NASA have recently announced the discovery of flowing water on the planet Mars. Of course this is not really anything new! In late 1945 my grandfather gave my father a science book entitled The Marvels and Mysteries of Science “written in popular style” by Clyde Fisher et al. (published in 1943) for my father’s 13th birthday. Clyde himself penned chapter 1, “The Wonders of the Heavens.” The chapter is a delight, including an artist’s impressions of the canals of Mars. So to celebrate the discovery of water on Mars I’ve reproduced a page which relates what was known of Mars way back in the early 1940s. Enjoy!
