A 19th Century Scientist Who Thought 22 Trillion Aliens Live in Our Solar System

"[T]he New York Sun dropped a bombshell of a story: Astronomer Sir John Herschel had erected an enormous telescope in South Africa that could magnify celestial bodies an astounding 42,000 times. And when he pointed it at the moon he saw a field of poppies."

In case anyone would like to read more about this fantastical hoax, I highly recommend Matthew Goodman's excellent book about 19th century newspaper hoaxes, The Sun and the Moon. It's a pretty fun book that tackles topics that range from the relationship between religion and science in pre-Civil War America, through to the relationship between P.T. Barnum and Edgar Allan Poe, and the rise of cheap newspapers targeted to the mass public (perhaps the antecedents of Buzzfeed, etc.) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0023RSZPA

Looks like an early version of the Drake equation, only with the number of stars with planets very low and the probability that a planet has life very (like really, really) high.

> Dick writes: “This is a conclusion which is not merely probable, but absolutely certain, for the opposite opinion would rob the Deity of the most distinguishing attribute of his nature, by virtually denying him the perfection of infinite wisdom and intelligence.”

> For as bizarre as all this may seem, notice how scientific Dick was about his theory.

Very loose interpretation of "scientific".

> In 1837

I'm pretty sure that in 200 years from now many of the current knowledge of the world will be ruled out as dumb and naive. Just give the guy a break.