Permissive Limits of Ignorance and Belief in the United States

           TheimmediateresultofBarbicane’spropositionwastoplaceupontheordersofthedayalltheastronomicalfactsrelativetotheQueenoftheNight.Everybodysettoworktostudyassiduously.Onewouldhavethoughtthatthemoonhadjustappearedforthefirsttime,andthatnoonehadeverbeforecaughtaglimpseofherintheheavens.Thepapersrevivedalltheoldanecdotesinwhichthe"sunofthewolves"playedapart;theyrecalledtheinfluenceswhichtheignoranceofpastagesascribedtoher;inshort,allAmericawasseizedwithselenomania,orhadbecomemoon-mad.

           Thescientificjournals,fortheirpart,dealtmoreespeciallywiththequestionswhichtouchedupontheenterpriseoftheGunClub.TheletteroftheObservatoryofCambridgewaspublishedbythem,andcommenteduponwithunreservedapproval.

           Untilthattimemostpeoplehadbeenignorantofthemodeinwhichthedistancewhichseparatesthemoonfromtheearthiscalculated.Theytookadvantageofthisfacttoexplaintothemthatthisdistancewasobtainedbymeasuringtheparallaxofthemoon.Thetermparallaxproving"caviaretothegeneral,"theyfurtherexplainedthatitmeanttheangleformedbytheinclinationoftwostraightlinesdrawnfromeitherextremityoftheearth’sradiustothemoon.Ondoubtsbeingexpressedastothecorrectnessofthismethod,theyimmediatelyprovedthatnotonlywasthemeandistance234,347miles,butthatastronomerscouldnotpossiblybeinerrorintheirestimatebymorethanseventymileseitherway.