Life on Venus

I n the early days of NASA, much of the planning for space biology came before a group I belonged to, The Planetary Biology Subcommittee. Before Sputnik, the idea of experimental space biology had been an abstraction so that the “experts” were scientists from several domains who had an interest in the subject or were recruited for their expertise as biological generalists. Many of the early discussions, which took place in Washington DC, Cape Canaveral, Florida, Mountain View, California, and Houston, Texas, focused on which astral body was the most likely choice to search for extraterrestrial life. No one believed that the Moon was a possibility. The discussion tended to focus on the two most accessible planets, Mars and Venus, Mars being the heavy choice. One evening, after a day of discussion, four of the committee members thought that Venus might have been passed over too quickly, so we arranged to meet for dinner at the hotel. As the only survivor of that group, I feel that the time has come to reveal the results of that meeting.

The foursome consisted of Wolf Vishniac, then of the University of Rochester; Carl Sagan, then of Harvard; Kimball Atwood, then of the University of Illinois; and myself, then of Yale. The topic during the first cocktail was whether living forms were able to float in the dense atmosphere in a zone where the temperature might permit the stability of the covalent bonds and other structures we all felt were necessary for life. Very little was known about the extremely hot surface of our neighboring planet, including the amount and status of water in the atmosphere.

As the second cocktail appeared, someone began to worry that except for the four of us the biology of Venus might disappear as a subject of interest. (Through the haze of time I can't exactly recall who said what, so all attributions must be collective.) We decided to forestall any lessening of interest by forming a society dedicated to the study of life on Venus. The first suggestion was that it be called “The Society of Venutian Biologists.” This seemed like an awkward name, lacking a certain rhetorical power.

We considered “The Society of Cytherean Biologists.” This title was rejected as being too snobbish. We paused to order dinner, decided on another round of cocktails, and returned to the naming problem. I wish I could recall who offered “Society of Venereal Biologists.” The name immediately won unanimous approval. Elections were held, and each companion was awarded high office by acclaim. I have never put it on my résumé, fearing that promotion and tenure committees would not understand, and now that my fellow officers are no longer with us I would deem it improper to claim honor for myself. It was truly a collective enterprise.

Although the society never met again, Carl Sagan and I continued to examine the Venus issue, and in September 1967 we published a brief analysis of the subject as a letter to the journal Nature (an abstract is shown next page). Although I have not followed this subject in any detail, I do notice an occasional article in the astrobiology literature in which the possible biology of the planet is reexamined. I don't think that we can rule out the possibility of Venusian life.

A few years later, Wolf Vishniac was in Antarctica searching for extremophilic microbial life in a Mars-like environment. While exploring in the dark he fell 500 feet from a cliff and died. In an obituary, Carl Sagan noted, “He is thus the first person since Bruno to lose his life in the pursuit of extraterrestrial life.” Space biology lost one of its earliest and most brilliant devotees. Kimball Atwood moved from Illinois to Columbia, where he continued his distinguished career in several domains of biology. He passed away in October 1992. Carl Sagan, the leader of space biology and chief representative of that discipline to both the community of scientists and the broader public, died in 1996. His name is virtually synonymous with the search for life in the Cosmos.

And now, as last surviving officer of the Society of Venereal Biologists, I feel that the time has come to tell this story and to honor my fellow society members. They were pioneers of astrobiology and a wonderful group to have dinner with.