Awake!, July 8, 1966
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When You Need God
PAGE 5
Life on Other Planets
PAGE 8
Exploring the Planets
PAGE 12
Let's Drive the Alaska Highway
PAGE 18
JULY 8, 1966
THE REASON FOR THIS MAGAZINE
News sources that are able to keep you awake to the vital issues of our times must be unfettered by censorship and selfish interests. "Awake!" has no fetters. It recognizes facts, faces facts, is free to publish facts. It is not bound by political ties; it is unhampered by traditional creeds. This magazine keeps itself free, that it may speak freely to you. But it does not abuse its freedom. It maintains integrity to truth.
The viewpoint of "Awakel" is not narrow, but is international. "Awakel" has its own correspondents in scores of nations. Its articles are read in many lands, in many languages, by millions of persons.
In every issue "Awakel" presents vital topics on which you should be informed. It features penetrating articles on social conditions and offers sound counsel for meeting the problems of everyday life. Current news from every continent passes in quick review. Attention is focused on activities in the fields of government and commerce about which you should know. Straightforward discussions of religious issues alert you to matters of vital concern. Customs and people in many lands, the marvels of creation, practical sciences and points of human interest are all embraced in its coverage. "Awakel" provides wholesome, instructive reading for every member of the family.
"Awakel" pledges itself to righteous principles, to exposing hidden foes and subtle dangers, to championing freedom for all, to comforting mourners and strengthening those disheartened by the failures of a delinquent world, reflecting sure hope for the establishment of God's righteous new order in this generation.
Get acquainted with "Awake!" Keep awake by reading "Awake!"
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CONTENTS
Balance Love with Understanding! 3
Exploring the Planets 12
"Twelve Hours of Daylight" 17
Let's Drive the Alaska Highway 18
A New Nation Emerges 21
Bible in 1,250 Languages 24
At the Root of Things 25
"Your Word Is Truth"
Is All Bible Criticism Wrong? 27
Watching the World 29
London, England, July 8, 1966
Number 13
UNDERSTANDING!
HAVE you ever tried to express kindness to another only to be rebuffed, or to have it misunderstood? Or, at least, to have it fail in its intended purpose? Most likely you have. But why?
True, the fault may lie with the other person, but it might be well to ask. Was the other person entirely at fault, or could it have been that I was to blame, at least partly, because of lack of insight, discernment, understanding?
Yes, love is fine, beautiful, wonderful and important, but love succeeds best when it is balanced with understanding. That is true whether it is romantic love between the sexes, love of one's family or friends, or the ideal, principled unselfish love, which the Greeks call agape. Love needs to be balanced with insight, understanding and knowledge, even though of itself it often gives added insight.
That we should balance love with understanding is apparent from the writings of the apostle Paul. Much as he stressed love—he took a whole chapter to describe how it works (1 Cor. 13)—he also showed that for Christians "to walk worthily of Jehovah to the end of fully pleasing him" they must also be "filled with the accurate knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual discernment" or understanding. The same principle applies to our relations with our fellowman.-Col. 1:9, 10.
Where shall we turn for this insight, this understanding, this discernment that is so beneficial if we would make our efforts to show kindness and love successful? To the psychologists and psychiatrists? That is the popular trend, but in spite of it the fact remains that human relations are ever worsening. No wonder that not a few in the psychiatric profession hold that the way many of their colleagues are going about matters is, to say the least, ill-advised!
Thus Karl Meninger, a leading United States psychiatrist, not long ago stated that "the psychiatrist as a person is more important than the psychiatrist as a scientist. What he is affects the patient more than what he does." Then there is professor of psychology Dr. T. S. Szasz, who, in his latest book Psychiatric Justice, lashes out at the members of his profession for labeling men insane and sentencing them to institutions for the criminally insane without sufficient grounds therefor. According to him either judges or policemen or a jury of laymen could better judge whether a man accused of a crime is mentally competent or not to stand trial for it than certain professional psychiatrists.
Underscoring Dr. Szasz' contention was the article that appeared in the New York Times, March 20, 1966, telling of a judge's awarding $115,000 in damages to a man who had been wrongly judged insane and kept in various mental and criminal institutions for thirty-three years. In conclusion the article stated: "In response, New York state began this week to transfer more than 600 inmates from Correction Department hospitals to civil institutions. Many who were retained under the unconstitutional procedure are expected to demand and get jury trials. One state official said a number of them will probably be released entirely. This could expose the state to more [such] damage suits." Truly, psychiatric knowledge is overrated!
Then to where can one turn for insight, for understanding in dealing with one's fellows? To the book of wisdom, the Bible! It gives us much fine counsel if we are but willing to look into it and apply it. For example, it shows that timing is important, 'for there is an appointed time for every affair under heaven, a time to love and a time to hate.' (Eccl. 3:1-8) Efforts at gaiety, for example, may be entirely out of place when another is greatly depressed, even as the inspired proverb states: "He that is removing a garment on a cold day is as . . . a singer with songs upon a gloomy heart." Obviously, to do that would show a lack of insight, of empathy, of ability to put oneself in another's place.—Prov. 25:20.
The need of discernment, understanding or insight is especially vital in the parent-offspring relationship. The Bible shows that a father who loves his son will discipline him: "Chastize your son while there exists hope," "The one whom Jehovah loves he reproves, even as a father does a son in whom he finds pleasure." (Prov. 19:18; 3:12) But does that mean
that the father who loves his son will make discipline a matter of habit without trying to understand and reason with his son? Not at all!
Love might prompt the discipline but it must be balanced with understanding, insight. That is why the apostle Paul counseled: "You, fathers, do not be irritating your children," "do not be exasperating your children, so that they do not become downhearted." Certainly if a parent would avoid unduly irritating and exasperating his children he must seek to understand them, must try to put himself in their shoes, as it were. Yes, if you do not discipline with understanding you can break your son's spirit, and if you do that you have lost him; he withdraws into a different world from yours. How many children today are irritated, downhearted, frustrated and exasperated because their parents, who may be ever so fond of them, do not balance this fondness with understanding!—Eph. 6:4; Col. 3:21.
The same applies to the marital relationship. Husbands are therefore counseled to continue to dwell with their wives "according to knowledge, assigning them honor as to a weaker vessel, the feminine one." (1 Pet. 3:7) Yes, it is not enough for a husband to feel and endeavor to express ardor for his wife, he must also work at understanding her; he must have sensitive mental discernment as to how he may express it and when. For example, a wise and loving husband knows and takes into account the fact that, while his emotional nature is uniform and constant, his wife's is cyclic, and he will be governed accordingly.
So, in seeking to express love toward others, balance it with understanding. Take their viewpoint into consideration; let insight guide you and also consider the question of the right time for it!
When You Need God
THE young man was in the prime of life. He enjoyed excellent health, a well-paying job and a sense of security. What is more, he had a wife, two children and a comfortable home in the Bronx in New York city. But practically overnight the picture changed. The young man rapidly began to lose his sight, and soon went blind. As a result, he lost his job. Now, his sense of security was gone; he was no longer confident that he could provide adequately for his family.
Previously, when Christian ministers called at his home to talk to him about God, he paid no attention. But, then, one Sunday morning last winter, a Christian minister again called upon him. This time he listened attentively, invited the minister into his home and seriously considered the Bible's message for the first time in his life. He felt a need for God and expressed a keen desire to know more about God's purposes.
This experience is not unusual; it is common for persons to turn to God in time of trouble. When a real tragedy strikes, there is really no other source of genuine relief and comfort. How harshly is this impressed at a funeral! There a loved one lies motionless in a casket, unresponsive to anything one may say or do. On such occasions people are generally seized with grief and a sense of utter helplessness. They need God, and many times will turn to his Word the Bible for comfort.
OFTEN PEOPLE
TURN TO GOD IN TIME
OF TROUBLE
Will he show them
need God?
A similar need for God is felt when one's life is in jeopardy. In a telecast some years ago Dwight D. Eisenhower, the famous general and former president of the United States, observed regarding hardened soldiers: "In battle they learned a great truth—that there are no atheists in the foxholes. They know that in time of test or trial we instinctively turn to God for new courage and peace of mind." Yes, persons often recognize their need for God in time of trouble.
Favor in Time of Need
But the questions arise, Will Almighty God respond to the petitions of persons in need? Will He hear the cries of those in distress? What if they have neglected God throughout their lives, and have lived immorally and wickedly? When in trouble, will Jehovah allow himself to be found by such persons? Will he show them favor?
Consider as an example a mighty king of God's ancient kingdom of Judah.
"Twelve years old was Manasseh when he began to reign," the inspired Bible record says, "and for fifty-five years he reigned in Jerusalem." It was the longest rule of any Judean king. Yet, note what kind of ruler Manasseh was:
"He proceeded to do what was bad in Jehovah's eyes, according to the detestable things of the nations that Jehovah had driven out from before the sons of Israel. So he built again the high places that Hezekiah his father had pulled down, and set up altars to the Baals and made sacred poles, and he began to bow down to all the army of the heavens and serve them.
. . And he himself made his own sons pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom [burning them alive in sacrifice to heathen gods] . . . He did on a grand scale what was bad in the eyes of Jehovah, to offend him."—2 Chron. 33: 1-6.
Finally, because of his extreme badness, God allowed the Assyrians to come up against Jerusalem and capture Manasseh. They "bound him with two fetters of copper and took him to Babylon." It was there, while suffering in prison, that Manasseh first appreciated his need for God. "As soon as it caused him distress," the Bible record says, Manasseh "kept humbling himself greatly because of the God of his forefathers. And he kept praying to Him."
Did Almighty God show favor to Manasseh? When he turned to Him in distress, did God listen to his petitions? The Bible says: God "let himself be entreated by him and He heard his request for favor and restored him to Jerusalem to his kingship; and Manasseh came to know that Jehovah is the true God." How merciful and kind is Jehovah God! Despite Manasseh's evil past, he secured relief and comfort when he humbly turned to God. —2 Chron. 33:10-13.
Repentance and Proper Motive Vital
Does this mean that one can live wickedly throughout his life, then, like Manasseh, simply cry unto God in time of distress and be shown favor? Not at all! A momentary turn to God for courage and peace of mind, such as by a soldier in a foxhole, is not sufficient. More is required. True repentance and a proper motive are
necessary. The scripture says: "If you search for [God] he will let himself be found by you." (2 Chron. 15:2) This indicates continued action, including a sincere effort to learn about God, repenting of former badness and taking up His service.
In Manasseh's case, God could see that his heart had changed, that his motive in turning to Him was proper. This was indicated by his "humbling himself greatly," and his continual praying to God. Manasseh had truly repented. His course was in keeping with the Scriptural admonition: "Draw close to God, and he will draw close to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you indecisive ones." So, despite his past sins, God drew close to repentant Manasseh.—Jas. 4:8.
In proof that Manasseh indeed had a change of heart, after he was restored to his kingship, the Bible record explains: "He proceeded to remove the foreign gods and the idol image from the house of Jehovah and all the altars that he had built . . . Moreover, he prepared the altar of Jehovah and began to sacrifice upon it communion sacrifices and thanksgiving sacrifices and went on to say to Judah to serve Jehovah the God of Israel." —2 Chron. 33:15, 16.
Only When in Trouble?
It should not be drawn from this true-life experience that we need God only in time of trouble. Certainly not! While some persons may be like King Manasseh and require a hard experience or a tragedy in life to awaken them to their spiritual need, it is a fact that we all need God all the time.
Think about it. Where would we be without the sun and rain, and the air we breathe? Why, we would not exist! Who provides these necessities of life? Who makes the vegetation grow, the rain to fall and the sun to shine?
Not any man, but God does! "He himself gives to all persons life and breath and all things," the Bible says. Gratefully we should worship this loving and merciful Provider.—Acts 17:25.
Humans often have to be reminded of this. Once when the people of Lystra in Asia Minor attempted to do obeisance to imperfect human creatures, the Christian apostle Paul pleaded with them: "Turn from these vain things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all the things in them. . . . [The One] giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts to the full with food and good cheer." (Acts 14:14-17) It is similar today. Frequently people with plenty of food and other good things of life fail to appreciate that God is the real source of their daily provisions.
Appreciate Your Need
How about yourself? Has a time of material prosperity caused you to take the wonderful gifts of God for granted? Do you appreciate your dependence upon God for "life and breath and all things"? Are you grateful to Him for the things he has provided—for the foods you eat, for the water you drink, for the air you breathe, the beautiful scenery that delights your eye, the melodious sounds that please your ear, and His many other provisions? When was the last time you humbly gave thanks to Him, for example, before eating a meal? Do not wait for a time of trouble to turn to God. You need him now!
While the above provisions were made to satisfy man's material needs, they are not in themselves enough to make man happy. He needs more. God also created man with a mind and heart, and these, too, must be fed in order to bring him true happiness. Just as wholesome material food is needed to satisfy the physical body, so also is spiritual food required to satisfy man's mind and heart. And God has lovingly provided this food too.
He has done so by providing accurate knowledge concerning himself and his purposes. God has explained where man came from, why he is on the earth and what his ultimate destiny is. He also makes clear why man dies, how death will be eliminated and the reason wickedness and human suffering have been tolerated for so long. In addition, God explains how man should worship Him, as well as how he should deal with his fellow humans. Man needs this knowledge—this spiritual food. And Jehovah God has provided it all in his Word, the Bible.—Matt. 4:4.
Do you appreciate your need of spiritual food? Do you regularly read the Bible? When was the last time you sat down and listened to God speak to you through his Word? We need daily direction and correction from God's Word just as surely as we daily need physical food to eat.
It is true that, unlike the fatal effects of physical starvation, failure to take in spiritual food does not quickly result in the death of the human organism. But the effects are even more disastrous. How so? Because the spiritually famished person is a menace to society. Without God's righteous principles to govern his life he lies, cheats, steals, yes, often even kills, to get what he wants. Today the world is filled with such spiritually starved persons—many of whom are apparently already dead spiritually. That is why the world is such a dangerous place in which to live.
How obvious that man needs God! Without Jehovah God life cannot be truly enjoyed. Therefore, heed the Bible counsel: "Search for Jehovah, you people, while he may be found. Call to him while he proves to be near."—Isa. 55:6.
THE race into space, led by the United States and Russia, has rekindled lively speculation on an old question: Does life exist on other planets?
Since ancient times the nearer planets have been known as wandering stars, but only after
Galileo turned his telescope on the skies, in 1609, was it realized that the planets are bodies comparable in size with our earth. This discovery, coming after a century of exploration that had opened to view new lands peopled with strange races around the world, naturally stirred men's imagination to wonder what sort of yet stranger races of men, or exotic animals and plants, might populate these other worlds.
Flourishing in the lack of knowledge of what the weather is like on other planets, science fiction writers dreamed up bizarre inhabitants for every nook and corner of the solar system. Today, the advance of scientific knowledge of surface conditions on the planets has put severe limits on such speculations, but now the impending exploration of space has attracted many sober-minded scientists to a serious consideration of life on other planets. It is even said that the prospect of finding extraterrestrial life is the most compelling scientific motivation for the outlay of billions of dollars in the space program. The United States National Academy of Sciences recommended in November, 1964, that Mars should be the primary goal of space exploration after 1970, because that planet "offers the best possibility in our
solar system for shedding light on extraterrestrial life."
The wide acceptance of the evolution theory has provided the stimulus for much of the speculation. A generation ago it was popular to try to guess how the evolution of plants, animals and humans might have been influenced by the different temperatures, atmospheres and forces of gravity thought to prevail on other planets. Today, it is more fashionable among scientists to speculate and write articles about the spontaneous generation of life. Most recently in vogue is the theory of "chemical evolution," which is supposed to have preceded the appearance of life and prepared the way for it. It is postulated that in a primitive, lifeless planet, the crust and the atmosphere and the ocean interact under the effect of ultraviolet rays to form a variety of compounds, which gradually become more and more complicated. Finally, a molecule happens to form that has the ability to duplicate itself. Thus, this molecule comes to life—or almost to life. In time one of its offspring acquires the knack of building protein molecules and surrounds itself with protoplasm, and it starts down the road of biological evolution. So today many scientists support the space program, not because they expect to find living things on the planets, but because they hope to find evidence for their theories of chemical evolution and spontaneous generation.
Admittedly, recent investigations have shown that the environments on other planets would be quite drastic for most earthly plants and animals, and some of the wilder speculation has ranged to ideas that extraterrestrial life may be based on chemical processes completely foreign to life on earth. However, most scientists agree that the chemical compounds formed by the element carbon with oxygen and hydrogen are unique in the constitution of living matter; also that the unique properties of water make it vitally essential to the chemical reactions on which life depends. Thus the possible existence of life must be limited to environments in which these familiar compounds can exist and interact. The temperature must be above the freezing point at least some of the time, but never so high as to destroy the complex carbon compounds of which living things are made, that is, no more than 165 degrees Fahrenheit. What, then, do we know about the presence of water and oxygen, and the temperatures on the surfaces of other bodies in the solar system?
The Moon
The moon is earth's nearest neighbor. It has long been the object of speculation and the goal of fictional space travelers. In 1835 the New York Sun published a series of articles purporting to describe the discovery of manlike inhabitants on the moon with a powerful new telescope. Although this was quickly admitted to have been a hoax, yet its popular appeal attested to wide interest in the subject. Even today the most powerful telescope on earth cannot reveal anything as small as a man or a house on the moon. Features as wide as 500 yards can be resolved, so that forests and cultivated areas, large rivers, cities and water reservoirs could be seen. But the telescope shows no such features on the moon. Rather, its surface is spotted with a profusion of craters, thought to be caused by gigantic meteors, which vary in size from over a hundred miles down to about a mile, as small as can be seen in the telescope. There is no sign of life of any kind.
Moreover, studies of the lunar environment leave no room to believe that it could support life. It is devoid of water and atmosphere. The temperature rises as high as 250 degrees Fahrenheit at noon and falls to around 200 degrees below zero at night. Since the moon turns on its axis only once a month, the hot days and the cold nights each last two weeks. Furthermore, in the absence of a protective atmosphere the lunar surface must be continually bombarded by a rain of meteorites, and of lethal ultraviolet and X rays from the sun. We must conclude that it is quite impossible for the surface of the moon to support any living thing.
The Planets
Looking beyond the moon, to the planets orbiting around the sun, what possibilities of life do we find? The basic facts of chemistry in regard to water and carbon compounds immediately eliminate most of the planets as abodes of life. Mercury, the small planet closest to the sun, rotates on its axis so slowly that its day and night each last 88 earth-days, the same time as it takes to revolve around the sun. The day is so long and the sun so close that daytime temperatures reach an estimated 750 degrees, but at night it chills to hundreds of degrees below zero. It has no atmosphere, which is in keeping with the high temperature and the low force of gravity.
There can be no life on Mercury.
At the other extreme of planetary environments are the giant planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, ranging from 15 to 300 times the mass of the earth. They are distant from the sun, five to twenty times as far as the earth, and are intensely cold. They have very dense atmospheres composed chiefly of the poisonous gases, methane and ammonia. The top of the atmosphere is all that astronomers can see of these planets, but they theorize that they may have a solid crust of ice, thousands of miles thick, possibly enveloped by an ocean of liquid ammonia. The surface must be intensely dark, frigid, and under a tremendous pressure from the deep overlying atmosphere. It is impossible to think that anything could live in such a place.
Venus
Between these extremes, on either side of the earth, lie our near neighbors in the planetary system, Venus and Mars. Venus, toward the sun, is most like the earth in size and in thickness of its atmosphere. Definite information about the conditions vital to life—its temperature, the length of its day, the presence of water and oxygen—have been difficult to acquire, for two reasons. One is that Venus' atmosphere is permanently clouded, blocking its surface from view. Thus no detail can be seen, only occasional faint shadings, which are apparently cloud patterns and are not permanent. Then, also, because Venus' orbit is inside the earth's, when it is closest to the earth it is between us and the sun, and we can see only the dark side. With the possibility that Venus' day might be about as long as ours and that its atmospheric blanket might moderate the temperature, it was possible to believe that
some parts of the planet, although warmer than Earth, might be habitable.
However, recent results of studies of Venus have squelched such wishful thinking. From studies both of visible light from the cloud surface and of radar pulses reflected from the surface, it appears that its rotation must be very slow. The most reliable results from radar measurements indicate that it may turn backward with reference to its orbital motion, once in 240 days. The atmosphere has been found to be very dense, producing a pressure at the surface ten to fifty times as great as on Earth. It is composed largely of carbon dioxide, but neither oxygen nor water vapor is present in detectable proportions.
The most startling discovery about this mystery planet has been made with radio telescopes. Microwaves emitted from Venus show a temperature of about 700 degrees. The cause of such intense heat is still a mystery, only partly explained by the greenhouse effect of the carbon-dioxide blanket. What the dense clouds are made of is likewise an unsolved mystery. But these discoveries make Venus a very unlikely habitat for any kind of life.
Mars
Mars is, next to Venus, the earth's closest neighbor in the sun's family of planets. It is, next to Venus, the planet most like Earth in its size and atmosphere. But, in contrast to Venus, it lends itself to close study, because, when closest to the earth, it lies opposite the sun and is fully lighted. Furthermore, its atmosphere is transparent and permits a clear view of its surface. So we have good maps of Mars, and we know much more about it than about any other planet.
As seen in a telescope, the generally red surface is in contrast to regions of a darker, gray or brown, hue. These colored areas are generally permanent, although changes in outline and color occur from time to time.
The Martian day is almost the same length as ours, 24 hours and 37 minutes. Mars is tipped on its axis like the earth, so it has seasons during its year of 687 days. During the long winter night a thin layer of ice or frost forms a white cap around the North Pole, with a radius of several hundred miles. As spring comes and advances into summer, this ice cap shrinks and disappears. Meanwhile an ice cap forms at the South Pole. There are no oceans or seas: All the water in the ice caps would not fill a good-sized lake. The atmosphere is about 50 miles thick, but is much less dense than ours. It appears to consist mostly of carbon dioxide, although it is possible that nitrogen is also present. It contains some water vapor, but no oxygen can be detected. Thin white clouds often form high in the equatorial skies during the Martian afternoon. The ice caps are also blanketed with cloud. Closer to the ground, yellow clouds sometimes obscure the surface for days at a time; they act like dust storms raised by high winds across the arid surface. Mars is much colder than Earth, being half again as far from the sun as we are. At high noon on the equator, the temperature may reach 70 degrees. But it drops rapidly below freezing during the afternoon, and at night it falls to 140 below zero.
Fifty years ago, several noted astronomers who had made a lifetime study of Mars were convinced that it was inhabited by intelligent creatures. Their conviction was based on the observation of the so-called canals—long, straight lines crossing the red areas of the planet and intersecting at sharp angles in numerous "oases." It was supposed that these were artificial channels constructed by the Martian inhabitants to distribute water from the melting ice caps to irrigate the desert soil.
This controversial theory stimulated an intensive study of Mars to gather evidence pro and con. The result of these studies is now a general consensus that the geometrical appearance of the canals is an illusion. The best photographs of Mars do not show any straight canals, but only irregular lines which are not suggestive of any artificial construction.
Increasing knowledge of the Martian environment has left little likelihood that any humans or animals could survive there. However, the physical conditions do not completely rule out the possibility of some kind of vegetation. Some hardy forms of plants are known that could conceivably endure the intense cold and the protracted droughts of Mars. For example, there are lichens growing on rocks in high mountain country that can withstand extreme cold and drought. The strongest support to the theory of Martian vegetation has been the seasonal change in color seen in the dark areas. While the ice cap is shrinking, the brown areas in that hemisphere take on a darker hue, which looks bluish-green in contrast with the red areas. This well-attested phenomenon suggests the onset of spring, with dormant plants putting forth green leaves. It has been held that the light from the blue-green areas, when analyzed in a spectroscope, is similar to that from green plants at high altitudes.
Those who hold that these observations are sure evidence of living plants on Mars have enthusiastically supported plans to send spaceships there to get a closer look. However, not all scientists are convinced. The spectroscopic evidence has not held up under close scrutiny. In laboratory tests, reflected light from various plants, including lichens and cacti, has been tested and found not to match the light from the Martian dark areas. It is now believed that the bands of light absorption are produced by water in the earth's atmosphere rather than by plants on Mars.
Furthermore, it is pointed out that one of the areas where the seasonal darkening is most pronounced is so far south that the noonday temperature is never high enough to melt ice. Since no plant can grow under such conditions, some scientists believe that inorganic processes are more likely the cause of the darkening wave. One theory is that the dark areas represent higher ground that is covered with finer or coarser dust particles, according to the prevailing winds at different seasons. Another explanation is that ultraviolet light in the summer affects the color of silica minerals in the surface. Although the Martian vegetation theory is perhaps still the more popular among scientists, the existence of sound alternative theories leaves the question open.
No Evidence for Life
To what does all this evidence add up? Every place in the solar system where it
was once imagined that men, or at least some kind of vegetation or animals, might live, has been eliminated by the ruthless advance of scientific knowledge. Every place is too hot or too cold. Atmospheres are either lacking or so dense that their pressure is of crushing intensity. None contain free oxygen. Liquid water has not been discovered anywhere outside the earth. Oxygen and water, both vital to life, are the unique possession of Earth, among all the bodies in the solar system.
In all this overwhelming evidence against life on other planets, only one possible exception, and that but a faint hope, remains. That is on Mars. The near-vanishing glimmer of hope that Mars holds out to those who are seeking extraterrestrial life has moved it into the focal point of space activity that bids fair to lure man into the greatest technical gamble of all time. The first steps in the exploration of the solar system are the subject of the following article.
EXPLORING THE PLANETS
SINCE the first Sputnik was hurled into orbit around the earth in October, 1957, the exploration of space has become a major activity of the two most powerful nations, the United States and Russia. Hundreds of man-made satellites—Pioneers, Explorers, Luniks, Cosmos, Rangers, Mariners—have been sent aloft. The environment of space immediately around the earth has yielded up long-kept secrets—huge radiation belts held in the grip of the earth's magnetic field, solar winds of
electrical particles churned at times into electromagnetic tempests by flares on the sun, immense currents of electricity girdling the earth high above the atmosphere. Already satellites are serving valuable uses, as weather observers, as relay stations for intercontinental transmission of radio and television, for more accurate mapping of the earth's shape and surface, testing the physiological reactions to weightlessness in dogs, monkeys, chimpanzees and men.
By far the most ambitious—and most expensive—undertaking in the space program is the attempt to send manned spaceships to the moon. The United States is committed to reach this goal in the decade of the 1960's, and Russia is competing vigorously to get there first. The project has
won public acceptance, and national prestige is now involved so deeply that a planned cost of 20
it could take. On the one hand, there are those who are sure that intelligent life like man exists throughout the universe. Typical of this view is that expressed by Professor Melvin Calvin, chemist at the University of California and a leading proponent of chemical evolution. He was quoted in a newspaper interview as believing that "living beings, many of them far more advanced than
billion dollars is not so great as to discourage the effort.
Since one of the most important goals in space exploration is to find life outside the earth, the moon is only a stepping-stone to the more important objective, earth's neighboring planets. From this viewpoint,
the humans on earth, almost certainly exist on millions of other planets through the universe. . . . Since in the course of the chemical and biotic evolution the appearance of man on the surface of the earth has occupied only a very small fragment of time, namely, only
going to the moon would hardly be worth the effort unless the trail is to be followed on to the planets, because no one really expects to find life on the moon. So the cry is "On to Mars." The Space Science Board of the National Academy of Sciences urges that 1985 be set as the target date for manned expeditions to Mars. Even though this project could cost as much as 100 billion dollars, they feel that the possible reward is worth it. The Board says, "Given all the evidence available at present, we believe it entirely rea-
one million years of the five billion, it is clear that we may expect to find cellular life and perhaps precellular life and post-human life, in many of these other planets."
Dr. Wernher von Braun, the German space scientist who transferred his support from the Nazis to the Americans after the war, agrees, but gives a different reason: "I cannot believe that the Power which created life and order confined all sensible organisms to this comparatively tiny planet. Our sun is one of 100 billion
sonable that Mars is inhabited with living organisms and that life independently originated there."
Disagreement over Extraterrestrial Life However, scientists are far from agreeing on whether extraterrestrial life exists, where it might be found, and what forms JULY 8, 1966
stars in our galaxy. Our galaxy is one of billions of galaxies populating the universe. It would be the height of presumption to think that we are the only living things in that enormous immensity."
On the other hand, Professor George G. Simpson, paleontologist at Harvard University, reasons that life is not nearly so
likely as some think.
"There is, then, no clear evidence of life anywhere else in our solar system. Wishful thinking, to which scientists are not immune, has obviously played a part here. The possibility is not excluded, but, on what real evidence we have, the chance of finding life on other planets of our system is slim. . . . The assumption, so freely made by astronomers, physicists, and some biochemists, that once life gets started anywhere, humanoids [living organisms with intelligence comparable to man's] will eventually and inevitably appear is plainly false."
The highly respected astronomer William J. Luyten of the University of Minnesota agrees with Simpson: "Arguing from general principles one might say that life could well exist outside Earth, but it seems to me that the only definite statement that is now scientifically tenable is that we do not know; we can neither prove nor disprove it."
In regard to the search for life on Mars, Dr. Philip H. Abelson, editor of Science, disagrees sharply with the National Academy's Space Board. He says, "Our present knowledge of Mars is incomplete, but the facts available provide little basis for thinking that life will be found there. . . . The severity of the Martian environment does not seem to have been realistically taken into account in plans for the exploration of Mars. . . . In looking for life on Mars we could establish for ourselves the reputation of being the greatest Simple Simons of all time."
Exploring the Moon
Before sending a man to the Moon, or to Venus or Mars, the space scientists have considered it prudent to learn as much as possible about what he is likely to encounter. For this purpose, space vehicles are being sent ahead with a variety of instruments and with television cameras,
equipped to radio their findings back to the earth.
The first exploit in the unmanned exploration of earth's neighbors in space was to look at the back side of the moon. As many a schoolboy knows, the unchanging face of the moon as it follows its course around the earth is due to the fact that it turns on its axis at the same rate as it revolves in its orbit. The other side of the moon, ever hidden from man's sight, has been a mystery. In October, 1959, the Russian Lunik III was guided beyond the moon, where it automatically photographed the unseen hemisphere. The picture showed that it was little different from the familiar front side. There are more of the dark areas, and a long range of mountains that is not matched by any feature on the face, but nothing to indicate that the back of the moon is any more propitious for life than the front.
After a discouraging history of six successive failures in attempts to reach and photograph the moon's surface, the United States space team finally launched Ranger 7, which stayed on course and obeyed the commands sent to it. It televised back a remarkable series of pictures as it fell to a crash landing on the moon. These close-up views of the lunar surface filled in small-scale details, but they only confirmed beyond any further doubt, if such were possible, the conclusions long accepted as to the lifeless state of the moon. The pictures showed smaller and smaller craters as the camera approached. More recently, pictures sent back by Surveyor added evidence. The landscape is utterly bleak and desolate, without a sign of life. The astronauts who are planning to land on the moon will not encounter any unearthly monsters; they will have to cope only with the physical hazards of the unearthly environment.
Rendezvous with Venus
The first attempt to contact Venus was with a Russian rocket fired from a larger ship already in orbit above the earth, in 1961. However, its radio transmitter went dead and it was lost in space. So it turned out that the first rendezvous of a manmade spaceship with a planet was that of the United States Mariner II, which passed within 22,000 miles of Venus in December, 1962. The most important task assigned to this flight was to learn from just what part of the planet the high-temperature radio waves come. It was uncertain from earth-based measurements whether the source was on the surface of Venus or in an ionized layer of gas high in the atmosphere, like the earth's ionosphere, which has a temperature of 2,000 degrees at an altitude of 200 miles. Mariner II was equipped with microwave receivers tuned to wavelengths that would penetrate the atmosphere. It scanned the planet at close range, and radioed results that clearly indicated that the temperature of about 700 degrees is at the surface, not in the atmosphere. With infrared radiometers, it also verified the much lower temperature at the top of the cloud surface, about 40 degrees below zero. Magnetic measurements showed that Venus has little if any magnetic field.
So the picture of Venus as a pleasant haven for space travelers is only a science fiction bubble, pricked by the sharp scientific facts. There are no longer plans for the manned exploration of Venus.
Mariner IV Visits Mars
Impressive as these exploits in probing space have been, they were far surpassed by the accomplishments of Mariner IV. The remarkable voyage of this lavishly instrumented spacecraft to Mars in 1965 opened a new chapter in the long history of that controversial planet. Its television
cameras, looking at Mars from a distance of only 6,000 miles, transmitted clear pictures of it across 124,000,000 miles back to Earth. The scene disclosed was astonishing. There were no familiar features of earthlike mountain ranges, river valleys or ocean basins. Although the twenty-two pictures covered an area of 500,000 square miles between latitudes 50 degrees north and 50 degrees south, and features only 2.5 miles across could be distinguished, there was no sign of the great engineering works that earlier enthusiasts had credited to the mythical Martians. There was no trace of the canals, even though in some pictures the camera pointed directly at places where they are shown on maps of Mars. In fact, none of the ideas about the Martian surface put forth by rival camps of scientists were confirmed by the Mariner photographs. Instead, they showed a surface pockmarked by craters —just like the moon! The large number of craters and their state of preservation shows that they have never been subjected to the eroding force of rain, which effaces similar features on Earth in the course of a few thousand years. It is agreed now that Mars has never had much more water or air than it now has.
Besides the revealing photographs, more precise measurements of Mars' atmosphere were made by means of radio waves transmitted by the Mariner as it disappeared behind the planet. Analysis of the signals received through the atmosphere shows that it is even colder and thinner than earth-based studies had shown, having a pressure less than one percent of that on Earth. Also, there appears to be no more than a few percent of any gas other than carbon dioxide. The low pressure means that Mars has no shield against deadly radiations from the sun. Additionally, Mariner magnetic measurements showed that Mars has no magnetic field.
Hence its surface is exposed to the full effects of ultraviolet rays, ionizing rays from solar flares, and cosmic rays. All these findings tend to make the existence of life on Mars more doubtful.
So the expeditions to search for Martian life appear far less promising than before the flight of Mariner IV. The trend now is to retreat to the hope that analysis of surface samples from Mars will reveal the prebiological conditions that result from the hypothetical chemical evolution, and which under the more favorable conditions on earth, theoretically opened the way to biological evolution. So, although their arguments for getting billions of dollars from the public treasury are much weakened, the space explorers have not abandoned their quest. And the starryeyed extremists have hope that someday contact will be made with the civilizations they feel sure exist in planetary systems in other parts of the Galaxy.
What Does the Bible Say About Life on Other Planets?
Does the Bible give us any reason to expect that man will find life on other planets? Will Mars, or perhaps even the moon, provide the missing link between "chemical evolution" and "biological evolution"? Are space explorers likely to find people on other planets with whom they can communicate? Would it not be wise to consider what the Creator has to say before spending hundreds of thousands of millions of dollars in a quest to indulge what may be only a passing fancy in the ever-changing theories of scientists?
the invisible heavens are populated with spirit creatures, but as to fleshly life in the visible heavens, it says nothing.—Isa. 45:18; Gen. 1:1-30.
The Bible reveals the relationship between the Creator and man on the earth, and his purpose for man and for the earth. It shows that Jehovah formed the earth and prepared it for man's habitation. He created man to live on the earth and to take care of it. The Bible shows that
Notwithstanding the lack of any direct Bible statement on the subject of life on other planets, there are certain Bible principles that relate to the question. First is the fact that Jehovah created the whole universe—the earth and the visible as well as the invisible heavens. All the stars and planets are under his control, through his organization of spirit creatures, who appear to have the power to come and go throughout the universe. He has not given man dominion over the heavens. A second basic principle is that all life, wherever it exists, originated with Jehovah. If plant life should someday be found on Mars, it will be, not because life bursts out spontaneously wherever it has the chance, but because Jehovah created it and put it there.-Gen. 1:1; Job 1:7; Dan. 10:12, 13; Ps. 115:16; 36:9.
So, too, if intelligent races of fleshy creatures exist on other planets, it is because Jehovah made them and put them there. But is it reasonable to believe that this is in harmony with his revealed purpose? If he has created other races of people, we would expect that he would test their obedience, just as he permitted his human and angelic creation to be tested. And under such a test, we might expect that some would fail, just as Adam and Eve on earth, and Satan and many angels in the invisible heavens failed. What then? Would the drama of the fall into sin, redemption, vindication and restoration have to be repeated for the inhabitants of some other planet? Who would provide the necessary ransom? In the case of sinful man on earth, only one person was found suitable, the only begotten Son of God, who became the perfect man Jesus Christ on the earth. But Jehovah has only one only-begotten Son.
Would Jesus, then, have to go to that planet and take the form of one of its inhabitants and live and die there to provide the ransom? To this the Bible answers definitely, No! Jesus died only once. (Heb. 9:25, 28; 10:12) He is now immortal, and cannot die again. It is not consistent with Jehovah's purpose that, after Satan's rebellion is squashed and the rebels are destroyed, the universal peace in God's creation will ever again be broken by an organized rebellion that God permits to continue.
Men who speculate in disregard of Jehovah's purpose argue that there is nothing unique about the earth, that there must be millions of planets in the universe that are very similar. But the Bible shows that the earth does have a unique place in God's purpose. It was at the founding of the earth, not the sun or another star, that the sons of God applauded. It was to the earth that Jehovah sent his only-begotten Son, Jesus, to prove his faithfulness, bearing witness to the truth and to show himself worthy to be the King in God's kingdom. The 144,000 persons who are to be associate kings with Jesus and rule over all of Jehovah's universal organization are all taken from the earth, not
some from one planetary system and some from another throughout the Galaxy. In the last days just before Satan's binding, he is confined for a short period, not to Venus or Mars, but to the earth. And the battle of Armageddon will be fought here at the earth. Then Jehovah will make an everlasting paradise home for obedient mankind right on the earth. Truly the earth does have a unique place in God's universe.—Job 38:4-7; John 18:37; Rev. 14:3; 12:9, 12; 16:14, 16; Ps. 37:11.
Such reasoning, in harmony, with God's revealed Word, leads us to the conclusion that he has not created intelligent fleshy creatures on other planets, either in our solar system or in unknown, distant reaches of the universe. As to whether, in the future, Jehovah will ever turn his creative hand to the preparation of other planets for habitation by man or other creatures, he has not revealed. After the 1,000 years of Christ's reign, Jehovah's 7,000-year sabbath of rest from earthly creative work will end, and an eternity of time will stretch out before tested, obedient mankind on earth and the 144,000 of the Kingdom in heaven. In those ages we may hope to learn some of the secrets of Jehovah's creation in the visible heavens and his purpose for them.
"Twelve Hours of Daylight"
There is no indication that the Hebrews used hours in dividing up the day prior to the Babylonian captivity. In the days of Jesus Christ, the practice of dividing the daylight period into hours was common. Thus, at John 11:9 Jesus said: "There are twelve hours of daylight, are there not?" These were generally counted from sunrise to sunset, or from about 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. So the "third hour" would be about 9 a.m., and it was at about this time that the holy spirit was poured out at Pentecost. (Acts 2:15) When Jesus, tired out from a journey, was sitting at Jacob's fountain, "the hour was about the sixth," or noon, which was also the time of day when Peter became very hungry at Joppa. (John 4:6; Acts 10:9, 10) It was also about noon when darkness fell over all the earth the "ninth hour," or about 3 p.m., when Jesus expired on the torture stake. (Matt. 27: 45, 46) The "ninth hour" was also called "the hour of prayer." (Acts 3:1; 10:3, 4, 30) So the "seventh hour" would be about 1 p.m. and the "eleventh hour" about 5 p.m. (John 4:52; Matt. 20:6:12) The night was also divided into hours at that time. Acts 23:23.
THE lure of the North may get you this year, and, spurred by multiplying stories of its marvelous scenery, you may decide to head up the Alaska Highway. But is it not taking quite a chance to journey into the northern wilderness? asks someone with visions of a narrow, rough trail, of fording rivers and pushing
through country fit only for jeeps and heavy-duty trucks. The answer is, Not if you first compare notes with someone who has made the trip recently.
Opened to the public first in 1948, this vital link between Dawson Creek, British Columbia, and Alaska was swiftly pushed through to completion in slightly less than seven and a half months in 1942, the job having been rendered urgent by the Pearl Harbor attack in the previous year. The immediate
others. In fact, it may present fewer hazards because of its lighter volume of traffic and its necessarily slower speeds.
Preparing for the Trip
What steps should you take to ensure a minimum of inconvenience on the trip? First, it might be well to wrap around
aim was to provide an adequate land route for transport of defense forces and equipment to the North Pacific coastline. During the past seventeen years, however, it has attracted increasing thousands of vacationers.
Most recent travelers will tell you the same story. While the Alaska Highway is by no means a rough and dangerous trail, it probably is quite different from any highway you have traveled. There are precautions you must take that are not needed in modern, superhighway travel, but once these matters are cared for this northern route is no more dangerous than
your gas tank some old rubber sheeting of sufficient thickness to provide a cushion against sharp rocks thrown up by your wheels. It can be wired on snugly. And check carefully on any other item that will be handy in case of breakdown on the road. You see, in some places the service stations are as much as fifty miles apart.
As with any other long trip, of course, the tires should be checked to make sure they will stand up under several thousand miles of travel. A
screen to protect the front of your car from flying gravel is also recommended. It is even advisable to have your headlights covered with plastic covers, though you may have to wait to obtain these until you near the Alaska Highway itself.
And then, how much money will you take along? Canadian border officials will require that you have enough funds to take you through to Alaska. The 1965 edition of The Milepost states: "Generally 250 per driver and car will satisfy the requirements, or about100 more per person than the cost of bare necessities." Since most products sold along the highway have been shipped in from great distances, you can expect them to cost more than they do farther south.
Along the Way
To commence your trip on the Alaska Highway you must first get to Dawson Creek, either by following the Caribou and John Hart Highways north from Vancouver, or by going north through Alberta and its northern city of Edmonton. Dawson Creek is 788 miles from Vancouver and about 300 miles from Edmonton.
Once started northward from Dawson Creek you will see all along the route little markers telling how many miles you have come. By watching these and your trip log you can always tell how far you are from the next point of interest or to the next accommodations area.
The first eighty-three miles you travel on good pavement, but from then on you can expect to be on gravel road for the next 1,200 miles. Most of the time it is not rough enough to restrict your speed seriously, so that you have no difficulty maintaining the local speed limit of fifty miles per hour. Notice how wide the road is, and how well banked its curves. And there are not even any streams to ford! Graceful, steel bridges take you across rivers and creeks.
After a few hours you will begin to get hungry. What did you plan to do? Eat at some wayside restaurant, or did you remember to pack a noonday lunch? There are public campgrounds where you can stop and eat and even heat some water for a hot beverage. But keep the fire hazard in mind, and, if you can, prefer an open rocky place to one where there is much foliage. In this way you will avoid too many mosquitoes. However, you may have brought along repellent. Be sure, though, to keep the car closed so that the pesky insects do not invade it during your stop.
Another reminder just suggests itself here. You might do well to obtain your processed lunch meats from some familiar and dependable source, if you are conscientious about refraining from products that contain blood. You see, the labeling laws in Canada allow processors to mix blood in their meats without having to list it on the label.
By this time you have passed quite a few cars, and have noted what a cloud of dust you have to penetrate each time. So, to keep the interior of your car clear, it will be a good idea to close all the windows, open the front vents and turn on the heater fan so that cool air will be blown through. This intake of air builds up enough pressure inside the car to prevent the swirling dust from entering through every little opening. But do not forget to close the vents and turn off the fan when meeting or being passed by another car. This may keep you busy at times, but it is worthwhile, in order to maintain a high degree of comfort. It is also suggested that when meeting a number of cars you slow down, pull slightly to the right and turn on your headlights even in daylight. In this way oncoming drivers will spot your presence and refrain from overtaking other cars until you have safely passed.
Points of Interest
Here, now, is Fort Nelson, 300 miles from Dawson Creek, a very suitable stop, offering as it does some choice of accommodations. Looking over your map, you have already determined the stopping places for the next three succeeding evenings: Watson Lake, Yukon; Whitehorse, Yukon; Tok, Alaska. Good advance planning may already have suggested the idea of writing in advance for rooms, especially in the season when there are many travelers.
Much of the way thus far you have been driving through rolling, wooded hills, often with a distant backdrop of mountains. The wild beauty of the scenery is enhanced by the absence of hideous commercial advertising. It is exciting to know that there are in this area mountain sheep and goats, bear, deer, moose and a great variety of wild birds, some of which you may just chance to spot.
At mile 496.5 is Liard Hot Springs. Close by, reached by a boardwalk some 400 yards long, is a restful spot where travel-weary people can relax in a hot spring. There is even a free bathhouse for changing clothes. Farther back up a woods trail is another deeper hot spring, this one with a diving board.
Mile 588 brings us to Contact Creek bridge. This name commemorates the fact that here two highway construction crews, one working southward and one northward, met to complete this road link with Alaska, a highway that had been pushed through virtually uncharted wilderness. Now you are in the midst of magnificent territory. Lakes sparkle here and there, meadows of brilliant-colored wild flowers stretch away toward distant snowcapped peaks. The sunshine, the bracing air and the silence bring exhilaration.
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