20/02/2019

Folha de S.Paulo: Martians have already walked on Earth.

Reproduction of Marcelo Viana's column in Folha de S.Paulo.

In the vastness of the Universe there are countless galaxies, each with billions of stars, surrounded by even more planets. Among so many, there is no doubt that many harbor intelligent life. Certainly, many planets have already reached the space age: their inhabitants circulate among the stars, exploring new worlds. It is impossible that they will not find a place as beautiful as Earth.

Enrico Fermi (1901-1954), the great Italian-American physicist who led the US nuclear project, was not convinced. "These superior beings should have arrived already. Where are they?" The brazen answer came from the Hungarian physicist and biologist Leo Szilard (1898-1964): "They are already among us, only they call themselves Hungarians." Thus was born the legend of the Martians.

In the years surrounding World War II, an impressive group of Hungarian scientists, especially mathematicians and physicists of Jewish origin, emigrated to the USA.

Besides Szilard, there were Theodore von Kárman (1881-1963), Eugene Wigner (1902-1995), John von Neumann (1903-1957), Edward Teller (1908-2003), Paul Erdös (1913-1996), Peter Lax (born in 1926) and many others.

With their superhuman talent—and the Dracula-esque accent from the old films starring Hungarian actor Bela Lugosi—they were a group apart. It was easy to believe they weren't from this world.

It was said that a Martian spacecraft landed in Budapest around 1900. After concluding that Earth held no interest for them, the aliens left, but not before producing the famous scientists. These scientists contributed to embellishing and propagating the legend, adding "evidence." Edward Teller, who proudly used the initials ET, feigned concern: "The story is spreading, I bet von Kármán is talking too much!"

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