Cros, Charles (1846–1888)
French inventor who, in 1869, proposed a method of sending signals to either
Mars or Venus.
It involved focusing the rays from one or more electric lights by parabolic
mirrors. Periodic flashing of light from the mirrors would, he suggested,
send the equivalent of a Morse code message.
If the signals received a response, he said, "It will be a moment of joy
and pride. The eternal isolation of the spheres is vanquished." Flashes
reported by Messier, Schröter, and
Harding on planets such as Venus, he suggested, might be attempts by the
inhabitants to communicate with us. By 1870, his ideas had spread to Italy
and England.
Related entry
• communication, with
the Moon and planets
Related category
• SETI
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