5. The Discovery of Life on the Moon
America was gripped by excitement in the summer of 1835, after a New York newspaper, The Sun, announced the recent discovery of life and civilization on the Moon. In a series of six articles, beginning on August 25th, The Sun described how Sir John Herschel, the era’s leading astronomer, had used powerful telescopes to get a clear glimpse of the Moon’s surface. What he saw astonished him and upended all human knowledge to date, because it offered a truly stunning glimpse into another world. As the newspaper put it: “By means of a telescope of immense dimensions and an entirely new principle“, Sir John Herschel had discovered planets in other solar systems, and established new and revolutionary theories. He had also “solved or corrected nearly every problem of mathematical astronomy“.
However, Herschel’s prior accomplishments were just the tip of the iceberg, and paled in comparison to his latest find: the discovery of life on the Moon. According to The Sun, Herschel’s telescope revealed that the Moon was teeming with life. From his observatory in the Cape of Good Hope, the astronomer saw oceans, rivers, and trees. A variety of animals roamed the lunar surface, including goats, buffaloes, walking beavers, and unicorns. And flying above them all, were human-like creatures who built houses and temples.
