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<\/a>7)<\/h3>\r\nFrom the earliest days of science fiction, space travellers travelled to the Moon, to Mars, to Venus, and to the other planets as they were discovered. Early science fiction \u2013 before the late 19th century \u2013 treated the planets as just different earths. Science fictional tropes from the late 19th century right to the Space Age declared Mercury to be an oven on the side facing the sun and a freezer on the other. Venus was a planet of swamps, jungles, and dinosaurs. Mars was a cool desert planet, with all the water in the canals.
Then, science had its little say. Starting in the early 1960s, the first interplanetary probes knocked down the tropes of science fiction. Or as T.H. Huxley (1825 \u2013 1895) put it: “The great tragedy of Science is the slaying of a beautiful hypothesis by an ugly fact.”
But have no fear, there were plenty of other ways to look at the planets \u2026 and more planets to look at.<\/p>\r\n
After this presentation, scroll down for more bonus content, a review of the club’s recent field trip, with accompanying photo gallery.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n The Mysterious Orbit of Mercury\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<\/a><\/p>\r\n<\/a><\/p>\r\n<\/a><\/p>\r\n<\/a><\/p>\r\n<\/a><\/p>\r\n<\/a><\/p>\r\n<\/a><\/p>\r\n<\/a><\/p>\r\n<\/a><\/p>\r\n<\/a><\/p>\r\n<\/a><\/p>\r\n<\/a><\/p>\r\n<\/a><\/p>\r\n<\/a><\/p>\r\n