The Certainty of a Future Life in Mars Being the Posthumous Papers of Bradford Torrey Dodd

"The Certainty of a Future Life in Mars" by L. P. Gratacap is a science narrative set in the 1800s that tells the extraordinary story of Bradford Torrey Dodd and his purported discovery of communication from Mars, hinting at a future existence on the distant world. The story is centered around the pursuit of science, themes of spirituality, and the possibility of interplanetary connections as seen through Dodd’s experiments. Beginning with Dodd’s early life, the story follows his father’s passion for science and the tragic loss that fuels their search for life after death. Overcome with grief after his wife’s death, Dodd’s father focuses on communicating with her using wireless telegraphy, eventually building an observatory in New Zealand with the goal of achieving interplanetary contact; this sets the stage for exploring how messages supposedly received from Mars might confirm life after death, combining personal grief with scientific adventure.