Let me tell you a story.(1) It seems a young Martian was studying comparative anthropology and, in preparation for a doctoral dissertation which was long overdue, made a quick flight down to earth in his flying saucer to check on the habits of the residents of the planet. He could not get too close or make any prolonged inspection because his work had to be submitted in just a few days, so time was of the essence. He had made a fortunate choice of days and locations - a fine summer Sunday over the United States - and found the natives most obligingly coming out of their houses and spreading themselves all over the landscape for his observation.

The first thing he noted was that, like so many primitive life forms, the people of this planet were sun worshipers. Previous research had indicat…