Imaginary Mars

This chapter cites astronomers that began imagining a Mars that was in every way like Earth and began terraforming Mars in their minds in the 1830s. It explores the act of terraforming Mars that would change its physical environment as it would become an Earth-like world where humans could live, with a temperate climate, running water, and a breathable atmosphere. It also talks about Earthbound astronomers in the nineteenth century that could not actually terraform Mars but could reshape their collective understanding of Mars and change it from a hostile world into one where humans, butterflies, and ferns could all live. The chapter emphasizes how imagination combined with herd instinct could become powerful tools for self-deception. It mentions Wolff Beer and Johann Heinrich von Mädler, who carried out the pioneering work of terraforming Mars and carried out a program of repeated observations of Mars from 1831 through 1839.