On August 25, 1835, the first of a series of front-page articles was published
in the Sun, a two-year-old newspaper in New York City. The subject was Sir
John Frederick William Herschel, one of the most respected scientists of his
day, especially in the field of astronomy. He had already identified and named
seven moons of Saturn and four of Uranus, and had received numerous awards for
his work, including a British knighthood. The information for the article came
from the Edinburgh Journal of Science and a Dr. Andrew Grant, who had recently
accompanied Dr. Herschel to South Africa, where they were mapping the skies of
the Southern Hemisphere. To do the job properly, Herschel had built a massive
telescope - the lens was 24 feet in diameter - that operated “on an
entirely new principle.” It was all very scientific and complicated.
The first article didn’t reveal much, but over the next six days readers
received some amazing news. In the course of his investigations with the new
device, Hershel had aimed his new telescope at the moon. The scope was so
powerful that looking through it was almost like standing on the lunar
surface, enabling Herschel to make an astonishing discovery: The moon was
teeming with life. And not just plants -there were animals running all over
the place...
http://www.neatorama.com/2011/04/25/the-great-moon-hoax/
Peace,
Katherine
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E-Mail:
muse@glasswings.com.au
BA (Hons), MFA, PhD
http://www.glasswings.com.au/
Nothing can withstand the powers of love, laughter and imagination
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