Authentic Science Fiction Monthly, No. 65 — page 73: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

et, -¥ “ss - * rr ase 6 i’ & The Adventure of Space by Professor A. M. LOW of the most vital subjects known to science. If I had made such a statement thirty years ago it would have been regarded as an absurd exag- geration, and this, indeed, is exactly what happened. I was told that the subject of astro- nautics—even the name is relatively new—was only for fiction and could never have the slightest basis of fact. Today the position is very different. Science all over the world is making an intensive study into the fascinating problems which are inyoived. International conferences are held at which leading experts from many countries discuss the very details of their startling plan in the sure knowledge that within a few Sore TRAVEL IS ONE generations at most the first men will have set out on this greatest of all adventures —a journey into space. It is not generally ap- preciated how rapid has been the technical progress of travel 72 during the last decade, or how quickly the world has changed as the result of scientific research. Only a century ago it was stated by experts that a speed of 60 m.p.h. would prove fatal to the human heart, and in the early days of railways 20 m.p.h. was thought to be the suggestion of a madman. It is even within memory that many scientific experts proved conclusively that heavier-than-air flight was ut- terly impossible. Electric light, not so very long ago, was stated to be an experiment of which nothing more would be heard after the preliminary tests. Remember that these pro- nouncements were not made by ignorant people, but by the leading men of their time who did not grasp the relative nature of speed which, itself, is the key to all our future. Speeds of travel have increased to nearly 2,000 m.p.h. during the last few years and we are comicloooks.conm