A Mistranslated Word Led To Some Of The Best Fake News Of The 20th Century
A translation error is pretty much responsible for a generation of science fiction (which was initially published directly in the mainstream press as science fact).
.. Giovanni Schiaparelli was an Italian astronomer who, upon observing Mars in 1877, claimed to see channels running over the planet’s surface. In time, this would be recognized as an illusion, but “in time” was several decades. His word choice to describe the channels — “canali” — was mistranslated in English as canals.
.. when Percival Lowell (founder of the Lowell Observatory) read that there were canals on Mars, he ran with it, considering them actual irrigation systems after his initial observations of the planet in 1894.
.. Lowell claimed that the canals were incontrovertibly real and that their presence proved the existence of Martians
.. Next time a New York Times reporter gives an upstart publication guff about clickbait, refer them to the masterpiece of fan fiction published in 1906 under the headline “THERE IS LIFE ON THE PLANET MARS.”2
.. lots of people — particularly the English astronomy community — thought the Martian theory was bunk, but so many people did not.
.. Canal enthusiast Kaempffert became the Times’ science editor in 1927, a post he held for 26 years
.. Mary Proctor speculated that vast armies and fleets could be warring on the planet just as they were in the contemporary Russo-Japanese war and in the Crimean War.4