1 00:00:02,320 --> 00:00:06,479 Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, Here is an episode from our ten episode 2 00:00:06,519 --> 00:00:10,119 Speaker 1: playlist that we're calling Offbeat History. Yeah, we're adding this 3 00:00:10,240 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 1: to our our regular publishing schedule as one kind of 4 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:17,279 Speaker 1: big drop all at the same time on March nineteen. 5 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:19,599 Speaker 1: And that is so that you have maybe have a 6 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:23,200 Speaker 1: little bit of extra entertainment options available to you, particularly 7 00:00:23,239 --> 00:00:29,840 Speaker 1: if you are self quarantined or sheltering in place. Welcome 8 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:32,600 Speaker 1: to Stuff you missed in History Class a production of 9 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:40,559 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm 10 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:44,960 Speaker 1: Holly cry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson and who doesn't 11 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:47,920 Speaker 1: love a good hope story? So that there's actually a 12 00:00:47,960 --> 00:00:49,879 Speaker 1: news series that we're going to talk about today, and 13 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:51,560 Speaker 1: we have to kind of air quote the work news. 14 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:55,240 Speaker 1: But it's an important landmark in journalism history as well 15 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:58,440 Speaker 1: as cultural history. It also involves the history of mass 16 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:01,760 Speaker 1: media and even sort of a lesson in in gullibility 17 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:04,639 Speaker 1: and kind of crowd mentality. Uh. This is a topic 18 00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:07,160 Speaker 1: that The Memory Palace actually did a short episode on 19 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:10,920 Speaker 1: back in and that episode is called The Moon in 20 00:01:10,959 --> 00:01:13,800 Speaker 1: the Sun and it's worth a listen. Uh. It is 21 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:17,920 Speaker 1: a brief but very enjoyable So conspiracy theories and cartoons 22 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:20,560 Speaker 1: like tech saveris the Cat that Hated People? Aside, do 23 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:24,039 Speaker 1: you remember that cartoon, Tracy? It was about a cat 24 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:26,920 Speaker 1: who hated people. He lived in New York City, and 25 00:01:27,000 --> 00:01:29,880 Speaker 1: so he got himself on a rocket to the Moon 26 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:31,720 Speaker 1: so he could be alone and enjoy it. But of 27 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:33,720 Speaker 1: course the moon was full of crazy things that made 28 00:01:33,800 --> 00:01:36,320 Speaker 1: him just as annoyed as Earth and even more so, 29 00:01:36,319 --> 00:01:37,679 Speaker 1: so much so that he figured out a way to 30 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:39,600 Speaker 1: get back to Earth. And even though New York did 31 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:42,120 Speaker 1: not treat him while he was very happy. But we 32 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:46,440 Speaker 1: know that in fact, that is fallacious information, and that 33 00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:49,600 Speaker 1: the moon is basically pretty empty. There are some things there, 34 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:53,360 Speaker 1: but not crazy horn people as shown in that cartoon 35 00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 1: walking around. But in five a New York newspaper printed 36 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:03,120 Speaker 1: a series of stories about amazing discoveries on the lunar landscape. 37 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:07,600 Speaker 1: And we are first going to talk at length about 38 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:11,760 Speaker 1: the incredible descriptions of the amazing things that were allegedly 39 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:15,360 Speaker 1: seen on the lunar surface through a telescope. One thing 40 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:17,720 Speaker 1: I noticed during my research about this news series is 41 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:20,160 Speaker 1: that the articles, and again there are six of them, 42 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:23,480 Speaker 1: and they're very lengthy, kind of get summarized to this 43 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:27,560 Speaker 1: point where it's like two to five sentences about each 44 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:30,720 Speaker 1: one maybe and some don't even cover that, uh, and 45 00:02:30,880 --> 00:02:33,680 Speaker 1: you lose a lot of the amazing and sometimes crazy 46 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:37,880 Speaker 1: descriptions of these discoveries. So Tracy and I are actually 47 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:40,280 Speaker 1: going to walk through the text with a lot more description. 48 00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:42,680 Speaker 1: We're going to break down a lot more of it. Uh. 49 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:44,760 Speaker 1: And that makes this a two parter because there is 50 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:47,960 Speaker 1: a lot to talk about. Even though we're not covering 51 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:53,360 Speaker 1: everything in that quote historical account, because that would take hours, 52 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:54,920 Speaker 1: it's still going to take quite a bit of time. 53 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:58,440 Speaker 1: And so uh, this first part we're going to talk 54 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:01,480 Speaker 1: a lot about those uh, those entries in the New 55 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:04,720 Speaker 1: York Sun. The second part of this two parter will 56 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:07,480 Speaker 1: wrap up the account as it was published in serial form, 57 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:09,560 Speaker 1: and then we'll talk about kind of the reception these 58 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:12,560 Speaker 1: claims got in sort of the atmosphere of the culture 59 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:16,440 Speaker 1: at the time, and how that sort of enabled and 60 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:19,800 Speaker 1: provided a fertile ground for this hoax to happen. So 61 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:23,440 Speaker 1: before the series began, the small teaser appeared in the 62 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:27,720 Speaker 1: New York Sun, and that was on Friday, August thirty five, 63 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:32,040 Speaker 1: and this little teaser read quote, we have just learned 64 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 1: from an eminent publisher in this city that Sir John 65 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 1: Herschel at the Cape of Good Hope has made some 66 00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 1: astronomical discoveries of the most wonderful description by means of 67 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:47,680 Speaker 1: an immense telescope of an entirely new principle. And the 68 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:51,960 Speaker 1: city that was being referenced in that sentence was Edinburgh. Yeah, 69 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:54,720 Speaker 1: that was it was placed again. It was a tiny 70 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:56,440 Speaker 1: little teaser, and it was placed as though it was 71 00:03:56,480 --> 00:04:00,360 Speaker 1: put there by the Edinburgh Current. Now, the first entry 72 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:03,080 Speaker 1: in this series appeared in the paper on Tuesday August 73 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:07,920 Speaker 1: uh still five, so a few days later, so that 74 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:10,160 Speaker 1: that little teaser had been allowed to sit for a bit, 75 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:14,880 Speaker 1: and it was titled quote great astronomical discoveries lately made 76 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:17,680 Speaker 1: by Sir John Herschel l l D f R S 77 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:20,320 Speaker 1: at the Cape of Good Hope from the supplement to 78 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:24,359 Speaker 1: the Edinburgh Journal of Science. Sir John Herschel is not 79 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:27,760 Speaker 1: an entirely new name on the podcast. We mentioned him 80 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:30,760 Speaker 1: as the nephew of Caroline Herschel in our episode on 81 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:35,760 Speaker 1: Astronomy's Cinderella. Yeah Well referenced Caroline very briefly towards the 82 00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:39,919 Speaker 1: end of the second episode. But this article This first 83 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:42,320 Speaker 1: entry ran on the front page of the New York Sun, 84 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:46,320 Speaker 1: and it took up about seventy five of the front page, 85 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:50,520 Speaker 1: and it opened with this, in this unusual addition to 86 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:53,120 Speaker 1: our journal, we have the happiness of making known to 87 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:56,640 Speaker 1: the British public, and thence to the whole civilized world, 88 00:04:57,040 --> 00:05:01,120 Speaker 1: recent discoveries in astronomy which will build an perishable monument 89 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:04,200 Speaker 1: to the age in which we live, and confer upon 90 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:07,760 Speaker 1: the present generation of the human race a proud distinction 91 00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:11,640 Speaker 1: through all future time. And again they're placing this as 92 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:14,760 Speaker 1: though it had been These were notes to the Edinburgh 93 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:17,360 Speaker 1: Journal of Science that were then being reprinted in New York. 94 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:20,479 Speaker 1: It goes on to build up the announcement before making it, 95 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:23,600 Speaker 1: and it describes the awe of such a discovery and 96 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 1: how it makes us earth bound creatures feel almost like 97 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:31,240 Speaker 1: we suddenly have supernatural powers. Herschel is described as setting 98 00:05:31,279 --> 00:05:35,320 Speaker 1: up his stupendous apparatus, which was his new telescope, which 99 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:40,360 Speaker 1: was quote of vast dimensions and entirely new principle, and 100 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:44,920 Speaker 1: then he has described as pausing for several hours before 101 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:47,800 Speaker 1: looking through it, so that he could collect himself and 102 00:05:47,880 --> 00:05:51,560 Speaker 1: prepare for the discoveries that he was about to make. Yeah, 103 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:55,080 Speaker 1: the article assured the reader at this point that Herschel 104 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:57,080 Speaker 1: was right to do so because the things that he 105 00:05:57,160 --> 00:06:01,440 Speaker 1: saw in his first hour of observation are incomparable in 106 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:04,560 Speaker 1: the way in which they're they're going to advance human knowledge. 107 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:08,599 Speaker 1: His telescope, the article said, rendered his view of objects 108 00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:11,720 Speaker 1: on the lunar surface quote fully equal to that which 109 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:15,200 Speaker 1: the naked eye commands of terrestrial objects at the distance 110 00:06:15,240 --> 00:06:18,560 Speaker 1: of a hundred yards. An important thing to note at 111 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:21,160 Speaker 1: this point is that the article title makes it sort 112 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:23,839 Speaker 1: of sound like it was written by Sir John Herschel, 113 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:27,760 Speaker 1: but the actual entry is written as introduced from the 114 00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:31,719 Speaker 1: point of view of the newspaper reported to them through 115 00:06:32,440 --> 00:06:35,600 Speaker 1: Dr Andrew Grant, and that's who The New York Sun 116 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:39,640 Speaker 1: described as an assistant to the astronomer. The Sun assured 117 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:42,520 Speaker 1: readers that the notes that Grant had shared with the 118 00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:46,200 Speaker 1: publication were almost as thorough as thorough as those of 119 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:51,360 Speaker 1: Herschel himself. After the intro, the articles then are framed 120 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:55,520 Speaker 1: as being written by Andrew Grant himself. Uh So, the 121 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:58,680 Speaker 1: rest of the August entry went on to describe in 122 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:03,159 Speaker 1: great detail Herschel telescope. And the reason for this lengthy description, 123 00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:06,240 Speaker 1: and I mean it is in great detail according to 124 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:09,960 Speaker 1: this article, is that quote a knowledge of the one 125 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:13,160 Speaker 1: is essential to the credibility of the other. So they 126 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:16,000 Speaker 1: they're kind of setting it up that once readers understand 127 00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:19,480 Speaker 1: how amazing this telescope is, then they won't for a 128 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:22,160 Speaker 1: second doubt its ability to see these things that no 129 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:27,160 Speaker 1: one else had previously seen. It claimed that this apparatus 130 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:30,960 Speaker 1: was twenty four ft in diameter or seven point three meters, 131 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:33,560 Speaker 1: and this would have made it six times the size 132 00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:37,080 Speaker 1: of the Scout, the telescope that his father, William Herschel 133 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:41,360 Speaker 1: had built. To make some modern comparisons, the Hubble telescope 134 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:44,520 Speaker 1: is fourteen feet or four point three meters in diameter. 135 00:07:45,960 --> 00:07:49,320 Speaker 1: The Grand Telescope e Oh Canarius and the Canary Islands, 136 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:52,440 Speaker 1: which is currently the biggest optic telescope on Earth, is 137 00:07:52,520 --> 00:07:56,600 Speaker 1: thirty four ft or ten point four meters in diameter. 138 00:07:56,840 --> 00:08:02,760 Speaker 1: So so it's basically claiming that this telescope was was huge, huge, 139 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:06,800 Speaker 1: even comparison to other telescopes of today. Oh yeah, and 140 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:10,080 Speaker 1: at this point, remember they're sort of building on this idea, 141 00:08:10,440 --> 00:08:12,960 Speaker 1: you know, they're they're referencing William Herschel, who at that 142 00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:16,160 Speaker 1: point was a very well known astronomer. The discovery of 143 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:19,640 Speaker 1: uranus had happened in the recent past, and so they're 144 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:24,040 Speaker 1: kind of building uh scientific credibility by referencing him and 145 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:27,960 Speaker 1: talking about how his son is advancing telescopic technology so 146 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:32,720 Speaker 1: much more. Uh. And apparently this new telescope that they're 147 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:36,600 Speaker 1: they were describing, which was reported as weighing nearly seven tons, 148 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:41,559 Speaker 1: also possessed a hydro oxygen microscope, so it combined telescopic 149 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:46,520 Speaker 1: technology with microscopic technology, and this projected the telescopic image 150 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:50,280 Speaker 1: onto a screen of canvas and allowed for clear magnification 151 00:08:50,320 --> 00:08:53,960 Speaker 1: of far distant objects. How big and clear did this 152 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:56,960 Speaker 1: article claim it made things? It was reported that this 153 00:08:57,040 --> 00:09:00,920 Speaker 1: telescope they're describing would have a magnification of forty two 154 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:04,600 Speaker 1: thousand times. So this was the first of the six 155 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:07,440 Speaker 1: entries in the series. And you will notice that has 156 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:11,280 Speaker 1: said almost nothing about the moon. Yet this is all 157 00:09:11,360 --> 00:09:13,640 Speaker 1: set up at this point, and before we get to 158 00:09:13,679 --> 00:09:15,680 Speaker 1: the juicy stuff, do you want to pause for a 159 00:09:15,679 --> 00:09:17,679 Speaker 1: word from a sponsor. Let's do, because then we can 160 00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:30,080 Speaker 1: have lots of juicy stuff close together. Back to the 161 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:33,120 Speaker 1: New York Sun's account, as relayed to them by Dr 162 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:36,600 Speaker 1: Andrew Grant, of the work of Sir John Herschel UH. 163 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 1: The second entry that the newspaper published, which was the 164 00:09:40,559 --> 00:09:43,160 Speaker 1: next day, is where things really get cooking, So in 165 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:46,840 Speaker 1: terms of UH descriptions, it really sort of blew things 166 00:09:46,880 --> 00:09:51,480 Speaker 1: wide open. It first established the timeline of Herschel having 167 00:09:51,559 --> 00:09:56,520 Speaker 1: left London on September four, four transporting when he did this, 168 00:09:56,960 --> 00:10:00,800 Speaker 1: his assistance and his new lenses I ship to the 169 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:03,960 Speaker 1: Cape of Good Hope. And it also described the installation 170 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:07,280 Speaker 1: of the telescope in great detail, talking about like how 171 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:10,320 Speaker 1: it was laid out, how they built a foundation for it, etcetera, 172 00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:14,000 Speaker 1: further establishing the credibility of the discoveries they were about 173 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:18,640 Speaker 1: to share. The New York Sun reported that the fateful 174 00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:21,640 Speaker 1: day on which Herschel turned his telescope to the moon 175 00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:26,080 Speaker 1: was January thirty five, at about nine thirty in the evening. 176 00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:32,000 Speaker 1: The lunar landscape as seen through this telescope was, apparently 177 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:37,199 Speaker 1: to Herschel, a greenish brown basaltic rock, and he also 178 00:10:37,240 --> 00:10:39,880 Speaker 1: saw that it was covered with dark red flowers very 179 00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:43,800 Speaker 1: similar to poppies. This, the article claimed, was quote the 180 00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:47,559 Speaker 1: first organic production of nature in a foreign world ever 181 00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:51,200 Speaker 1: revealed to the eyes of men. He also recorded a 182 00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:55,439 Speaker 1: lunar forest which was said to resemble really large ye trees, 183 00:10:56,280 --> 00:11:00,719 Speaker 1: and the astronomer observed that as the moon shifted positions, 184 00:11:01,600 --> 00:11:03,960 Speaker 1: this was followed by a green plane and then a 185 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:08,319 Speaker 1: forest of fir trees. And after adjusting the telescope's magnification, 186 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:11,240 Speaker 1: Herschel and his assistant realized that they had also found 187 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:13,719 Speaker 1: a body of water with beautiful beaches that were full 188 00:11:13,760 --> 00:11:17,960 Speaker 1: of white sand bordered by these green marble rocks. The 189 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:20,600 Speaker 1: water appeared to be blue, just like it does on Earth, 190 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:25,000 Speaker 1: and also seems to experience tides. YEAH talks at length 191 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:27,120 Speaker 1: about where they could see that the tides had hit 192 00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:29,920 Speaker 1: the rocks on the edge of one side of this 193 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:33,440 Speaker 1: body of water. So, according to the information that Dr 194 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:37,640 Speaker 1: Grant shared with The New York Sun, the landscape observations 195 00:11:37,720 --> 00:11:40,160 Speaker 1: that Dr Herschel and his team were doing went on 196 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:45,120 Speaker 1: for almost two hours, and then after adjusting the lenses 197 00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:48,480 Speaker 1: of the telescope once more, there are often references throughout 198 00:11:48,559 --> 00:11:53,640 Speaker 1: all of these these UH articles of how they adjusted 199 00:11:53,720 --> 00:11:58,920 Speaker 1: lenses and switched things out. UH. Then they observed various 200 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:02,760 Speaker 1: crystalline structure in the landscape, and then a herd of 201 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:06,800 Speaker 1: quadrupeds was spotted. So this herd of creatures was reported 202 00:12:06,840 --> 00:12:09,760 Speaker 1: to be in the shade of the forest, and the 203 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:13,320 Speaker 1: animals appeared to be a lot like small bison, although 204 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:17,280 Speaker 1: very much smaller than any bison on Earth. These creatures 205 00:12:17,320 --> 00:12:22,160 Speaker 1: had a lot of characteristics that were similar to terrestrial bison. 206 00:12:22,200 --> 00:12:25,760 Speaker 1: There were quote semicircular horns, the hump on its shoulders, 207 00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:28,040 Speaker 1: and the depth of its dew lap, and the length 208 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:31,199 Speaker 1: of its shaggy hair. He also described the species is 209 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:35,000 Speaker 1: having quote a remarkable fleshy appendage over the eyes which 210 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:39,600 Speaker 1: spanned across the head from ear to ear. So, according 211 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:42,480 Speaker 1: to this account, Herschel is said to have guessed that 212 00:12:42,960 --> 00:12:46,719 Speaker 1: this flap covering the eyes would shield the animal from 213 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:50,040 Speaker 1: the extreme variations in light and darkness that the Moon 214 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:55,959 Speaker 1: would experience. Next in his Moon's Wildlife Discoveries were creatures 215 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:59,640 Speaker 1: that the article suspects would be classified as monsters on Earth. 216 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:03,280 Speaker 1: These were small, goat sized species that were the color 217 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:08,240 Speaker 1: of quote bluish lead. Males had single horns and beards, 218 00:13:08,280 --> 00:13:11,200 Speaker 1: and female had neither horns nor beards, but did have 219 00:13:11,280 --> 00:13:15,199 Speaker 1: longer tails than the males did. They frolicked around like antelopes, 220 00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:19,559 Speaker 1: and they were very social creatures and their antics, according 221 00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:23,480 Speaker 1: to this report, were quite delightful. Yeah. It goes on 222 00:13:23,520 --> 00:13:26,360 Speaker 1: at length about how they were jumping around and playing 223 00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:29,160 Speaker 1: with each other, and how all of the astronomers observing 224 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:32,800 Speaker 1: this just were charmed to pieces. They were charmed by 225 00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:37,800 Speaker 1: the delightful monsters, by the delightful goat unicorn creatures that 226 00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:43,040 Speaker 1: were blue. Uh. There were also water birds aspied through 227 00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:48,000 Speaker 1: this telescope, including pelicans and cranes being the most common. Uh. 228 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:50,959 Speaker 1: These birds were discovered along a branching river, and the 229 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:54,760 Speaker 1: astronomers watched this river for some time, hoping to get 230 00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:58,120 Speaker 1: their eyes on what they suspected might be lunar fish, 231 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:00,760 Speaker 1: but they were not rewarded. But they did deduce that 232 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:03,679 Speaker 1: the fish must have been there because the birds were 233 00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:06,559 Speaker 1: seen dunking their heads in the water, seemingly as a 234 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:10,120 Speaker 1: food gathering activity. At this point in the observations, the 235 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:13,920 Speaker 1: lunar atmosphere, not Earth's atmosphere, became too cloudy for them 236 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:16,240 Speaker 1: to be able to see any further, and so the 237 00:14:16,280 --> 00:14:19,160 Speaker 1: observers decided to take a break. They were also pretty 238 00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:22,920 Speaker 1: tired by that point. So that ended the second installment 239 00:14:22,960 --> 00:14:27,240 Speaker 1: of the New York Suns series with kind of a cliffhanger. Yeah, 240 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:31,040 Speaker 1: at this point they've introduced crazy animal species that have 241 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:35,040 Speaker 1: been seen on the Moon. Uh, but there is so 242 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:38,920 Speaker 1: much more to come. So on Thursday, August thirty five, 243 00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:42,640 Speaker 1: the third installment of the Moon Discovery series was published. 244 00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:46,200 Speaker 1: The cloudy conditions that had halted their viewings for a 245 00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:49,960 Speaker 1: couple of nights cleared up on January, and at that 246 00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:53,800 Speaker 1: point both the Moon's atmosphere and the Earth's were clear 247 00:14:54,280 --> 00:14:58,440 Speaker 1: quote one of pearly purity and loveliness, and as the 248 00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:01,600 Speaker 1: position of the Moon relative of to to the telescope's location 249 00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:04,520 Speaker 1: was getting ready to shift, Dr Grant wrote that Dr 250 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:07,560 Speaker 1: Herschel wanted to focus the entirety of the evening on 251 00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:13,560 Speaker 1: January to just a few specific spots before that shift happened. Uh. 252 00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:16,800 Speaker 1: There is, uh at this point in the narrative additional 253 00:15:17,080 --> 00:15:20,480 Speaker 1: topographical descriptions of the Moon's landscape, and these go on 254 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:25,040 Speaker 1: and on for quite some length to detail there are mountains, 255 00:15:25,160 --> 00:15:29,360 Speaker 1: Their mountains made of crystal. They're active and inactive volcanoes. 256 00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:34,520 Speaker 1: There are incredibly fertile areas at one point. This thirtain 257 00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:39,000 Speaker 1: installment describes it as quote fertile to excess in one passage, 258 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:43,520 Speaker 1: so it goes on a lot about the landscape. Additional 259 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:46,280 Speaker 1: animals were identified as being different from the ones that 260 00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:50,120 Speaker 1: had been sited on earlier viewings, including larger versions of 261 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:53,720 Speaker 1: those bison creatures, as well as numerous flocks of red 262 00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:59,160 Speaker 1: and white birds. Herschel and his team, according to this article, 263 00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:03,760 Speaker 1: classified already eight different species of lunar forest trees that night, 264 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:07,320 Speaker 1: and twice that number of plants in the relatively small 265 00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:12,320 Speaker 1: area where they were concentrating their observations. They also cataloged 266 00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:17,080 Speaker 1: nine mammal species and five over paris species. The mammals 267 00:16:17,080 --> 00:16:20,080 Speaker 1: included beasts that look like little reindeer, as well as 268 00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:23,360 Speaker 1: elk and moose and horned bears, and one that looked 269 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:27,480 Speaker 1: like a biped beaver, although apparently the moon beavers had 270 00:16:27,520 --> 00:16:31,640 Speaker 1: no tails. So the moon beaver gets talked about a lot. 271 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:35,880 Speaker 1: It was very exciting, and it also, again being biped, 272 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:39,360 Speaker 1: carried its young cradled in its arms the same way 273 00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:41,800 Speaker 1: that a human would as it was tootling around on 274 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:45,840 Speaker 1: its hind legs. And these lunar beavers also constructed huts 275 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:48,600 Speaker 1: rather than dams, so they're a little more archaeological or 276 00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:53,960 Speaker 1: um architecturally advanced. And this construction was described as quote 277 00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:57,880 Speaker 1: better and higher than those of many tribes of human savages. 278 00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:01,040 Speaker 1: And from the appearance of smoke nearly all of them, 279 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:03,320 Speaker 1: there is no doubt of its being acquainted with the 280 00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:07,040 Speaker 1: use of fire. So, if if you do have the opportunity, 281 00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:09,119 Speaker 1: which I encourage you to take, to listen to the 282 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:12,680 Speaker 1: Memory Palace episode about this, one of my favorite parts 283 00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:17,200 Speaker 1: is about these beavers. When you're reading the articles, the 284 00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:21,760 Speaker 1: beaver part is just hilarious to me because there's such 285 00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:25,800 Speaker 1: excitement over these biped beavers that know how to use fire. 286 00:17:26,520 --> 00:17:29,560 Speaker 1: So south of where these beaver type animals were seen 287 00:17:29,640 --> 00:17:32,359 Speaker 1: was a dense forest where the only animal scene was 288 00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:36,560 Speaker 1: this large stork like bird. Not far from the thickly 289 00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:39,920 Speaker 1: wooded area was the largest lake that was visible, which 290 00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:42,520 Speaker 1: was estimated to be a hundred and ninety two d 291 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:47,240 Speaker 1: and sixty six miles or three nineteen by four kilometers. 292 00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:54,080 Speaker 1: The lake reportedly contained volcanic islands. And before we talk 293 00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:57,240 Speaker 1: about a little bit of amazing flora seen on some 294 00:17:57,400 --> 00:17:59,359 Speaker 1: of these islands in this lake. Do you want to 295 00:17:59,359 --> 00:18:09,840 Speaker 1: have a word from a sponsors. Sure? Back to these 296 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:14,280 Speaker 1: amazing volcanic islands discovered on the Moon. One of the 297 00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:19,400 Speaker 1: really fabulous and exciting discoveries there was that there were 298 00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:25,240 Speaker 1: moon palm trees. These were visually almost identical to earth 299 00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:29,359 Speaker 1: palm trees, except that they blossomed with bright red flowers, 300 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:32,240 Speaker 1: and they did not appear to bear fruits like date 301 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:36,720 Speaker 1: or coconuts. However, in terms of fruit bearing trees, there 302 00:18:36,760 --> 00:18:39,760 Speaker 1: was a melon tree, and there were herds of miniature 303 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:43,679 Speaker 1: zebras and birds that the team thought were pheasants. The 304 00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:46,720 Speaker 1: shores of this massive body of water were also filled 305 00:18:46,760 --> 00:18:50,720 Speaker 1: with shellfish. Uh. And as this third entry in the 306 00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:54,439 Speaker 1: series winds down, there is an attempt to describe the 307 00:18:54,480 --> 00:18:58,200 Speaker 1: crystal line vista that's surrounding these waters, although the curvature 308 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:01,720 Speaker 1: of the moon and the earth rotation allows for no 309 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:05,520 Speaker 1: visibility that they can identify the end of this particular 310 00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:10,280 Speaker 1: segment of landscape. So you may be thinking that the 311 00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:14,000 Speaker 1: wonders described up until this point we're really pretty amazing. 312 00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:17,479 Speaker 1: But the fourth installment that was printed in the New 313 00:19:17,560 --> 00:19:20,920 Speaker 1: York Sun is even more incredible. This one appeared on Friday, 314 00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:25,639 Speaker 1: August and a lot of people regarded as the most 315 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:30,960 Speaker 1: sensational of the six parts of this cereal. So again 316 00:19:31,119 --> 00:19:34,520 Speaker 1: it starts as previous entries, with a lengthy description of 317 00:19:34,520 --> 00:19:38,720 Speaker 1: the latest landscape that they're observing, which featured bright red 318 00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:42,879 Speaker 1: perpendicular mountains and long veins of what the team concluded 319 00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:47,560 Speaker 1: were virgin gold. Uh. They also describe another quadruped species, 320 00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:52,320 Speaker 1: and these ones were observed to be white sheeplike beasts 321 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:55,679 Speaker 1: but with long necks, and the body is described almost 322 00:19:55,760 --> 00:19:58,920 Speaker 1: dear like in shape, but with longer front legs. So 323 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:01,359 Speaker 1: as I was trying and visualize this, I was like, 324 00:20:01,440 --> 00:20:06,240 Speaker 1: it's a sheep, dear giraffe. Um. But then another group 325 00:20:06,240 --> 00:20:09,560 Speaker 1: of animals is described that apparently looked exactly like sheep, 326 00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:15,000 Speaker 1: exactly like sheep, no no visible variation at all, uh, 327 00:20:15,040 --> 00:20:18,879 Speaker 1: and they were so obviously sheep, according to Dr Grant's account, 328 00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:21,320 Speaker 1: that it made all of the astronomers laugh. And then 329 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:24,760 Speaker 1: Dr Grant's account drops the real bomb. A holy new 330 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:28,959 Speaker 1: creature appeared in the telescope's view, and several groups of 331 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:32,040 Speaker 1: winged creatures descended from a cliff base to land on 332 00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:35,760 Speaker 1: an open plane. Sir John Herschel is quoted in the 333 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:40,240 Speaker 1: article is saying, quote, now, gentleman, my theories against your proofs, 334 00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:43,480 Speaker 1: which you have often found a pretty even bit. We 335 00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:46,240 Speaker 1: have here something worth looking at. I was confident that 336 00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:49,480 Speaker 1: if we ever found beings in human shape, it would 337 00:20:49,480 --> 00:20:53,040 Speaker 1: be in this longitude, and that they would be provided 338 00:20:53,280 --> 00:20:58,240 Speaker 1: by their creator with some extraordinary powers of locomotion. First 339 00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:02,840 Speaker 1: exchange for my number D. And so when he asked 340 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:05,119 Speaker 1: for that, exchange for number D that refers to a 341 00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:09,200 Speaker 1: lens that Herschel wanted to use. Two more carefully examine 342 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:12,040 Speaker 1: the scene before him. So adjustments were quickly made to 343 00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:16,120 Speaker 1: the telescope and everything was refocused, and the team then 344 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:20,320 Speaker 1: viewed three groups of these beings walking erect and these 345 00:21:20,359 --> 00:21:24,480 Speaker 1: new creatures were indeed similar to humans. After more focusing 346 00:21:24,480 --> 00:21:27,560 Speaker 1: and more adjustments, these creatures were brought into clear focus 347 00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:29,840 Speaker 1: and they appeared to be about four ft or one 348 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:33,360 Speaker 1: point two meters tall. They had copper colored fur all 349 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:35,960 Speaker 1: over their bodies except for on their faces, and their 350 00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:41,120 Speaker 1: wings were like bat wings. Their faces were described as 351 00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:45,640 Speaker 1: quote a slight improvement upon that of the large orangutan. 352 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:53,680 Speaker 1: It's actually spelled in this as orangutang which delights me. Uh. 353 00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:57,440 Speaker 1: And they're described as seeming more intelligent than the earth primate, 354 00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:03,320 Speaker 1: the orangutan. Yeah. Uh. These bat people also had beards 355 00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:05,879 Speaker 1: and darker hair on their heads than on the rest 356 00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:09,679 Speaker 1: of their bodies. One of Herschel's assistants is quoted in 357 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:12,480 Speaker 1: Grant's account as saying, quote, they would look as well 358 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:15,400 Speaker 1: on a parade ground as some of the old Cockney militia. 359 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:20,000 Speaker 1: Herschel and his team observed these beings and what appeared 360 00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:24,560 Speaker 1: to be impassioned conversation, just gesturing to one another, just 361 00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:29,440 Speaker 1: like human beings would. This species was named by Herschel 362 00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:34,159 Speaker 1: as Vespertilio Homo man bat, and the valley where they 363 00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:38,000 Speaker 1: lived was named the Ruby Colisseum. The New York's son 364 00:22:38,119 --> 00:22:40,960 Speaker 1: omitted some of the passages from the notes at the 365 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:44,160 Speaker 1: behest of Dr Grant, who apparently felt like those elements 366 00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:48,320 Speaker 1: were best shared by Sir Herschel himself. The Sun indicated 367 00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:51,960 Speaker 1: that the omitted material does quote contain facts which would 368 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:55,800 Speaker 1: be wholly incredible to readers who do not carefully examine 369 00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:59,640 Speaker 1: the principles and capacity of the instrument with which these 370 00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:03,800 Speaker 1: mar of a list discoveries have been made. Uh. The 371 00:23:03,880 --> 00:23:08,600 Speaker 1: newspaper also indicates that sort of there editorial opinion that 372 00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:11,280 Speaker 1: when the entirety of this work is published by Herschel, 373 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:14,280 Speaker 1: it is going to be quote at once the most 374 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:17,680 Speaker 1: sublime in science and the most intense and general interest 375 00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:22,600 Speaker 1: that ever issued from the press. And that is where 376 00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:25,639 Speaker 1: we now, will cliffhang you. The second episode of this 377 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:28,040 Speaker 1: two parter is going to finish off Dr Grant's accounts 378 00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:30,760 Speaker 1: of what Herschel observed on the Moon, and then we'll 379 00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:32,760 Speaker 1: talk about how all of this was received by the 380 00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:36,000 Speaker 1: public and by other newspapers and even by Sir John 381 00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:42,160 Speaker 1: Herschel himself. Yeah, so there's plenty more, although we've given 382 00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:48,119 Speaker 1: you probably the juiciest of the actual um fauna discoveries. 383 00:23:53,800 --> 00:23:56,200 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining us today for this classic. 384 00:23:56,520 --> 00:23:58,960 Speaker 1: If you have heard any kind of email address or 385 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:00,879 Speaker 1: maybe a Facebook you are l during the course of 386 00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:03,520 Speaker 1: the episode, that might be obsolete. It might be doubly 387 00:24:03,560 --> 00:24:06,919 Speaker 1: obsolete because we have changed our email address again. 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