Undoubtedly
psychology is necessary--but it can be a warp alone if a strong woof is
supplied. Let me cite two imaginary examples. If a single scientist had
released atomic energy and was in doubt as to whether he should destroy
his secret or reveal it, the psychological processes that determine his
decision become more relevant to consideration than the decision itself.
But if that same scientist managed by the aid of atomic energy to
transport himself to Mars, I would unquestionably be more interested in
what he found on that planet than in why an Oedipus complex drove him
there in the first place.

In the fiction of Garrett Serviss the sweeping magnitude of events
described gives them the leading role. Yet within the limits he has set
for himself he has used human psychology to good advantage. His stories
do not lack empathy, and they are rich in pictorial detail. Inevitably
they reflect the mores of the time, but do not emphasize them unduly. As
a consequence they remain readable and entertaining even to this day.

They show, too, that he was familiar with the works of the few authors
in the genre who preceeded him. _A Columbus of Space_ was dedicated "to
the readers of Jules Verne's romances,"

Not because the author flatters himself that he can walk in the
Footsteps of that Immortal Dreamer, but because, like Jules Verne,
he believes that the World of Imagination is as legitimate a Domain
of the Human Mind as the World of Fact.

Garrett Serviss modestly underestimated his abilities. With the
perspective we possess today it can be seen that he is easily the equal
of Verne, standing with him and H. G. Wells as one of the foremost
science-fiction writers of his day.

A. Langley Searles
_New York, N. Y._
_May 1947_

EDISON'S CONQUEST OF MARS

CHAPTER ONE

_"LET US GO TO MARS"_

It is impossible that the stupendous events which followed the
disastrous invasion of the earth by the Martians should go without
record, and circumstances having placed the facts at my disposal, I deem
it a duty, both to posterity and to those who were witnesses of and
participants in the avenging counterstroke that the earth dealt back at
its ruthless enemy in the heavens, to write down the story in a
connected form.

The Martians had nearly all perished, not through our puny efforts, but
in consequence of disease, and the few survivors fled in one of their
projectile cars, inflicting their cr