Prix Guzman

The Prix Guzman (Guzman Prize) was a 100,000 franc prize announced on December 17, 1900^[1] by the French Académie des Sciences to "the person of whatever nation who will find the means within the next ten years of communicating with a star and of receiving a response." It was sponsored by Clara Gouget Guzman in honor of her son Pierre. Pierre Guzman had been interested in the work of Camille Flammarion, the author of La planète Mars et ses conditions d'habitabilité (The Planet Mars and Its Conditions of Habitability, 1892). Communication with Mars was specifically exempted as many people believed that Mars was inhabited at the time and communication with that planet would not be a difficult enough challenge.^[2] Nikola Tesla claimed in 1937 that he should receive the prize for "his discovery relating to the interstellar transmission of energy."^[3] The prize was awarded to the crew of Apollo 11 in 1969.^[4]

References

1. ^ The Data Book of Astronomy, by Patrick Moore
2. ^ Camille Flammarion, Dreams of an Astronomer, trans. E. E. Fournier D'Albe (New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1923), p. 154.
3. ^ "Sending of Messages to Planets Predicted by Dr. Tesla on Birthday," New York Times, 11 July 1937, p. 13, c. 2.
4. ^ Michael Collins, Mission To Mars, (ISBN 0802111602, Grove Weidenfeld, 1990), p. 6.