Winston Churchill is best remembered for his role as a Prime Minister and war hero during the World War 2. However, recent documents uncovered revealed a speculative and science-oriented side of Churchill, which included his concept of outerspace life.
During his term as Britain's Prime Minister, Churchill had a strong inclination towards science and space. He was even the first Prime Minister to employ the aid of a science adviser as part of his team of experts. Such scientific inclination and fascination over space were clearly emphasized in an unpublished essay of Churchill from 1939.
The recently discovered essay made mention of Churchill's conviction that only Mars and Venus are the places in the Solar System apart from our planet that could support human life, according to Nature. The basis for the British Prime Minister's conclusion was his own definition of the habitable zone. He believed that life could only survive in regions "between a few degrees of frost and the boiling point of water."
From thereon, Churchill eliminated outer planets which he deemed too cold to harbor life and planets near the Sun that is too hot on one side and too cold on the other side. Moreover, the Moon and asteroids were not included in his list of habitable locations in the outer space, for both have weak gravities incapable of trapping atmospheres.
This latest insight regarding the view of Prime Minister Churchill on space and life was made possible through the diligence of the new director of National Churchill Museum Timothy Riley. The recently uncovered essay was then passed to Israeli astrophysicist and author Mario Livio, who described the contents of the essay in the latest Nature journal, according to BBC.
Due to copyright concerns, there are no detailed and precise plans for the essay's future publishing. However, future exposition and other descriptions are to be expected to let the public learn more about Churchill's scientific view during his time.
Watch here below video presentation of Churchill's profound words: