In the 1930s, The Settled Science was “eugenics”–the art of breeding human beings like livestock until all flaws and defects were bred out of the gene pool and you had nobody left but supermen and superwomen. Anyone who questioned it was laughed out of the room.
Was Edgar Rice Burroughs, the creator of Tarzan, buying it?
The internal evidence in his writings strongly suggests he did buy into this stuff… Except for the fact that he knowingly made the entire Venusian system of super-science to rest on a joke. The whole basis for the Venusians’ all-wise, all-right all the time science is… a joke!
So maybe ERB was having a laugh on everybody. I wouldn’t put it past him.
I read all four books in the Venus series. But that was about 55 years ago, thus, I remember very little about those books. I don’t even remember how Napier ended up on Venus in the first place. Nevertheless, I do remember whenever the sun would break through the thick cloud cover, its rays would cause the sea to boil. I am going to look up online and see if I can find them. I would like to read them again.
And I’ll bet you enjoy them just as much, this time around, as ever.
WordPress is woking weird today?? I’m sure
Burroughs was having fun with eugenics.
We’re probably lucky it’s working at all.
Sounds like ERB was having a bit of satiric fun.