian word for channels
is canali, mistranslated canals,
and everybody knows
canals are built
to move water
to support agriculture
to feed people in cities.
From a long distance, lines seen
while straining at Mars
through wavering skies
and murky lenses
convince the eye
there’s a pattern and a purpose.
It is easier to believe than to doubt.
Even the willing suspension of disbelief
is an easy trick for creatures
who fall in love
who survive hurricanes and pogroms
who have their own prejudices and self-interests
and for whom thoughts of little red Martians
is entertaining or comforting.
Normally, the mind sees only what it wants.
Belief in the unsupportable
is the definition of belief.
It is banal to point out
that many are sadly mistaken,
even people with good intentions.
When the unpredictable cannot be avoided
the shock can damage the mind.
After the trauma subsides
scar tissue can diminish
the flexibility that helps the mind work.
The work of the mind
is to make the subtle shifts in color and shading
cohere into pleasures or threats.
Canals on Mars are far enough away
not to threaten
but only tease.
Maybe this explains everything.

Giovanni Schiaparelli not only identified the channels but he named the “seas” and “continents” of Mars, and in 1861 he discovered the asteroid 69 Hesperia.

I confess that I see thin white lines connecting the stars of the Big Dipper when I stare at it in the night sky. It may be surprising, if we should ever see the world through the eyes and brain of another species, to discover how much we imagine our world to suit ourselves. At any rate, we should forgive Schiaparelli his canali and imagine his joy in discovering another world with a pattern and a purpose. Maybe we should even forgive the people who mistranslated Schiaparelli’s Italian and those who took the unintended distinction to justify their belief in life on Mars.