Poul Anderson's works include "Sister Planet," about Venerians, "Life Cycle," about Mercurians, and several stories featuring different versions of Martians.
There are Martians in Anderson's first future history series and also in his first Nicholas van Rijn story, "Margin of Profit." However, when "Margin of Profit" was revised for inclusion in Anderson's second future history, its "Martians" became colonists from outside the Solar System. Also, in the Technic History, Jupiter is inhabited not by native Jovians but by colonists from Ymir.
The same process occurs on a vaster scale as the future histories continue. The galaxy is full of intelligent species in the Technic History but almost empty of life in the Harvest Of Stars Tetralogy and Genesis.
Brian Aldiss wrote that, just as non-human intelligences have been banished first from the Terrestrial environment, then from the Solar System, he expects them also to be banished from the rest of the universe.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I disagree with Brian Aldiss. We don't KNOW, as yet, if intelligent life in our galaxy (never mind the universe!) is that rare. All that scientists, here and now, have done, really, is discover planets seemingly unlikely to have life. There could still be many intelligent races in our galaxy. I simply don't think it is REASONABLE to believe a galaxy with over two hundred billion stars like ours to have only ONE intelligent species.
Sean
Sean,
But there has to be a first intelligent species and that could be us. A lot of time had to elapse for heavy elements to be synthesized and disseminated to form Second Generation stars and planets. Cosmic size is a function of cosmic age in an expanding universe so the fact that the universe has reached a particular(big) size means that it has reached a corresponding (fairly advanced) age but it had to reach such an age for any life, then intelligence, to have evolved. There might still not be a lot of intelligence in any given galaxy as yet.
Paul.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I had not thought of that possibility, that intelligent life might be rare in our galaxy because the human race might be the first, or among the first races to reach sapience. I should have remember that idea was used in TAU ZERO, when Carl insisted on the "Eleonora Christine" stopping earlier than it might have in one of the new galaxies which began after the next Big Bang.
Sean
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