Garrett Putnam Serviss (1851-1929) was an astronomer, popularizer of astronomy, and early science fiction writer. He took a law degree at Columbia. In 1876 he joined the staff of the New York Sun newspaper. Serviss showed a talent for explaining scientific details, leading Andrew Carnegie to invite him to deliver The Urania Lectures on cosmology, astronomy, and geology. Serviss toured the United States for over two years delivering these lectures, then settling down to become a popular speaker in the New York area. He gained a syndicated newspaper column devoted to astronomy and other sciences and wrote frequently for the leading magazines of the day. Serviss's favourite topic was astronomy, as shown by the fact that of the fifteen books he wrote, eight are devoted to that science. His works includes: Astronomy Through an Opera Glass (1888), A Columbus of Space (1894), Edison's Conquest of Mars (1898), The Moon Metal (1900), Pleasures of the Telescope (1901), The Moon (1907), Astronomy With the Naked Eye (1908), Curiosities of the Sky (1909), Round the Year With the Stars (1910), and Astronomy in a Nutshell (1912).
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Edison's Conquest of Mars,
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This review is from: Edison's Conquest of Mars (Paperback)
The Martians of Wells' War of the Worlds have gone back to Mars; and Thomas Edison, in order to prevent another invasion, invents an anti-gravity drive and a disintegration ray. Then he succeeds in organizing a force of the top military and scientific men to take over Mars. This was first published in the New York Journal in 1898. The author was Garrett P. Serviss, one of the nation's foremost popularizers of science, especially of astronomy. However, this is a riproaring tale written to re-assure the public after War of the Worlds was published. While Serviss apparently knew his science, he also knew what was popular: the book includes phrenology, Aryans, the superiority of Anglo-Saxons, intelligent life on the Moon, solid gold asteroids, the Canals of Mars and the oceans of Mars. Certainly, this is not a book for the politically correct. As to what Serviss really believed, who knows? He is on record as favoring the canals on Mars, but I do not know about the rest. Another thing that might annoy readers is he makes very little attempt at characterization. I bet he knew he would flub that. There is one aspect of this novel literarily in his favor: as a journalist by trade, he does have a concise style that, unlike other novels then, keeps the plot from getting bogged down. I am less enthusiastic about the moral we learn at the end: the Martians are not as different from us as Wells claims.
2 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Pulp Fiction,
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This review is from: Edison's Conquest of Mars (Paperback)
Yes, this is the long awaited sequel to H.G. Wells War of the Worlds. But it isn't written by Wells and the author does not have his writing skills nor his imagination. Characters are stereotypes, the story is simple and sometimes just strange.This is a good buy for readers interested in understanding the trash literature of ancient times. But that's all.
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