“Venus is approximately as massive as the earth and, as it is significantly nearer the sunlight, its temperature must be increased than that of the earth. The typical temperature is approximated to be about 140 levels F. Various phenomena appear to point out that the earth is surrounded by a comparatively dense and cloudy ambiance which, in truth, is evidently found as a luminous border, in the transits of Venus around the sun’s disk, which take place when or twice in a century. This dense ambiance strongly reflects the sun’s rays and thus helps prevent the floor of the earth from attaining a temperature as well elevated for remarkably structured daily life. The earth would be regarded as habitable.”

—Scientific American, March 1911

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